Director Hired For New Learning Community At SMC

02/24/09 — Pioneer Learning Community Will Be A Key Component For Student Learning

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -  Spartanburg Methodist College has hired a director for the Pioneer Learning Community (LC), a program designed to increase student learning opportunities at the College.

Kathleen Brown will be heading up the new program, which will be offered to students this fall.

"I feel very welcomed as part of the SMC family and I think the LC program will bring possibilities and expansion to already solid, student-centered curriculum.  I look forward to facilitating strong connections on campus," says Brown.

The Pioneer Learning Community has been developed as the key part of the College's Quality Enhancement Plan. As part of reaffirmation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, member institutions are now required to have a program in place which addresses the improvement of student learning.

The program will begin in Fall 2009 with 40 to 50 students, divided into two groups.  

LC students will take three courses together in the fall semester - English Composition I, General Psychology, and the Freshman Year Experience. In the spring, they will take English Composition II, Introduction to Religious Thought, and Freshman Year Experience II.

As director, Brown will identify and contact eligible students; provide orientation and training for students and new faculty; coordinate the linking of academic courses of the LC faculty; provide leadership, guidance and advice to the LC faculty; plan course schedules of LC students; coordinate LC activities; adminster student evaluations of LC faculty; prepare, recommend and administer the LC budget; help to select new LC faculty and staff; and evaluate the LC program.

She will also be teaching academic courses starting this fall.

"Kathy's excitement about the Learning Community  is contagious. Her educational training includes progressive educational philosophies such as holistic education, town meetings, cooperative learning, interdisciplinary learning and discovery learning - all excellent strategies to improve student engagement and  student learning. She can't wait until fall and neither can we," says Ann Bowles, SMC Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Brown is a native of southern Florida, where she graduated from Barry University with a Bachelor's of Science in Chemistry with a minor in Biology in 1986. Her undergraduate research was conducted at the Emory University School of Medicine's Department of Biochemistry.   

She received a Master of Education in Natural Science from Converse College in 2005.  

Brown has served as an adjunct biology instructor at  Converse College and Limestone College. She previously taught at Polk County High School in Columbus, NC, where she instructed biology and chemistry. Prior to that, she taught at the Paideia School in Atlanta.

The goal of the Pioneer Learning  Community is for students to improve student-student and student-faculty interaction, set goals and take steps to achieve personal goals, be able to clearly describe the relationships between the courses they are taking, and develop responsibilities and values.

Spartanburg Methodist College is in its 98th year of providing a quality education to students in a Christian environment. More than 90 percent of SMC graduates continue their education at other institutions of higher learning.

For more information, please contact Brian Fulkerson, Director of Public Information, at (864) 587-4254.

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