Often we hear about the wonders of having “summers off” as a faculty member, and our friends or family will express their envy of such a life. Yet, faculty members know the reality of the situation is that their summers are often not their own….even if they are not teaching in the summer.

In that regard, I wanted to share some of the summer activities of faculty members in the Counseling, Leadership, and Special Education Department. Some of these faculty members are teaching plus doing outside work, while other are not — but all are very busy throughout the summer.

Dr. Kim Finch (EAD) is engaged in extensive professional development to become a lead trainer of educator evaluators. This fall, she will be part of the statewide effort to provide professional development for school administrators who supervise and evaluate teachers and administrators within their school districts.

Dr. Jef Cornelius-White (COU) led a team of Missouri State University students on a study-away trip during the intersession between spring and summer semesters. He traveled to Brazil with students who developed greater knowledge in regard to emotional intelligence, intercultural communication and self-awareness.

Dr. Linda Garrison-Kane (SPE) is developing a pilot program for adolescents/adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder. As part of this effort, she is supervising five thesis students who are providing social skills assessments and instruction during the summer.

Dr. Gilbert Brown (SAHE) combined a practicum supervision with a recruitment trip out-of-state, thus promoting the SAHE program while evaluating student work.

Dr. Leslie Anderson (COU) finished the development of an accreditation self-study for the Counseling Program. This was submitted by July 1 in order for the Counseling Program to apply for CACREP accreditation.

Dr. Paris DePaepe (SPE) and Dr. Chris Craig (SPE/Provost Office) just received a copy of their latest manuscript fresh off the presses as their research culminated in a peer-reviewed journal publication.

Many faculty members are continuing to serve on committees, advise students, and engage in other university work while not officially “on the clock”. The examples I have provided here are only a small portion of the work conducted by faculty members during their “time off”.  I wanted to express my appreciation for the work they do year-round in their efforts to provide a quality education for our students. It is a pleasure to work with dedicated colleagues!!