Glenn Braddock, PhD, executive director of the new Excelsior College Student Success Center, discusses the new initiative, the differences between academic coaches and academic advisors, and the need for more personalized student support across all of higher education.
Pearson awards Excelsior’s Darren Walsh with national online learning excellence award
Excelsior’s Darren Walsh, assistant vice president of learning and academic support services, was recognized with an online learning excellence award by Pearson at the 16th annual Cite Online Learning Conference, held yesterday in Jacksonville, Florida.
The awards are divided into two categories: K-12 and higher education — Excellence in Online Administration and Excellence in Online Teaching. As part of Pearson’s commitment to inspire and support excellence in online education that drives student success, the company will donate $1,500 to the scholarship fund of each winner’s choice.
In the announcement, Pearson describes Walsh’s achievements:
Darren Walsh is the technical developer and administrator of a new, highly innovative and completely open-source online writing lab, the Excelsior College OWL (OWL). Under his leadership, the OWL is highly innovative, offering the first-of-its-kind writing support in an open-source environment, one that is designed to respond to the writing crisis in the United States. The EC OWL is unique because it was built from scratch to provide seamlessly integrated multimedia content, and it can be used for free by students, faculty, and programs throughout the world. A national study involving six colleges and 152 students found that students using the OWL in their courses scored 6.6 points higher for their final grades compared to students not learning with the online lab. Walsh is an innovator beyond this new resource as well. In his position he oversees the development of a wide variety of online student resources, including a student orientation, library, career center, bookstore, online student success guide, and integrated online tutoring into the course design process.
Review the full release: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2016/02/prweb13206959.htm
Webinar: Center for Academic Excellence – Knowledge Unit Mapping
On February 25, the National Cybersecurity Institute (NCI) hosted a webinar on the “Center for Academic Excellence – Knowledge Unit Mapping”.
Excelsior College is taking the initiative to produce quality members of the workforce in Cybersecurity. As a Center for Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense the college continues to align their course and program outcomes to the standards put forth by the NSA.
This webinar is part of a new series that focuses on Knowledge Unit Mapping. This webinar focused on Cyber Defense and Cyber Threats and what Excelsior College is doing to assure learners have the proper skills to be outstanding members of the Cybersecurity workforce.
The webinar was presented by Dr. Andrew Hurd. Dr. Hurd is the Faculty Program Director for Cybersecurity at Excelsior College. He is responsible for curriculum development and degree requirements for the Bachelors and Master degrees in Cybersecurity. Prior to joining Excelsior, Dr. Hurd worked at Hudson Valley CC and SUNY Albany. He holds dual Bachelors of Arts in Computer Science and Mathematics, a Masters in the Science of teaching mathematics, and a PhD in Information Sciences specialized in Information Assurance and Online Learning. Dr. Hurd also won the SUNY Chancellors award for Excellence in Teaching in 2012 while working at HVCC.
You’ve Just Learned That You’re On Academic Probation- Now What??
Has this happened to you? You log into your MyExcelsior account, open up your updated MAP, and see that you’re on academic probation. Not this… not now! You’ve had some personal/family issues, haven’t done the best with some of your assignments, and yes, you feel your course work has gotten away from you.
What do you do now?
First of all, contact your advisor – right away. He or she will help you make a plan to return to good academic standing. The easiest way to remove a failing grade is to repeat failed courses or exams, but you may have options, such as taking a course instead of an exam. Your advisor wants to help you and can direct you to the appropriate resources to help you succeed.
Q: What does Academic Probation Mean?
A: All students need to meet certain standards to be in good academic standing. You must:
- Maintain a minimum Excelsior college GPA – for undergraduate students, it is a 2.0. For graduate students, a 3.0.
- Complete two-thirds (67%) of all Excelsior College and transfer credits attempted.
- This rate of completion is calculated by dividing the number of credits earned by the number of credits So it’s possible to be placed on academic probation without ever actually failing a course or exam.
- Students on academic probation may only take one course or exam at a time to ensure academic success.
Q: My MAP states I’m “at risk for academic probation”. What does this mean?
A: This is a courtesy notice, so you can make changes, get help, and bring up your grades.
Students with a GPA of 2.0 or higher may see on their MAP that they are “At Risk” for academic probation. This means that your GPA is close to the minimum requirement, and getting a “D” or “F” grade could push you over the edge to academic probation.
Remember! Academic probation may be a temporary setback, but it doesn’t have to be the end. It definitely signals an opportunity for communication and self-evaluation. Let’s work together to get you back on track!
Women have the power to transform cybersecurity leadership
While it may seem like an antiquated fight, women are still struggling to obtain the same professional status as men. Whether it is a crusade for equal representation in a certain industry or the seemingly never-ending battle for equal pay across genders, women have been fighting an uphill battle for years. This becomes even more frustrating when you consider data points to female leaders being more effective than their male counterparts in 12 out of 16 core leadership competencies. According to an extensive study by Zenger Folkman, the data supporting superior management skills in women is considerable, reported The Business Insider.
There are few industries where this lack of female representation is more baffling than the cybersecurity sector. Especially when you take into account that women professionals are more qualified than men in several areas where the field is seriously lacking – such as transparency, collaboration, integrity and innovation. CIO contributor Kristen Corpolongo reported that while women do make up almost 47 percent of the U.S. labor force, they only constitute 19 percent of currently employed technologists.
“Female professionals possess the skills, they just need the opportunities.”
Filling in the gaps with female leadership
Cyber threats have been a source of considerable attention over the past year, and as such, corporations and consumers alike are looking for innovative advancements in security and technology. Corpolongo asserted that in order to reach these breakthroughs, the cybersecurity sector will need to implement transformative changes across organizations, leadership and overall tech culture.
Incorporating more women in the workforce can be a solution to many of the current problems. However, the change requires more than just boosting the number of female workers. There needs to be more mature and revolutionary management changes stemming from women. Female professionals possess the skills, they just need the opportunities.
The Zenger Folkman study found that women have considerable success in industries where males have typically dominated leadership roles. This can largely be credited to drawing in a fresh perspective on old problems. When a particular business is predominantly led by like-minded leaders, the end result is usually a lack of innovation. Women can provide the fresh perspective cyber security organizations need to handle problems that have long gone unsolved.
A new approach to cybersecurity strategies
Corpolongo argued that the answer to the current problems in information security lies in prioritizing four key leadership skills: transparency, trust, high reliability and individual integrity. Coincidentally, the Zenger Folkman study found that women were more effective than their male counterparts in all four of these areas.
The most fundamental of these skills involves transparency. In order to create a high level of trust within an organization honesty is crucial. This commitment to transparency is paramount in the cybersecurity sector because honest leadership breeds a loyal organization. The importance of integrity in leadership is only compounded when you consider that ill-intentioned employees can be a major threat to cybersecurity, reported Corpolongo. Some of the greatest threats to security come from within an organization, so a more human-centered security strategy can greatly prevent current risks.
“Some of the greatest threats to security come from within an organization.”
The cybersecurity field could benefit greatly from simply including more women workers in both leadership and floor-level positions. Their inherent transformative leaderships could provide the industry with the innovative changes needed at this critical time. Accountable collaboration among employees on every level is critical to building a high-reliability organization and more female leadership could help build up this new approach to organizational structures within cybersecurity companies. Cybersecurity needs to make some fundamental evolutionary changes and it all starts with beginning to include more women in the workforce. The move away from total male-domination and a push toward diversity in hiring decisions can help move organizations toward a more mature and dynamic structure.
For female professionals looking for resources surrounding women in cybersecurity, the National Cybersecurity Institute’s Initiative for Women in Cybersecurity provides great materials for skill training. The initiative is backed by some truly inspirational women who are helping to pioneer the path for more female inclusion in the cybersecurity sector. Check out the variety of resources and inspiration we have to offer today.
Application Fee Waived for Veterans
Effective January 1, 2016, the application fee has been waived for veterans. This collaboration between the Center for Military Education and the admissions department helps support and encourage veterans to apply in an efficient and streamlined process. Another part of the project includes an Admissions Veterans Duo, where veterans will receive counseling on military/veteran friendly degrees, information on VA education benefits, and resources specifically for veterans.
Webinar: Implementing the Cybersecurity Framework
On February 24, the National Cybersecurity Institute (NCI) hosted a webinar on “Implementing the Cybersecurity Framework”.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) published the Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure on February 12, 2014. This document was developed in response to the President’s Executive Order 13636 “Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity.” The framework allows all organizations to apply cybersecurity principles and practices to improve their security. The framework is a risk based approach to cybersecurity and is composed of three parts. The parts are the framework core, implementation tiers, and profiles. The cybersecurity framework provides a method for identifying the current state of cybersecurity, a target state, and action plan for achieving the target state.
This webinar looked at the cybersecurity framework and discussed how its implementation improves an organization’s cybersecurity.
The webinar was presented by Dr. James Angle. Dr. Angle has over 20 years of experience in multiple areas of IT culminating as the Deputy CIO for an army hospital. He has more than 15 years of information security experience in both government service and the private sector. He is currently a Regional Information Security Officer for Trinity Health. In this capacity, he manages the information security and HIPAA security compliance for 17 hospitals and 83 clinics. Dr. Angle is also a fellow at the National Cybersecurity Institute.
Online learning expert nominated for excellence award
Darren Walsh, assistant vice president for learning and academic support services at Excelsior College, is one of the 20 national finalists for the 2016 Pearson Online Learning Excellence Awards.
The awards recognize educational leaders that have made significant contributions toward innovation and measurable best practices in online learning. Faculty and administrators from K-12, higher education, and the corporate environment are among the pool of nominees.
Walsh is one of five finalists in the Higher Education – Excellence in Online Teaching category.
As a member of the Center for Online Education, Learning and Academic Support Services (COELAS), Walsh is responsible for leading a team that develops and integrates a full suite of academic support services to meet the needs of the College. Some of the services that he has contributed to include the award-winning Excelsior College Online Writing Lab, Excelsior College Library, Career Services, Student Orientation, Online Tutoring, Bookstore, Student Success Guide, and more.
Walsh explains that interacting and helping students is what fuels his passion for working in higher education. “Through the power of technology, I have worked with a talented team to develop a suite of academic support services that help students who may feel intimidated or overwhelmed,” Walsh says. “Even though our students may be at a distance, they are not alone and have access to a robust set of support resources to help them succeed in their educational pursuits.”
Walsh will be attending the online learning conference, Cite 2016, on February 9 in Florida.
Pearson will award each of the winners with a $1,500 scholarship to the fund of their choice.
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About Excelsior College
Excelsior College is a regionally accredited, nonprofit distance learning institution that focuses on removing obstacles to the educational goals of adult learners. Founded in 1971 and located in Albany, NY, Excelsior is a proven leader in the assessment and validation of student knowledge. It offers more efficient and affordable access to degree completion through multiple avenues: its own online courses and college-level proficiency examinations, and the acceptance in transfer of credit from other colleges and universities as well as recognized corporate and military training programs. Excelsior College is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. For more information about Excelsior College, visit https://www.excelsior.edu.
About Pearson
Pearson is the world’s leading learning company, with 40,000 employees in more than 80 countries working to help people of all ages to make measurable progress in their lives through learning.
Healing Touch Assists in Improving Health and Healing
By Ellen LaDieu, MS, RN, AHN-BC
Healing Touch Certified Practitioner (HTCP)
Lead Faculty Program Director
Healing Touch is an integrative modality used by nurses and other educated practitioners to assist people with improving health and healing. It is an energy therapy which works to balance the magnetic field around the body. The practitioner non-invasively uses the hands to clear, energize, and balance the person’s energy field. Healing touch removes congestion in the energy field and also energizes the energy centers associated with the endocrine glands. This allows the body to do its own healing.
The practitioner sets an intention for healing specific to the person receiving the healing touch. This modality holistically affects a person on the mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical levels.
Healing touch is often used to address concerns such as stress, pain, anxiety, nausea, wound healing, and dying to name a few. This is offered at hospitals, in homes, as well as individual practitioner locations across the world. This modality was developed by RN Janet Mentgen in the 1970s and then brought to nurses of the U.S. with the support of the American Holistic Nurses Association. The Healing Touch Program organization now provides education and certification on the practice of healing touch worldwide.
More information can be obtained by accessing the website Healing Touch Program.
Image credit: Superstock / Universal Images Group
Virtual Cyber Network Event: Alumni, Students, and Fellows (February 2016)
On February 25, 2016, the National Cybersecurity Institute (NCI) hosted its second Virtual Cyber Network Event for Excelsior’s College technology and cybersecurity students and alumni.
The event provided a unique opportunity for both students and alumni to explore resources available for them through Excelsior College and NCI. The event also featured presentations on government jobs in cybersecurity, cybersecurity jobs in the private sector, in addition to training and certifications in cybersecurity.
Check the full event recording here.
Top 10 issues & trends impacting higher education in 2016
President John Ebersole penned an article for the Huffington Post Education blog listing his ‘Top 10 Issues & Trends’ that will impact higher education in 2016.
In 2014, I wrote that the “currents of change have propelled the sector toward, or onto, one rock after another.” Two years later, higher education continues to evolve. The following includes the top issues and trends impacting higher education in 2016.
1. Presidential politics will keep higher education in the national spotlight this year. This won’t necessarily be a good thing for the sector as the focus will be on cost and affordability.
2. Higher Education Act (HEA) reauthorization has become the topic that refuses to go away. Now three years since its last “reauthorization,” the Act, with its great impact on higher education broadly appears more likely to pass thanks to Republican control of both houses of Congress.
3. Quality assurance will become an overarching concern of both state and federal regulators as the role of accreditors is forced more in the direction of regulatory compliance. What constitutes “quality” will be the subject of much debate.
4. Online education will resume its growth as back-at-work learners see continued need for credentials. While not returning to the double-digit levels fueled by proprietary school marketing, a solid 6 to 8 percent can be expected as the stigma of online study recedes.
5. Competency-Based Education (CBE) is no flash-in-the-pan and will regain momentum after the cold water delivered by the Department of Ed’s IG last fall (in its criticism of the Higher Learning Commission’s oversight of such programs). Clouds will remain, however, as institutions continue to wrestle with lack of a common vocabulary and standards.
To read the full article, please visit the Huffington Post Education blog.
Nagelsmith to Make Women and Leadership Presentation
The 60th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place March 14 – 24 at the UN Headquarters and surrounding venues in New York City. This year, Laurie Nagelsmith, PhD, associate dean for the School of Health Sciences, will present at a parallel event with two of her colleagues on the board of directors of Sigma Theta Tau International (*STTI) Honor Society of Nursing and Excelsior College will be recognized as a supporter of the event. The title of the presentation is “Empowering Women through Leadership Development” and will focus on economic, political and social barriers existing in varying degrees worldwide that impact the ability of women and girls to reach their full potential and to achieve gender equity. Leadership development through collaboration, education, networking and mentoring are strategies that have potential to break cycles of inequity and internalized oppression by enhancing opportunities for quality education, decent work, and achieving acceptable levels of well-being. This presentation will discuss these strategies for leadership development, and provide examples and results that impact good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality and decent work and economic growth for women.
*STTI is a non-governmental organization with the Department of Public Health Information with Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council in the areas of nursing and global health
