AMU APU Online Learning Original

Congratulations to Our 2021 Faculty Award Winners!

By Amy Everson
Senior Manager, Student and Alumni Affairs

Congratulations to our 2021 faculty award winners! These awards recognize nine outstanding faculty members at the graduate and undergraduate levels who have demonstrated teaching excellence. They are leaders and scholars dedicated to guiding our students into the future.

Dr. Wallace E. Boston Leadership Award

Established in 2016, the Dr. Wallace E. Boston Leadership Award is presented annually by the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees. It recognizes a member of the University community for outstanding leadership and a significant impact on their community, industry, or the world around us.

wallace e. boston leadership faculty award
Kristi Drexler

Dr. Kristi Drexler is a full-time faculty member in the Space Studies and Earth Sciences Program. She teaches geography, environmental science, earth system history and conservation of natural resources for the School of STEM.

Kristi earned her master of arts in international affairs with an emphasis in natural resources management from Ohio University. Later, she earned her Ph.D. in educational leadership at New Mexico State University (NMSU) by researching socioecological systems, sustainable agroecology, and community education.

Kristi has conducted numerous community surveys in Belize regarding agroforestry, conservation and sustainable agriculture. Until she became a full-time instructor in 2009, she was an environmental scientist in New Mexico, conducting field biology surveys and environmental impact analyses.

She founded the Belize Field School Program at NMSU, coordinating short courses in Belize in wildlife, agroforestry, marine ecology, and documentary film (2006-2014). In 2017, she produced an award-winning short film, “Yochi,” about youth conservation and action against poaching and illegal wildlife trade.

In the late 1990s, she served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Belize. Kristi co-founded and serves on the board of directors of Full Basket Belize, a U.S. nonprofit that provides high school scholarships and community grants in Belize.

Kristi serves as a faculty advisor for the student organization chapters Women in STEM (wSTEM) and Association for Women in Science (AWIS). She also founded the “Science Talks with Dr. Drexler and Friends” lesson series for primary school students, taught to students during the 2020-21 school year.

James P. Etter Creativity and Innovation Award

Established in 2004, the James P. Etter Creativity and Innovation Award is presented annually to a member of the University community to recognize an innovative or creative contribution that made a significant impact on their community, industry, or the world around us.

james p. etter creativity and innovation faculty award
James Barney

James Barney is this year’s recipient of the James P. Etter Creativity and Innovation Award.  After graduating from American Public University with a master of arts in political science in 2009, James began working as a part-time professor in the Legal Studies program in 2010.  

In 2012, James became a full-time associate professor. He has been awarded the 2016 Excellence in Teaching and Learning Award for the School of Global and Security Studies and the 2019 Dr. Wallace E. Boston Leadership Award.

James serves as a faculty advisor for the Phi Alpha Delta law fraternity and the Model United Nations Club. Additionally, James serves as the pre-law advisor.

James attended Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey, and graduated from New York Law School in 2004. After law school, James spent more than a decade working for four federal judges as a law clerk in Alabama, Georgia and Florida. 

He is admitted to practice law in various jurisdictions and before several courts. In addition to his J.D. and several master’s degrees, James is working on completing his Ph.D. in history at The University of Memphis.

James is a firm believer in online education’s ability to transform the lives of students who may not otherwise be able to continue their studies. Moreover, James believes that a collection of short in-person experiences, including student participation in mock trial, Model United Nations and debating competitions, can provide online students with rich educational experiences. He is currently working on a project to launch an annual study-abroad trip to Europe. 

James is currently conducting research on the United States Supreme Court. He also writes blog articles for the University’s blogs and is working on increasing the school’s profile in academic circles by implementing his various ideas.

Excellence in Teaching Awards

Dr. Karolina Kopczynski, Undergraduate Excellence in Teaching, School of Arts, Humanities, and Education

Karolina Kopcznynski

Dr. Karolina Kopczynski is a native of Poland and moved to the U.S.A. as a high school student. Her passion is learning foreign languages, traveling, and communicating with others to broaden and deepen her perspectives as a global learner. Karolina earned her B. A. in Spanish from UMASS, Amherst, where she also studied French, German, Italian and Russian. She completed her study abroad program in Oviedo, Spain. Karolina obtained her M.A.T. in Spanish and ESOL from the School for International Training, Vermont, in 2000. She also taught herself Greek and lived in Greece.

Additionally, Karolina has lived in Mexico and Russia. In 2010, she completed her Ed.D. from the University of Phoenix in curriculum and instruction. Her dissertation topic was “Student Proficiency in Spanish Taught by Native and Non-native Spanish instructors.”

In 2015, she completed two additional master’s degrees from the University of Jaén in Spain and the University Iberoamericana in Puerto Rico in Applied Linguistics in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language and Formation of Professors of Spanish as a Foreign Language.

Karolina has experience instructing Spanish at all levels and designing online Spanish courses. Recently, she presented a few times at the Massachusetts Foreign Language Association (MaFLA) on “Reading & Listening Comprehension and Writing & Speaking Proficiency” and “Online Applications for Spanish Classroom”; at the Canvas Network international webinar on the “Use of Technology in a Foreign Language Classroom,” at the Wyoming Innovations in Learning Conference on “Boost Engagement and Empower Struggling Learners via Digital Tools,” and at the University’s Teaching Excellence Summit on “Implementation of Technology into Spanish online classes at APUS to increase participation.”

Mr. Willie Davis, Undergraduate Excellence in Teaching, Wallace E. Boston School of Business

Willie Davis

Willie Davis has been a faculty member in the Wallace E. Boston School of Business since 2011.   He serves as a management analyst for a federal agency when he’s not facilitating management courses for the Dr. Wallace E. Boston School of Business. 

As a management analyst, Willie has taught 15 Lean Six Sigma (LSS) courses for agencies within the Intelligence Community, the Atlanta Federal Executive Board, and National Guard units in California, North Carolina, Minnesota, Connecticut, Mississippi, and Michigan. He has led and coached over 30 LSS projects chartered to enhance operations at several federal agencies. Willie is passionate about helping individuals and organizations achieve their educational and strategic goals.

Before serving as a management analyst, Willie was a Logistics Readiness Officer in the United States Air Force. His most memorable assignments are deploying to Southwest Asia 46 days after 9/11 and partnering with stakeholders from Canada, Korea, Belgium, Germany, Macedonia, and Kyrgyzstan in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.  After eight years, Willie separated from the military with two Meritorious Service Medals, four commendations, and two Joint-Service Achievement Medals.

Willie earned his B.S. in industrial engineering from Clemson University and an M.S. in human resource management from Troy State University. In addition, Willie is a Baldrige Examiner, an American Society for Quality-Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence, a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and a certified Project Management Professional.

Dr. Carol Hoban, Undergraduate Excellence in Teaching, School of Health Sciences

Dr. Hoban earned her M.P.H. degree in 1997 from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and a Ph.D. in cellular molecular biology and physiology from Georgia State University in 2008. She has worked in maternal and child health and vaccine-preventable diseases and was the project director for the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) in Georgia for over six years.

Carol was also the project director for the Georgia Immunization Study for over seven years. She has numerous published articles based on her work in both vaccine-preventable diseases and maternal and child health. Carol is currently a peer reviewer for the Maternal and Child Health Journal.

Dr. Linda Ashar, Graduate Excellence in Teaching, Wallace E. Boston School of Business

Linda Ashar

Linda C. Ashar came to the University in 2012. She is a full-time associate professor in the Wallace E. Boston School of Business, teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in business, law and ethics.

She obtained her Juris Doctor from the University of Akron School of Law. Her law practice spans more than 30 years and includes business, employment law, nonprofit organizations, animal law, and litigation.

Linda is active in pro bono legal work, animal rescue and equine breed preservation. She assists in program development and new curriculum design for the business administration program in the Wallace E. Boston School of Business.

Linda has written many publications and hosts a university podcast called “Politics in the Workplace.” In addition to law, Linda has a master of arts in special education.

Linda brings a lifelong love of teaching and dedication to her work. She explains her philosophy of teaching embraces “communicating knowledge and enlightenment to students by engaging their own self-discovery through the materials and the benefit of my own relevant experience and that of others in the field. The methodology needs to be diverse via visual, audio, and tactile (for online – digitally interactive) presentation. Inherent throughout the process is creativity, empathy, flexibility, and respect.” Her approach is reflected in consistent high marks from her students in course evaluations.

Dr. Daniel Graetzer, Graduate Excellence in Teaching, School of Health Sciences

Daniel Graetzer

Daniel Graetzer is passionate about teaching because our students never cease to inspire him. Being around inspirational people within a university that sincerely desires to help active military, veterans, sports, and health science professionals overcome obstacles and then use these skills to help others achieve their personal and professional goals makes the most rewarding career.

While instructing teenagers apprehensive about their futures to adult learners desiring blue-collar to white-collar advancement, Daniel finds it profitable to relate the following: “What lies in front of us and what lies behind us are much smaller things that what lies within us, ” a quotation from author Ralph W. Emerson. Daniel’s philosophy is that “Only through a comprehensive study of the amazingly complex anatomical structure and related physiological functioning within the human body can a person ever really find out what lies within them.”

Dr. Eduardo Martinez, Graduate Excellence in Teaching, School of Security and Global Studies

Eduardo Martinez

Dr. Eduardo V. Martinez began his tenure with the University as a part-time instructor in 2015. His background consists of education and experiences related to crisis management, emergency management, transportation security, and teaching others in fields related to the legal aspects of homeland security.

Eduardo holds a bachelor’s degree in government from the University of Texas, master’s degrees in Legal Studies from Antioch University and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College, and a Juris Doctorate from the Mississippi College School of Law. His knowledge is derived from his time at the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Navy, where he retired as a Captain after 30 years of honorable service.

Eduardo is also a former Special Assistant Attorney General for Mississippi. At the U.S. State Department, he served in several roles, including working as a crisis manager on humanitarian issues such as Hurricane Allen. He was also assigned to the Cuban-Haitian Task Force, where he was responsible for implementing operations at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas.

Later, Eduardo served during several national incidents that included Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Wilma and Gustav. During these disasters, he was the Navy Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officer and coordinated emergency aid assets.

In 2010, Eduardo was the Navy Liaison Officer for Fleet Forces Command at the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in Louisiana. His philosophy is to teach students to work on solutions and not problems. When not working as an attorney, he serves on the Department of Homeland Security Science Advisory Guide for Emergencies.

Dr. James Marion, Graduate Excellence in Teaching, School of STEM

James Marion

James spent over 22 years managing operations and projects within the global wireless telecommunications industry with companies such as N.E.C., Glenayre Electronics, and Panasonic. He shifted into academia full time in 2007 and began teaching with the School of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) in 2010.

James holds an M.S. in engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, and an MSc. and an M.B.A. in strategic planning from the Edinburgh Business School of Heriot-Watt University (U.K.). James also has a Doctor of Philosophy in organization and management with an information technology management specialization from Capella University.

He is a certified project management professional (PMP) and a PMI-certified Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP).

Outstanding Faculty Awards

Ms. Kristen Kostelnik, Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year, School of STEM

Kristen Kostelnik

Professor Kristen Kostelnik joined the University over 10 years ago as an adjunct faculty member in Environmental Science with the goals of designing two new botany courses to be offered in the science curriculum and teaching core courses such as soil science. Since that time, she has joined the team as a full-time assistant professor in environmental science.

Kristen has a bachelor of arts degree in political science and communications from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. She also holds a master of science in botany from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Kristen has been broadly trained as an ecologist and conservation biologist with research focusing on rare, threatened, and endangered plant species and their associated plant communities. That training, combined with prior research in education and policy, has resulted in a current focus on teaching ecology at various scales, conservation biology, soil science, and environmental management.

Kristen is the lead instructor and primary professor for many of the required upper-level environmental science courses. Most of the students in the environmental science program have her as an instructor at least once or sometimes multiple times during their studies.

Her desire to bring her authentic self and personal passion to the subject matter in the context of the safest, most inclusive community of learners that possible is what motivates Kristen. This passion is combined with a commitment to “serving those who serve” not just from the military perspective but a global community perspective. She measures her success by forging real connections with students, ensuring that they leave the University knowing and caring about nature.

Dr. Vicky Graham, Outstanding New Faculty Member of the Year, School of Health Sciences

outstanding new faculty member of the year
Vicky Graham

Dr. Vicky Graham joined the University in 2020. She is a full-time faculty member in the Sports & Health Sciences program.

Vicky earned her bachelor of science degree in education from Bowling Green State University, a master of science in physical education from the University of Tennessee, and a doctorate in athletic training from the University of Idaho. She is a member of the University’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Curriculum Review Committee and the School of Health Sciences’ Curriculum Committee. Dr. Graham contributed the module “Social Distancing and Staying Healthy at Home: Flattening the Curve” to a Health Sciences course, COVID-19 101.

Vicky is engaged in research related to providing athletic training services in secondary schools in underserved communities. She has received a Faculty Research grant in support of one of her projects. In addition to her academic work, Vicky is involved as a member of several committees for the Eastern Athletic Trainers Association and frequently presents on topics related to preventing sudden death in sports and the clinical management of concussion.

Dr. Jessica Sapp, Outstanding Faculty Research and Scholarship, School of Health Sciences

outstanding faculty research and scholarship
Jessica Sapp

Dr. Jessica Sapp is this year’s recipient of the Outstanding Faculty Scholarship and Research Award. Since joining the University in March 2017, she has been awarded five research grants, all of which have included student interns, volunteers or co-investigators.

One research project established the Online Public Health Community Service Program, which allows public health students to participate in digital volunteering. In 2019, she proposed implementing an “article as thesis” structure for the public health capstone thesis course, which has led to multiple student and faculty scholarly publications.

In 2018, Jessica has received the Outstanding New Faculty Member of the Year Award. She has also contributed to the University’s Open Education Resources (OER) initiative, earning an OER Top Performer Award, and was recognized for her student engagement with the Gold Standard Award.

Prior to her academic work, Jessica contributed to America’s space program at the NASA Kennedy Space Center. As the Wellness Manager, one of her roles was to serve as the medical triage communicator for the space shuttle launch and landing team.

Jessica’s first shuttle mission was the STS-114 Discovery. This was the “Return to Flight” mission which was the first shuttle launch following the 2003 Columbia tragedy. She is currently active in her community, serving on the Health Care Advisory Board for Urban Surf 4 Kids and is a volunteer member of the University of Central Florida’s Campus Emergency Response Team.

Dr. Melissa Schnyder, Outstanding Faculty Research and Scholarship (Honorable Mention), School of Security and Global Studies

outstanding faculty research and scholarship honorable mention
Melissa Schnyder

Dr. Melissa Schnyder started as a part-time faculty member in 2012 and began teaching international relations courses full-time in 2014. In the doctoral program, she currently teaches global security courses on global governance, quantitative methods, and statistics. A former Fulbright Fellow to the European Union, her research focuses on European Union politics, transatlantic relations, human security policy issues (forced displacement, climate change, sustainability, and food sovereignty), and norm creation and norm change driven by non-state actors in these policy areas.

Melissa has been awarded competitive grant funding for international research projects involving large-scale surveys of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in 28 countries and fieldwork in more than six countries. Her research has been published in a variety of peer-reviewed journals, including the “Journal of Contemporary European Research,” the “Journal of European Integration,” “Comparative European Politics,” “Social Movement Studies,” the “Journal of Human Rights Practice,” and “Interface: A Journal for and about Social Movements.”

Melissa has also authored two books. One book is “Activism, NGOs, and the State: Multilevel Responses to Immigration Politics in Europe,” published by Roman and Littlefield International Press. With Noha Shawki, Melissa is a co-author on a second book, “Advocating for Refugees in the European Union: Norm-Based Strategies by Civil Society Organizations,” published by Lexington Books.

Amy Everson is the Senior Manager in the Student and Alumni Affairs Department. She holds a bachelor of science in agribusiness/agricultural operations from West Virginia University, a master of science in environmental policy and management from American Public University, and a master of education (Student Affairs) from American Public University.

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