Rhonda Baughman, Ed.S
2022 marks Rhonda’s 20th year in education—and whether, ground, online, or hybrid; teaching, administration, or curriculum development, she loves it all. 2022 also marks another anniversary for Rhonda – her 30th year as a writer and for half of that as an editor; she’s proud of her long, strange publishing resume which most recently includes essays for the ‘zines Girls, On Film and Exploitation Nation, as well as the creation of her own ‘zine series Medium Chill (issues 1-7 are on Amazon and issue 8 is in progress). Additionally, Rhonda found joy and fulfillment in producing low-budget films and later this year serves as an Associate Producer and character voice cameo in legendary director Mark Polonia’s Doll Shark.
Presentation: The Power of Peer Reviews |
Jenny Billings, Ed.D.
I am the Chair of ACA (Study Skills), DRE (Developmental Reading and English), and ENG (Curriculum English) at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College in Concord and Salisbury, North Carolina. I teach ENG-111 (Writing and Inquiry or English Composition) mostly, but used to teach Developmental English full-time for the College. I also have a lot of experience with college/student success, other English courses, and all levels of Developmental Reading and English through course, curriculum, and master shell development. I am very versatile when it comes to digital solutions and technology (especially in the educational realm). While I have been at Rowan-Cabarrus since January 2011, I have been with Cengage since fall 2013.
I helped to roll out one of the first, and largest, all-inclusive e-Textbook (e-Text) initiatives at my institution in Fall 2014—through that process and project, I gained experience with CourseMate, SCORM packages, CengageBrain, ConnectYard, Flashnotes, Aplia, WebAssign, and more. I have also trained faculty along the East coast in/on PSY, COM, HIS, SOC, and AHR MindTap solutions. y institution chose this solution because of its seamless integration with Blackboard 9.1 (our LMS). We also wanted to provide our students with many digital resources to enhance their learning experience—the apps within MindTap have truly answered that call! I love that through MindTap, instructors are truly able to design their course and e-Textbook. Since going digital with Cengage, myself and other instructors have seen huge improvements in student success and even retention. Presentation: MindTap |
Sheila Braxton, Ed.D.
Dr. Sheila Braxton has a Doctor of Education in Counseling Psychology and has been in the field of psychology for over 15 years. She teaches in both online and ground classes for the last 10 years. Dr. Braxton resides in Mesa, Arizona. She has three children and four dogs and enjoys spending time with her family.
Presentation: Enhance Your Synchronous Session |
Heidi Chavez, MA.Ed.PMI Online Academic Support Manager, Heidi Chavez, has worked in education-related roles her entire career. From public school secondary teaching to executive-level college campus administration, she has had one focus that drives her: student success. In her current role, Heidi serves as manager of the Online Writing Center, liaison for tutoring services through Tutor.com, and support for various projects and initiatives focused on academic support for students and faculty.
Presentation: Communication In The Virtual World: Professional Emails, On-going Dialog |
Sherri Cooper Ed.D., MA, BA, CMA, PTMy heart has been with Allied Health for many years since my roots are firmly planted in Medical Assisting. I have always had a love for the people who are also affiliated with this field, whether studying, teaching or practicing the art and science of caring for people.
I have been teaching various medical assisting skills and principles of Healthcare management for over 20 years now. I got my Bachelors degree before I become an MA. It is in the area of nonprofit management. I have always liked working with people and have done so my entire life! I worked as an MA for family practice and occupational medicine clinics excelling in phlebotomy. I found my true passion is really in teaching and having others learn. After teaching for a few years, it became apparent to me that I should also further my own education, and I got a master’s degree in educational leadership and I have my doctoral degree in Education. My dissertation examined the standards and guidelines of phlebotomy and how they are carried out in the classroom. The work was fascinating and provided factual evidence for the fidelity of implementation especially in medicine. On a personal note, I live in Aurora, CO on the 17th hole of a golf course. Golf is one of my passions!! I have 2 favorite sports – golf and bingo! I live in an amazing home with my 10-year-old shih tzu, Gideon. I enjoy gardening, swimming and walking. Presentation: Functioning Virtually: Life Post Pandemic |
Colin Easom, MAColin Easom has taught online for Pima for 10 years and has worked in a full-time administrative role for 8, first as the Online Faculty Coordinator and, more recently, leading academic operations as the Assistant Director for Online Education. He has volunteered his time as a Distance Education evaluator with our institutional accreditor, ABHES, since 2014 and provides guidance on distance education regulatory standards for Pima’s online courses.
Presentation: Welcome to the Jungle: Dodging Accreditation Pitfalls |
Jennifer Farley, BS
I have a degree in Health Education and began my journey with PMI 13 years ago at the Albuquerque campus. I am a wife, mother of three wonderful young men, and grandmother of three. My favorite color is yellow (a very happy color), I love reruns of the television show "Friends", and '80s music (best decade EVER). I am very dedicated to my job and helping students be successful in their educational endeavors. Like many of our students, I juggled home, work, and children all while going to college full-time. I have taken my fair share of online courses, thus took to teaching online/hybrid like a duck to water. I must admit, full online teaching during Covid was hard for me, as I missed the on-ground interaction. I love being on campus with students and coworkers, so the hybrid program is a perfect balance for me.
Presentation: Let’s Jam(board!) |
Kelly Gramling, MBAKelly Gramling is an Online Faculty Coordinator for PMI Online, supporting faculty with last names starting with A-K. She earned a Master of Business Administration degree with a specialization in Marketing, and a Bachelor of Science in Business Management degree at the University of Phoenix. Kelly believes that education has the ability to change lives and foster a legacy of learning for generations. She has over 20 years of education industry experience, and prior to working full-time for PMI Online, she held the position of Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for a non-for-profit and faith-based college; she has also worked as a Director of Online Learning, Director of Education, and Academic Dean in the for-profit sector for both academic and vocational/technical training programs. She has also taught both seated and online courses in business, marketing, and organizational leadership. Kelly grew up in Tampa Bay, Florida and has always enjoyed the great outdoors. She spends most weekends in nature and hiking with her pups.
Presentation: Blackboard Tips and Tricks |
Shalon Jasper, CDA, RDA, M.Ed., MSHE
Shalon Jasper is a University of Washington graduate with two Master's Degrees in Education with an emphasis on curriculum building in higher education. She is a Certified Registered Dental Assistant and has been working in the dental field for 25 years and teaching for 12 years. With the use of MindTap, Shalon has worked as a Subject Matter Expert with many other fabulous SMEs and helped build the Dental Assisting Hybrid program now being implemented at PMI. Shalon is the Hybrid Dental Assistant Lead faculty and wholeheartedly believes in students having as close to an actual clinical experience in both the virtual and the physical classroom as much as possible.
Presentation: Tapping into MindTap |
Michael Kolodziej, Ed.D, MBADr. Michael Kolodziej is the founder and Lead Nerd at Instructional DesigNerd, an independent Learning Design and Innovation Consultancy, based in San Diego, CA. He also serves as Director of Educational Program Development for University of Phoenix, developing a catalog of non-credit Professional Development courses to help learners advance their careers with certifications. Over the last 15 years, Michael has served in a variety of professional capacities in the field of learning including being an instructor at the high school and college level, an L&D Professional, Learning Technologist, Learning Designer, Innovator and all around learning NERD.
Michael completed his Ed.D. in Learning Technologies from Pepperdine, focusing his dissertation work on the Integration of Computational Thinking into Curriculum for Higher Education. As the first in his family to complete any form of College education, Michael’s passion for learning stems from his early experiences in the education system which left him feeling like the system wasn’t set up to serve students like him. He hopes to help change that for others. Michael lives in San Diego CA and has two kids, Jacob 19 and Leah 17. Presentation: The Future of Learning: What's Next? |
Deborah Riemer, Ph.D.
Deborah Riemer is the Online Education Director for Pima Medical Institute. She is passionate about finding innovative ways to reach all corners of our communities with quality learning experiences. Deb has been in the field of higher education for 26 years with nearly 20 of those years working within the Online learning space. She has held leadership positions at Open Education, Next U, Ashford University and Apollo Group/University of Phoenix. Deb grew up hiking and skiing in the mountains of northern Arizona, but over the years has lived in many locations spanning four continents. She is thrilled to be able to say that she is a proud member of the Pima family.
Presentation: Panel Discussion: The Future of PMI, Online, & Hybrid: What's Next? |
MJ Rodriguez, PT, DPTMJ Rodriguez, a physical therapist in her former life, now serves as a Learning Architect for the PMI Online Campus. Instead of constructing care plans for patients to help them achieve their functional goals, she now collaborates with multiple online departments to create blueprints for learning frameworks that help students achieve their learning goals. One piece of that architecture includes the implementation of rubrics, valuable tools for student learning and learning outcomes assessment. MJ’s goal is to share with you some beneficial and practical applications for rubrics in PMI courses.
Presentations: Rubric Grading: Not Just Smoke and Mirrors & Leveraging Rubrics for Student Learning |
Josie Strahle, MAJosie Strahle is the Learning Design and Production Manager for the online department. Working with subject matter experts, program directors, and designers, she oversees the development and continuous improvement of online courses.
Presentation: Elevate your Instruction with Panopto |
John Streit, Ed.D., MPH, RRT
Dr. John Streit is the Program Director for the Master of Science in Organizational Leadership program here at Pima Medical Institute Online. Prior to this position John was the Program Director for the Online Bachelor of Science in Respiratory Therapy and Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration programs here at PMI, worked for the American Lung Association in Colorado as the Director of Lung Health Programs, and at the Children's Hospital Colorado where he specialized in neonatal care, rehab education, sleep medicine, and was a resource therapist for the pulmonary team. John obtained his Doctor of Education degree with an emphasis in Organizational Leadership through Grand Canyon University, and a master’s degree in Public Health.
Presentation: Understanding Student Satisfaction: The Key to Improved Online Learning & Panel Discussion: The Future of PMI, Online, & Hybrid: What's Next? |
Karina Torres-Cortes, CVT, LVT, MSKarina grew up in multiple places as military brat, spending several years living in Germany. She always knew that she wanted to work in veterinary medicine and started her career journey over 20 years ago. After working at a variety of practices, she attended Macomb Community College in Michigan and obtained her Associate of Applied Science as a Veterinary Technician. She relocated to Kansas, where she started her teaching journey, working at Kansas State University's Veterinary Teaching Hospital. After another relocation to Colorado, she worked at a specialty practice before joining PMI. Since then, she has held multiple positions on the Colorado Springs campus, to include being the Vet Tech Clinical Director, Career Services Coordinator, and the Vet Tech Program Director. Last year she joined the online department and serves as the Online Hybrid Veterinary Sciences Program Director. During her time with PMI she continued her education obtaining a Bachelor's degree in Management and a Master's degree in Leadership from Grand Canyon University. The most important thing that she has taken away is that the best jobs that she’s had are the ones that pushed her out of her comfort zone. She realized that she always thought that her passion was animals, but found that the development of people and furthering the profession is what is most important to her. As she continues to impact the future of veterinary medicine through her role as an educator, she also continues to support the overall mission of impacting the lives of animals through regular volunteering with local non-profit rescues.
Presentation: Panel Discussion: The Future of PMI, Online, & Hybrid: What's Next? |
Jami Weidmann, Ed.D.
Jami Weidmann is a Faculty Coordinator for PMI Online, serving online faculty with last names starting with L-Z. Jami received her Ed.D. in Education Leadership from Liberty University. She also has Masters in Instructional Design and Math Education.
Jami is a wife, mother, and water-lover that enjoys warmer weather and being on the beach. Jami has over 30 years of professional experience, which include corporate training, graphic design, management, sales, education leadership, and teaching. She is well-versed in instruction, data analytics, educational technology, instructional design, leadership, and technical support. Jami is known to strive for results with a style that is more selling and telling and has a passion for working collaboratively towards common organizational goals. Jami loves giving back to the online community that gave so much to her. As a true life-long learner, Jami enjoys researching new ways to become more efficient with common daily tasks. Presentation: Blackboard Tips and Tricks |