DR. MULLER HAD LASTING IMPACT ON COLLEGE STAR PROGRAM

Although Dr. Dorothy Muller is retiring after 40 years, she talks about assisting students and faculty with the same level of enthusiasm you suspect she brought to her arrival on campus in 1977.

It was a younger, pregnant new Ph.D. who arrived in Greenville with her husband in 1976. She made ECU one of her first stops and began her career with the university as a part-time adjunct professor of reading. The following year, she was on the faculty full-time--sharing her expertise on reading in content areas, a specialty which she now acknowledges as a pre-cursor to the concepts of Universal Design for Learning which she would champion through College STAR.

Muller worked directly with students until 2006, ultimately becoming Dean of the Office of Undergraduate Studies whose mission was to support distinctive education and to provide academic support services to assist students in obtaining the best education ECU had to offer. read more

College STAR News

• Redesigned Course Works for All

  

  As a sociology professor with many years of experience, Dr. Martha McCaughey had traveled down the same road many times.   So when she was given the opportunity to take a course redesign workshop through the College Star program and the Office of Faculty and Academic Development at Appalachian she was ready for a new road map.

• Flipping Classroom Boosts Student Engagement

  

  English Composition II is a required course for freshmen at Fayetteville State University and Dr.   Aydé Enríquez-Loya wants to make sure her students finish the course with knowledge that will serve as a foundation for their academic and personal lives.

• Redesigned Course Uses Avatars

  

  Not everyone who redesigns a college course to make it more accessible to students has the luxury of using avatars. But that’s exactly how Dr. Annette Greer, associate professor of interdisciplinary studies at ECU, was able to engage her students in Introduction to Interdisciplinary Rural Health Teams. 

• Read and Write Software Gives Student an Extra Boost

  

  When Oluwatosin Rebecca Ayinde started feeling overwhelmed as a freshman at East Carolina University, she turned to the Pirate Academic Support  Center for help.    “I really wanted to do well,” said the 17-year-old from Nigeria, “and I went there a lot.”

• UDL Benefits More Than Those with Learning Differences

  

  When College Star Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs) began at Appalachian State, Dr. Lindsay Masland was so interested she actually audited the Universal Design FLC because her pregnancy limited her full participation.    Once she returned to full-time teaching duties she continued as an active, contributing member and has increased her involvement with other aspects on the faculty portion of the program.

• Good Organization and Feedback Benefits Students and Teachers

  

  For Dr. Carolyn Dunn, the value of consistent, well-organized course materials first became apparent when she was teaching an on-line course.  As an assistant professor who teaches technical writing in the Department of Technology Systems, she found that posting coursework online in folders each week helped her students stay on a schedule even if they were trying to juggle other responsibilities.

  “I was asking them to be organized, and I figured why shouldn’t I do the same,” she said.   Dunn had an understanding of the needs of distance learners because she had done some of her master’s and doctoral work on-line and experienced first-hand the value of good course structure. 

• Dr. Jamie Perry on Helping Students Understand How the Brain Works

  

  Helping students understand how the brain works and adjusting her teaching style accordingly is the key to success for Dr. Jamie Perry, an assistant professor in communication sciences and disorders who has been at ECU since 2011.   Her students have responded well to this approach and singled her out when College STAR surveyed students last year.

• Student Blog Gets New Leadership

  

  ​The dynamic duo of Logan Darr and Patrick Young are now poised to take on the responsibility for managing the student blog and question and answer section that are part of the College Star program.

• Dr. Tanya Hudson Embraces Bronco STAR Faculty Programs

  

  With more than 15 years experience in education, Dr. Tanya Hudson is more than a little familiar with the concept of “show and tell.” Now as an assistant professor in the Department of Elementary Education at Fayetteville State University she is taking it to a higher level.

  Hudson has embraced the learning opportunities presented through the faculty component of Bronco Star at Fayetteville State. She recently attended the course redesign workshop at ECU and is now applying the principles of Universal Design for Learning to her elementary math teaching methods class.

• ECU Freshman Earn Top Academic Honors

  

  Congratulations to the first-year students in the Walter and Marie Williams STEPP program at East Carolina University for achieving superior academic success their first term in college. Collectively, the average grade point average for this cohort was 3.6. These 13 students will be recognized by the university advising collaborative at the annual ECU Excels Honors program. This program recognizes first time freshman who achieve academic success by earning at least a 3.0 grade point average.