Commitment to Service

I have been a productive citizen and leader for the University of Florida, and the educational technology and educational research communities at large by providing leadership and editorial services. I strongly believe that our service and leadership to our institutions and profession are among the most important and valuable contributions we can make as scholars in our respective fields. Shared governance and leadership is essential to a thriving university enterprise and discipline. Thus, I have faithfully provided my time, effort, and leadership to my institution and to my profession. Equally important, my reputation as a scholar has resulted in many editorial opportunities over the years.

 

Leadership and Service to My Institution

I have participated in numerous committees during my tenure at the University of Florida both as a member and as a chair. I have served on merit committees, policy and advisory committees, technology and distance education committees, and budgetary affairs. I have also had the pleasure of serving on numerous search committees both as a member and as a chair. Further, I have served in leadership roles within the College of Education to support our academic programs and students. In the 2013 academic year upon receiving tenure and promotion to Associate Professor, I moved into the role of Program Coordinator for the Educational Technology program, one of the largest and most diverse programs in the College of Education. In this capacity, I was responsible for a wide-range of activities, including managing over course schedules for each academic semester, supporting and evaluating graduate teaching assistants, program evaluation and accreditation, student admissions into academic programs, developing and supporting adjunct professors, and handling both faculty and student issues related to the program on a day-to-day basis. I continued to serve in this role until I was awarded my sabbatical in the 2017-18 academic year. Upon my return from my annual sabbatical, I was asked to serve as the Associate Director for Graduate Studies in the School of Teaching and Learning. In this position, I provide support to faculty and graduate students, coordinate recruitment efforts, manage graduate admissions for the school, review and approve all programs of study, facilitate the individual development plans and annual letters in the school, establish workflow procedures for faculty, staff, and students, and manage the web presence for the school. 

 

Leadership to the Profession

In terms of professional service and leadership to the field, I have served in the following leadership roles in professional associations in either educational technology or educational research: (1) Chair of the Games and Simulations Special Interest Group (SIG) in International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), Chair of SIG Instructional Technology in the American Educational Research Association (AERA), President and Director of the Florida Educational Research Association, President of the Design and Development Division within the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT), and most recently, a President for the International Board of Standards for Training, Performance and Instruction (ibstpi). In addition to these official leadership roles, I have also served in several other capacities for my professional associations such as webmaster for FERA, and in 2019, I organized the official conference for the Professors of Instructional Design and Technology (PIDT), an unofficial group of faculty from across the United States that participate in a retreat each year to build relationships and long-lasting bonds. Because of my leadership and commitment to my professional associations, I am often invited to serve on ad hoc committees and steering committees for these associations.

 

Editorial Service to the Profession

As I am an active researcher in my field, I have had the pleasure of serving in several editorial positions over the past decade. In addition to serving on a variety of editorial board (e.g., Computers in Human Behavior), I have also served as the Editor for the Florida Journal of Educational Research from 2011 – 2018, Associate Editor for the Journal of Educational Computing Research, a highly-respected SSCI indexed journal published by Sage, and in most recent history, the Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Research on Technology in Education (JRTE), ISTE’s flagship research journal widely indexed in both SSCI and in Scopus. In my role as editor of JRTE, I process more than 600+ manuscripts a year through the peer-review process, support both emerging and mature authors, develop the editorial board, and provide guidance for guest editors. I find my editorial service provides me a great deal of professional development by exposing me to cutting-edge research and ideas.