Carolyn I. Speer

Overview

Carolyn is the Director of the Office of Instructional Resources and also teaches online for the Department of Counseling, Educational Leadership, Educational and School Psychology. She came to Wichita State after working for herself as a private curriculum developer and online textbook author for several years. She began her career as a adjunct instructor of Political Science and English at Friends University where she rose to the rank of Assistant Professor and Academic Chair of the College of Adult and Professional Studies before leaving Friends for a family military move. Carolyn holds a PhD in Adult Education and is a Certified Professional in Training Management (CPTM), a Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC), and a Certified Workplace Mindfulness Facilitator (CWMF).

Academic Interests and Expertise

• Ph.D. in Adult and Continuing Education from Kansas State University
  • Dissertation: An Exploration Into Adult First Generation College Student Adaptation to College
• Master’s degree in history from Wichita State University
  • Focus on disease history and culinary history
• Master’s degree in political science from the University of Iowa
  • Focus on civil rights, Constititutional law, and research methods 

Areas of Research Interest

• Effective teaching methods in the higher education setting
• Program and course assessment

Areas of Teaching Interest

• Statistics and research methods for social scientists
• Learning theory and instructional design
• American politics and government

Publications

• Editor and primary contributor to Teaching Today, a monthly newsletter for Wichita State instructors, 2019-ongoing
• “Presence” and hundreds of other pages of instructor training through Wichita.edu/OIR
• “Is this ‘Accessibility’ or ‘Accommodation’?” and ongoing blogging through KSARN.org
• “Is Innovation Your Goal?” and ongoing blogging through LinkedIn
• “Instructor Presence Means ‘Being There’” and over 100 other blog articles at IDA.wichita.edu, now suspended blogging project
• “Six Ideas to Innovate Higher Ed Conferences,” WCET Frontiers, 2016
• “Instructional Designers: Instead of saying ‘No’ to Faculty, Let’s Say ‘Yes,’” WCET Frontiers, 2016
• “Police Violence, Public Response: The Public Gets What it Tolerates,” Chapter Nine in Police Use of Force: Important Issus Facing the Police and the Communities They Serve, 2016
• “It’s time to Open Up with Open Educational Resources,” C2C Digital Magazine, Spring/Summer, 2015
• “Canned Nostalgia: The Myth of ‘Of Course I Can!’ and the Rise of the Commercial Food Industry in the United States,” Fairmount Folio, 2014
• Western Civilizations One, Online textbook published by the Learning House, 2011
• Western Civilizations Two, Online textbook published by the Learning House, 2010
• American National Government, Online textbook published by the Learning House, 2009
• Instructional Design and Curriculum Development, Online textbook published by the Learning House, 2009
• “The Presidency of George W. Bush,” Article in an online textbook published by the Learning House, 2009
• “Online Teaching Got me Out of the Box,” Online Classroom, 2006
• “Not Just Disney, Images of Arab Americans in Children’s Literature,” in Arabs in the Americas: Interdisciplinary Essays on the Arab Diaspora, 2006
• “A Small, Struggling College Finds Savior in Adult Programming,” Adult Learning, 1998

Professional Experience

Courses Taught

• Advanced Research Methods for Criminal Justice, Online
• American Character, Face-to-Face
• American History I, Online and Face-to-Face
• American History II, Online and Face-to-Face
• American National Government, Online and Face-to-Face
• Beliefs About Knowledge and Learning, Online
• Comparative Politics, Face-to-Face
• Current Events, Online and Face-to-Face
• Current World Events, Online
• Developmental English, Face-to-Face
• Educational Accessibility: Assistive Technology, Online
• Educational Accessibility: Legal Landscape, Online
• Educational Accessibility: Universal Design and Universal Design for Learning, Online
• Instructional Theory, Online
• International Relations, Online
• Introduction to Educational Statistics, Online
• Issues in American Politics, Online and Face-to-Face
• Learning Theory and Instruction, Online
• Learning Theory and Curriculum Design, Online
• Masterpieces of World Literature One, Face-to-Face
• Masterpieces of World Literature Two, Face-to-Face
• Minority Literature for Criminal Justice, Face-to-Face
• Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, Face-to-Face
• Quantitative Methods for the Public Sector, Online
• Search for Meaning in a Changing World, Face-to-Face
• State and Local Government, Online
• Statistics for Social Sciences, Online
• Western Civilization One, Telecourse, Online, and Face-to-Face
• Western Civilization Two, Telecourse, Online, and Face-to-Face
• Writing I, Face-to-Face
• Writing II, Face-to-Face

Awards and Honors

• Leadership in the Advancement of Teaching Award, 2024
• Cadman Gallery Photo Contest, 2023, Second Place for “Spring Storms on the Road”
• President’s Distinguished Service Award, 2021

Grants

• Second Principal Investigator on FCC grant, 2023-24
• Second Principal Investigator on FAA grant, August 16-April 2019
• Academic Consultant on Kansas Humanities Major Grant, 2018

Areas of Service

• Serve on both MA Thesis and EdD Dissertation committees: 2022-present
• Served on the Executive Board of DisabilityIN: Wichita, 2020
• Serve on the Wichita State Accessibility Commmittee, 2017-present
• Serve on the Wichita State Re-integration  Sub-committee on Instruction, 2020-2021
• Member of the CAS review committee evaluating the Wichita State Office of Disability Services, 2020
• Participant in various campus and professional activities as an volunteer. For example:
  
  • Member of the Research Review Panel for AHEAD, 2019-2023
  • Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools Online Consultant for Fall, 2020 Zoom-based actvities
  • Hippodrome judge, 2019
  • GRASP Judge, 2020
  • AHEAD National Conference Volunteer, 2019
  • OLC Innovate Volunteer, 2018

Other Interests

Presentations and National Exposure

• “Accessibility at Wichita State University,” podcast guest at the Disability History Association Podcast, Episode #21, 2020.
• “When Training Graduate Students Creates a Public Good: Professional Development Badges Move From Blackboard to Everyone,” co-presentation with Dr. Kerry Wilks, Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools Annual Meeting, 2020 (anticipated)
• “Learning to Use Accessibility Tools,” Sedgwick County Business Leadership Network/DisabilityIN: Wichita Forum, 2019
• “But I Don’t Have One in My Class: The Challenges of Building a Culture of Accessibility on Campus,” The Consortium for Title IX and Equity Officers in Higher Ed Conference, 2019
• “Universal Design in the Classroom,” training session for Michael Tilford Conference: “From Knowledge to Practice: Professional Development for a More Equitable Campus,” 2019
• Featured prominently in “Discussion Boards, Valuable?, Overused?, Discuss,” Inside HigherEd, 2019
• Interviewed for, “Evolving the Online Discussion Board at Wichita State University,” Helix Education’s Enrollment Growth University podcast episode 89, 2019
• “Comprehensive Accessibility Training Means Everyone, Including Students,” AHEAD Equity and Excellence Conference, 2019
• “Kansas Accessibility Resources Network (KSARN) Explained,” AHEAD Equity and Excellence Conference, 2019
• Pre-session Workshop, “Practical Accessibility for Improving Orientation,” NODA Annual Meeting, 2019
• “Training Students in Accessibility Using Free KSARN Resources,” WSU Tech Accessibility Summer Camp, 2019
• Keynote Address, “Wichita State’s Progress Toward a Fully Accessible Future,” Kan-AHEAD Annual Meeting, 2019
• “Leveraging Existing Campus Resources to Create Comprehensive Professional Development Opportunities and GTA Training,” co-presentation with Dr. Kerry Wilks, Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools Annual Meeting, 2019
• “What is KSARN and What Can it Do for Me?,” iTrac, 2019
• “Accessibility Versus Accommodations: What’s the Difference and Why Does it Matter?,” Summer Strategies Conference, University of Kansas, 2019
• “Accessibility Concerns When Teaching About Art and Music,” Cowley County Community College Summer Symposium, 2019
• Invited Speaker, “Envisioning an Accessible Future Means Being the Change and Managing it Too,” OLC Innovate, 2018
• Keynote Speaker, “Achieving an Accessible Future,” Combined Faculty Training Day for Fort Scott, Neosho County, and Allen Community Colleges
• Keynote Speaker, “Accessibility is Nothing to Fear,” Cowley County Community College Summer Symposium, 2018
• “Accessibility and Blackboard Ally at WSU,” Kansas Blackboard Users’ Group, 2018
• “Accessible Face-to-Face Presentation,” iTrac, 2018
• “After the Lawyers Leave, How Wichita State is Growing a Culture of Access,” WCET 29^th Annual Meeting, 2017
• Full Conference Address, “Accessibility is a Bright Line,” University of Missouri at Kansas City Open Education Conference, 2017
• “Improving Accessibility in OER’s,” University of Missouri at Kansas City Open Education Conference, 2017
• “Accessibility, Universal Design, and Quality,” Wichita State College of Health Professions Faculty Bootcamp, 2017
• “Accessibility in the Face-to-Face Classroom,” Wichita Area Technical College Teaching Academy, 2017
• “Assessing the Impact of Standardization on Online Criminal Justice Courses,” American Criminal Justice Association Annual Meeting, 2017
• “More P.D., Less Time, Less Money,” iTrac, 2017
• “Designing with Green Light Principles and the LEARN Model,” UBTech. 2016
• “Layered Competency: A New Model for Higher Education,” University of Missouri at Kansas City Focus on Assessment Conference, 2016
• “What We Know About Foods of the First Thanksgiving … from a Mayflower Descendent,” Museum of World Treasurers, 2016
• “Food on the Great Plains, Eating Like a Cowboy,” Reflection Ridge Retirement Community, 2015
• “Online Spanish Courses: Taking Spanish Instruction Into the 21^st Century,” Kansas World Languages Association Conference, 2015
• “Encouraging Faculty Buy-In Through Recognition and Training,” co-presentation with Dr. Mark Porcaro, Colleague-to Colleague Summer Institute on Distance Learning and Instructional Technology, 2015
• “Assuring Quality in Online Courses,” Continuing Education in Kansas Conference, 2015
• “Quality Online Spanish Instruction? ¡Sí Se Puede!” Distance Teaching and Learning Conference, 2015
• “Colonial Food: The Making of American Cuisine,” Museum of World Treasurers, 2015
• “From Medical Procedure to a Gift From Father: Female Sexual Awakening and the Rise of the Vibrator,” Gender and Sexuality Conference, 2015
• “Open Up! Using Open Educational Resources in Online and Face-to-Face History Courses,” Kansas Association of Historians Annual Conference, 2015
• Panel Chair, “Place and Policy, Midwestern Voices, Midwestern Ideals,” Kansas Association of Historians Annual Conference, 2015
• “The Great American Pasture: Bison and Beef on the Great Plains,” Kansas Association of Historians Annual Conference, 2014

Additional Information

Lifelong Learning Activities

Iowa Culinary Institute

Des Moines Area Community College

2009-2011

• 35+ hours of culinary instruction
• Court of Master Sommeliers Level One Certification

Additional Professional Training and Certifications

• Certified Workplace Mindfulness Facilitator (CWMF), Mindful Leader
• Certified Professional in Training Management (CPTM), Training Industry
• Disability Law for DSS Directors, Staff, and ADA Officers, AHEAD Management and TRIO Institute, 2019
• Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC), International Association of Accessibility Professionals, 2018
• Certificate in Accessible Technology, California State University Northridge, 2018
• Accessibility 101 Bootcamp, AHEAD Equity and Excellence Conference, 2017
• Leadership Academy, Wichita State University, 2016-2017
• Master Reviewer, Quality Matters, 2016
• Online Teaching Certificate, Florida Community College University, 2008

Consulting

• Faculty trainer for University of Kansas Medical Center, Family Medicine, 2020. Ongoing consulting work 2023-present
• Content creation partner for DoctoralNet, LTD, 2020
• Accessibility consulting for Kansas State University, 2019
• Accessibility consulting and training for Cowley County Community College, 2019
• Blackboard Accessibility Webinar Director, monthly 2018-2019
• Accessibility consulting for Butler University, Indianapolis, 2018
• Accessibility consulting for Colby Community College, 2018
• Accessibility training for the Kansas Council of Instructional Administrators, 2018
• Accessibility consulting for Southern New Hampshire University, 2018
• Accessibility consulting for Seward County Community College, 2017
• Accessibility training for Emporia State University, 2017