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Six EHE Awardees: Superstars of their Units
They are the voice for their program’s success, the glue that holds their units together and the model that leads the way.
Six EHE faculty and staff members were honored with 2018 college awards this spring. Nominated by their peers and supervisors, they are considered the superstars of their units.
Here are descriptions of their achievements, often in the direct words of their nominators:
Suzanne Bartle-Haring, Distinguished Faculty Service Award
Professor, Human Development and Family Science, Department of Human Sciences
Faculty service within the college is vital to our success. Bartle-Haring is heavily involved with giving her time to this purpose. The Promotion and Tenure Committee counts her as a member, as do several department committees. As liaison to department administration for her program, Human Development and Family Science, she communicates opportunities and challenges and is a voice for its success. She is always willing to serve the department in an active and engaged role. Bartle-Haring does all of this while teaching, directing the Couple and Family Therapy PhD program and supervising and overseeing the program’s clinic. In addition to these commitments, she also produces research with students and alumni, as in her article, “Is There the ‘Sweet Spot’ for Age at Marriage and Positive Marital Outcomes?”
Karen Beard, Distinguished Teaching Award
Assistant professor, Educational Administration, Department of Educational Studies
Beard regularly receives high evaluations from her students, who are preparing to be school administrators or earning doctorates. Multiple students have expressed their appreciation for Beard’s teaching. She uses real-world examples to illustrate points in readings and helps students see themselves as effective leaders of the future and to view each other as colleagues and resources. Beard is praised for redesigning her courses to introduce innovation, such as supporting inquiry by fostering questioning, collecting or analyzing authentic data and practicing ethical decision-making. In one course, she includes a marginalization experience that encourages students to reflect and grow. Teaching and mentoring students are her passions.
Casey Henceroth, Distinguished Staff Leadership Award
Associate director, Office of Undergraduate Student Services
EHE’s undergraduate advising office assists our students from orientation to graduation, and Henceroth’s nominators say she models the way. She puts students first and works across college departments to enhance processes while gathering department input to better understand the full picture. Comradery and teamwork characterize the office because she provides staff with the perfect balance of support and autonomy. Whenever a frustrated parent contacts the office, Henceroth has an amazing ability not only to validate their thoughts, but also to explain why staff approach the work the way they do. Given the large number of undergraduate students who meet with the team, the number of lives influenced by her leadership are countless.
Helen Higgins, Distinguished Staff Award
Assistant to the Chair, Department of Educational Studies
Higgins is considered the glue that holds her unit together. Little wonder, since she has assisted several different leaders over the last 27 years. Each leader has had varying styles and priorities, yet Higgins supported them and adapted to their distinct styles while maintaining consistency and high standards. Her colleagues feel she creates a work environment that fosters professionalism, integrity and respect. For the department’s faculty searches, she provides the involved faculty and other staff with education in the intricacies of the process. Her diligent work allows the search chair to focus attention on the candidates during their visits, rather than on the visit details. Higgins is a consummate professional, with a good dose of psychologist, life coach, mediator and efficiency expert.
Anneliese Johnson, Distinguished Diversity Enhancement Award
Principal, A. Sophie Rogers School for Early Learning, Schoenbaum Family Center at Weinland Park
Johnson is a tireless advocate, mentor and educator. She pursues funding that ensures the children and families served by the school are as diverse as the urban community in which it is located. She builds a transformational learning environment in which all families feel honored, heard and valued. This approach gives families living in poverty and experiencing trauma access to an educational experience equal to those of more advantaged families. Although enrolled children are exceptionally diverse, Johnson builds infrastructure that allows them and their families to bridge divides that separate them in terms of race, language, culture and socioeconomic status. Undergraduate students conducting internships in our school see true democracy and social justice in action.
Kelly Purtell, Distinguished Research Award
Assistant professor, Human Development and Family Science program, Department of Human Sciences
Since arriving at the college three years ago, Purtell has developed a robust, nationally prominent program of research. She addresses topics of keen relevance, including her widely publicized study showing the often-overlooked fact that 12 percent of children in Head Start are chronically absent. Not only has she received the prominent distinction of a Young Scholars Award from the Foundation for Child Development, but she also led colleagues in receiving a contract to evaluate Cincinnati Preschool Promise, a significant effort to scale up early education. This award allows Purtell and colleagues at the college’s Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy to do work of great local relevance and impact.