Faculty and Staff

Congratulations on your achievements!

  • Dr. Veronica McGowan, Assistant Professor of Computer and Business Information Systems, has received a $600 Diane Balestri Memorial Scholarship from EDUCAUSE to attend an EDUCAUSE professional development event in the coming year in the area of educational technology leadership.
  • Dr. Jack Schmidt, Professor of Music, recently presented a paper entitled,  “Re-Thinking Music Education: Mentoring Students to Successfully Navigate the Challenges of the Future,” as part of a panel on Cultural Responses to Economic Challenges at the College Music Society’s annual conference in Richmond, VA.
  • Dr. Tanya Casas, Assistant Professor of Sociology, recently presented a paper entitled “Transcending the Coloniality of Development: Moving Beyond Human/Nature Hierarchies,”  at Cornell University’s “Rethinking Development” conference organized by its Department of Development Sociology.
  • The Business Administration Department, under the leadership of Co-Chairs Ermira Gegvata and Larry Stelmach, hosted Laura Owen ’79, President and Chief Executive Officer of PontSalus, LLC, as the College’s eleventh Thomas W. Watson Executive-in-Residence on November 17.  Ms. Owen shared her experiences as an entrepreneur with our students.
  • The Liberal Arts Department, under the leadership of Drs. Tanya Casas and Jay Su, co- hosted with Students for Diversity and Hillel their biannual Multicultural Forum on November 15 featuring Ms. Judy Meisel, a human rights activist and Holocaust survivor, who shared her experiences in combating bigotry and racism.
  • The English Department, under the leadership of Dr. Michael Stamps, Dr. Ronald DePeter, Dr. Wilbert Turner, and Mr. Brian Lutz, hosted its Fifth Annual Student Writing Conference on November 30, which featured the work of approximately two dozen DVC students across virtually all majors.
  • Dr. Karen Schramm, Professor of English, has had her proposal, "Keep Humanity in the Humanities: Teaching Responsibly with Technology," accepted for Round Table Discussion at the Annual Lilly Conference on College and University Teaching, to be held in Washington, D.C., May 31-June 3.
  • Rev. Dr. Richard Ziemer, Professor of Liberal Arts, has been invited to speak at several area churches in Bucks and Montgomery Counties over the past two months.
  • The Business Administration Department is a candidate for accreditation with the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs.  This effort is being led by Christine Seel, Assistant Professor of Business Administration, and Larry Stelmach, Associate Professor and Chair of Business Administration.
  • Dr. Steve DeBroux and Michael Fleischacker have been appointed co-chairs of the Natural Resources and Biosystem Management Department
  • Howard Eyre attended a training seminar on the influence of hormones on the development of lateral roots on trees in Durham, NH on October 28
  • Michael Fleischacker attended the annual meeting of the American Society of Landscape Architects in San Diego, CA on October 29
  • Steve DeBroux attended the Mid-Atlantic LGBTA conference with the executive committee of the student organization GLOW at Bloomsburg University on November 5
  • Jackie Ricotta was an invited guest lecturer in the “Organic Crop Production” course at Rutgers University
  • Mingwang Liu attended the 39th Annual Conference of the American Horticultural Therapy Association (AHTA) in Asheville, North Carolina on October 21-23.  He promoted the Horticultural Therapy Certificate program at DVC.
  • Dr. Michael Stamps, Assistant Professor of English, presented a paper entitled, “Killer Queens:  The Male Transvestite as Film Villain in Psycho and The Silence of the Lambs,” as part of the GLBTQ session at the Mid-Atlantic Popular American Culture Association Conference in Philadelphia on November 5.
  • Dr. Ronald DePeter, Assistant Professor of English, presented a paper entitled, “Bodies Through the Looking Glass:  Role of Voyeur-Characters in AIP’s Beach Party Films,” at the Mid-Atlantic Popular American Culture Association Conference in Philadelphia on November 5.
  • Dr. Karen Schramm, Professor of English, has received word that her haiku, “SpringGift,” has been accepted for publication in the National Gallery of Writing, an online scholarly writing community hosted by the National Council of Teachers of English.
  • Ms. Katie Kennedy-Reilly, Lecturer of Education, gave a presentation entitled, “Innovative Practices in Preparing Pre-Service Teachers,” at the Fall 2011 PAC-TE Conference in Harrisburg.  This was a collaborative effort with colleagues from Gettysburg, Grove City, and Lycoming Colleges.
  • Dr. Audrey Ervin, Lecturer of Counseling Psychology, Dr. Allison Buskirk-Cohen, Assistant Professor of Counseling Psychology, and Mr. Reb Brooks, an Adjunct Faculty Member in the Liberal Arts Department, planned, hosted, and led a conference entitled, “Networking for Youth,” at the College on October 7.  This conference brought together mental health providers and school counselors to discuss current issues and strategies for dealing with today’s youth.  The event was co-sponsored by the PA Psychological Association and the Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce.
  • Dr. Karen Schramm, Professor of English, has had her proposal entitled, "Thinking Outside the (Techno-) Box:  Yeah, There's an App for That," accepted for inclusion on the "Slow Down...or Download?" panel at the Northeast Modern Language Association Convention in Rochester, NY in March.
  • Ms. Katie Kennedy-Reilly, Lecturer of Education, has been selected as a Fellow for the Education Policy and Leadership Center.  The Center encourages and supports the development of educational professionals and helps build their awareness of the many public policy issues around education.  Katie is beginning a year long journey with the Center that include regional and statewide forums.  She will graduate from the program next June.
  • Dr. Allison Buskirk-Cohen, Assistant Professor of Counseling Psychology, has co-authored an article entitled, "Exploring Learner-Centered Assessment:  A Cross-Disciplinary Approach," that has been accepted for publication this fall in the International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.
  • The 2011 Cornucopia was dedicated to its advisor, Ms. Joann Donigan, Instructor of English.
  • Dr. Christopher Tipping, Associate Professor of Biology, was recently interviewed for an article entitled, "Bug Survey Finds No Emerald Ash Borers in Bucks County, " which has appeared in several venues in the region.
  • Dr. Melissa Langston, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, recently published a paper in Science entitled, "Self-Recognition Among Different Polyprotic Macroions During Assembly Processes in Dilute Solution."  Also, one of Dr. Langston's students,
  • Chemistry/Secondary Education major Dylan Fedell has been selected to receive a Student Research Award at the Eastern Analytical Symposium this November in Somerset, New Jersey. Dylan worked with Dr. Langston as a student researcher enrolled in the Student Research Course and used the experience to develop high school and undergraduate chemistry laboratories related to automotive chemistry. Other student award recipients this year are from University of North Carolina, University of New Hampshire, Furman University, and University of Massachusetts.
  • Dr. Tanya Casas, Assistant Professor of Liberal Arts, presented a paper entitled, "Indigenous Ontologies and Expanding Political Frontiers," at the annual American Sociological Association meeting in Las Vegas in August.  Dr. Casas also spent part of the summer in Ecuador to update her research on indigenous activism in the region.  While there, she met with the Director of International Programs at the University of San Francisco of Quito to discuss the possibility of future collaboration between that institution and Delaware Valley College. 
  • Steve DeBroux, Howard Eyre, Michael Fleischacker, April Laskow, Richard Cowhig, Edward Sambriski and Svetlana Shkitko contributed their time, enthusiasm and opened their hearts to host students from University of Podlasie.
  • Dr. Jackie Ricotta was an invited speaker at the Seeding the Future Conference, which was held Oct 14/15 at Dickenson College.  Her presentation was “Training the Next Generation: hands-on learning using the campus farm to teach vegetable production within a 4 year degree program.”
  • Mr. Ronald Petruso, Instructor of Chemistry, has received a provisional patent for his work on an extraction process of oils from tobacco plants for use as a biofuel.Dr. Christopher Tipping, Associate Professor of Biology, has had a paper entitled "Leafhopper Comparative Genomics - Identifying Similarities and Differences Across Leafhopper Vectors of Pierce's Disease" accepted for publication in Southwestern Entomologist.
  • Dr. Gregory George, Assistant Professor of Biology, has been appointed to the Pennsylvania Academy of Science Editorial Review Board.
  • Mr. Shih-chieh Su has completed all of the requirements for his Ph.D. in History at Brown University.  His dissertation is entitled "Modern Nationalism and the Making of a Professional Historian."
  • Dr. Imad Benjelloun, Associate Professor of Mathematics, has been invited by the National Center for Scientific and Technical Research of Morocco as an expert in the domain of Quality Management and Organizational Excellence under a program whose mission is to invite Moroccan experts living abroad to participate in the development of their home country.
  • Dr. Veronica McGowan, Assistant Professor of Computer and Business Information Systems, has been named as Editor of the Journal for Computing Teachers.
  • Dr. Wil Turner, Assistant Professor of English, had his play, The Facebook Chronicles, premiere this past summer at the Allendale Columbia School in Rochester, NY.
  • Dr. Karen Schramm, Professor of English, has had a paper entitled "What are You Doing... About Technology in the Classroom? Or, Stop Short-Circuiting Learning from Day One" accepted for publication in the August 2011 issue of English Leadership Quarterly.
  • Lucy Hritz, a local ninth grade student, was mentored by Dr. Cynthia Keler of the Biology Department on a microbiology project that garnered the top prize at the Delaware Valley Science Fair.  Lucy also received a merit award from the USDA and a merit award from the American Society of Microbiology. 
  • Kelly Gresh, a local high school student, was mentored by Mr. Ronald Petruso of the Chemistry Department on a chemistry project that earned her a gold medal at the Delaware Valley Science Fair.
  • English Department faculty Dr. Ronald DePeter, Dr. Michael Stamps, Dr. Wil Turner, and Mr. Brian Lutz will lead a roundtable discussion on outcomes assessment at the Faculty of the Future Conference at Bucks County Community College on June 3.
  • Research conducted on proturans by Dr. Christopher Tipping of the Biology Department and Biology alumnus Michael Cavallaro was recently presented by Mr. Cavallaro at the Entomological Society of America's meeting in Minneapolis.
  • Dr. Karen Schramm of the English Department and Faculty Advisor to the Gleaner hosted a successful Gleaner Gala with her staff on April 21.
  • Biology Department faculty Dr. Cynthia Keler and Dr. Gregory George accompanied three DVC students to the Pennsylvania Academy of Science meeting in Altoona in April.  The students, Kelsey Bruno, Courtney Dickinson, and Courtney Wolfe, presented research that they conducted as part of the Student Research course.
  • Suzy White will attend the convention National Association of Equine Affiliated Academics. She was selected for a poster presentation at the event
  • On May 15th, Bruce Richards will graduate from the University of Illinois with his PhD in Animal Science.
  • Dr. Karen Schramm of the English Department has an article entitled  “What Are You Doing…About Technology in the Humanities Classroom?” under editorial review at Profession 2011.
  • Ms. KatieKennedy-Reilly of the Education Department accompanied Education majors to Doyle Elementary School where they worked with over 300 students in their classrooms for "Reading Across America" and "World Math Day."
  • Ms. Joann Donigan of the English Department has announced that theCornucopia has been awarded an "Outstanding Achievement" designation by its publisher.  This means that the Delaware Valley College yearbook will be used across the greater Philadelphia region as a model of a high quality publication.
  • Dr. Veronica McGowan of the Computer and Business Information Systems Department has received word that her paper "Employing the SOIP Model for Improving Geometry Instruction" has been accepted for presentation at the One Voice International Conference and Forum in Washington, D.C. The paper will be published in the online One Voice Presentation Library and in the One Voice International Collection of Scholarly Works.
  • Dr. Yun Li of the Chemistry Department recently published an article entitled "Long-range Effects of Histone Point Mutations on DNA Remodeling Revealed from the Computational Analyses of SIN-mutant Nucleosome Structures" in the journal Nucleic Acids Research. 
  • Hunt Seat Equestrian Team , coached by Cory Kieschnick, competed in 2 competitions – North Carolina and Virginia.  They won the NC event, beating out 21 other teams.  In VA, came in 2nd to powerhouse Virginia Intermont and had the winning Medal rider.  These are very impressive results
  • Dressage Team hosted an Intercollegiate Show in Fed. Placing 2nd.  One remaining completion in Cazenovia College, which will determine the standings for our region at the National Championships. Congratulations to  Angelo Telatin and Breann DePietro!
  • Dr. Audrey Ervin has been invited to serve on the national advisory board for Activate! - A 5 Step Guide to Student Activism.  This initiative is being launched by the Wilbron Institute, LCC to inspire student activism on college campuses. 
  • Dr. Ron DePeter has had an article accepted for publication (late 2011) in the first-year composition journal Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing.  The article is “Avoiding The Descent:  How to Write Meaningful Peer Feedback Praise and Questions.”  He has also begun co-editing a book with Gay Lynn Crossley, Professor of English at Marian University.  The title is More to Be Done: Richard Straub’s Theory of Writing as Authoring.  
  • Michael Fleishacker has been selected by the International Education Committee to serve as the faculty delegate for the Piszek-Evans-Diamond Exchange program. Michael will be travelling to the University of Podlasie in Siedlace (Shid-listz -e), Poland in May along with 5 students.
  • Doug Linde has been asked to review a research paper by the Editorial Board of the Journal of Environmental Quality.
  • Jackie Ricotta was invited to present a guest lecture in the “Organic Crop Production” course at Rutgers University.
  • Angelo Telatin has been invited to go to Italy to present his horse training theories at the Horse Expo, Cavalli a Milano.
  • Breanne Di Pietro has qualified to participate in the L-dressage judging program. She will participate in professional development and training courses next semester and is looking forward to become a certified dressage judge next year.
  • Larry Morris has been selected for a second three year term as chair of the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) committee for Dairy Cattle Judging contests. The committee is responsible for the rules and regulations for all four year collegiate dairy judging contests in the U.S. The chair of this committee is selected and voted on by all of the collegiate coaches at the National Contest in Madison, Wisconsin. His first term was from 2007 thru 2010. The current term runs from 2010 thru 2013.
  • Thanks to Richard Cowhig, John Martin, Bob Pierson and Tom Slane for their help in coordinating the in-service training day for the W.B. Saul High School faculty. The in-service will be held on Wednesday beginning at 12:15 if any faculty member would like to be at the lunch to meet and greet the Saul faculty, please let me or Bob know.
    Dr. Tanya Casas, Assistant Professor of Liberal Arts, recently attended the American Sociological Association's annual conference in Atlanta where she presented a paper entitled "Indigenous Resistance at a Crossroads."
  • Dr. David Snyder, Associate Professor of History, presented a lecture to the Bucks County Sierra Club on October 20 entitled "America's Energy Policy - Or Lack Thereof."
  • Dr. Karen Schramm, Associate Professor of English, has received word that her haiku poem "AutumnBlessings" has been accepted into the National Gallery of Writing.
  • Dr. Audrey Ervin, Lecturer of Counseling Psychology, has been notified that her conference proposal "Assessing Student Global Holistic Development" has been accepted to the Forum on Education Abroad, which will take place in Boston in April.
  • Ms. Sarah Penniman, Instructor and Access Services Librarian, delivered a presentation on using clicker technology for library instruction at the fall conference of the Delaware Valley Chapter of the Association of College and Research Libraries held recently at Penn State Great Valley. She also recently presented at a national on-line conference sponsored by Amigos Library Services called "Going Green at Your Library."
  • Dr. Edward Sambriski, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, recently completed three research projects, one of which took place at the PA Biotechnology Center - Bucks County and two of which took place in cooperation with researchers at two institutions in Mexico City. Two manuscripts for publication have been submitted to the Journal of Chemical Physics with several more to follow.
  • Ms. Veronica McGowan, Assistant Professor of Computer and Business Information Systems, is now Dr. Veronica McGowan. Dr. McGowan successfully defended her dissertation "Faculty Perspective on the Effectiveness of E-assessment Tools for Selected Student-Based Factors" earlier this month. She has also had a paper titled "Best Practices for Curriculum Developers Incorporating Just-in-Time Curricular Delivery into Teacher Preparation Coursework" accepted for presentation at the PA Educational Technology Exposition and Conference in Hershey in February.
  • Dr. Bob Pierson, Associate Professor of Food Science, Nutrition and Management was invited to be a presenter on Outcomes Assessment for Study Abroad Programs at the International Intercultural Development Inventory Conference in Minneapolis. Bob was one of only 16 juried presentations at the conference.
  • As many of you know we hosted a delegation of four students and a faculty member from the University of Podlasie in Poland this fall as a part of the Piszek-Evans-Diamond Exchange program. Many of our faculty members participated in facilitating the exchange and some of them spent an enormous amount of time hosting the delegation. Much credit goes to Svetlana Shkitko who coordinated the effort. Additional faculty who should be recognized for their efforts include:
    Howard Eyre
    Steve DeBroux
    Michael Fleischacker
    Marian Schad
    Ed Sambriski
    Brian Lutz
    Sarah Penniman
    Peter Kupersmith
    Janet Klaessig
  • Svetlana mentioned that this was truly a team effort by the faculty and staff who volunteered for this program and willingly donated their enthusiasm and time. I also want to personally thank everyone involved.
  • Strategic planning is moving forward at a rapid pace. The Online Learning Initiative, 9.3.2 team is working on the plan for online learning at the college and they are interested in talking with faculty prior to any formal feedback sessions to incorporate faculty ideas into their report. If you would be willing to share some of your ideas with a one on one discussion with a member of the team please let me know after the meeting or contact me later.
  • Dr. James O'Connor of the English Department had a successful run of his play "Literary Disruption" at the 2010 Midtown International Theater Festival in July. This is the second consecutive year that Dr. O'Connor has produced a play at the festival.
  • Dr. Cynthia Keler of the Biology Department and Dr. Anabelle Morales of the Food Science, Nutrition, and Management Department co-hosted a teaching conference at the College on June 3 entitled "Critical Thinking as Applied to Science Education" on behalf of the Delaware/Eastern PA Regional Microbiology Educators Network. 
  • Dr. Cynthia Keler of the Biology Department was selected to participate in the ASM/JGI Functional Genomics Institute at Hiram College from June 6-10, 2010. 
  • Ms. Veronica McGowan of the Computer and Business Information Systems Department was named to the Editorial Review Board for the Journal of Computing Teachers. 
  • Dr. Allison Buskirk-Cohen had three proposals for presentations to the International Society for Exploring Teaching and Learning accepted. Counseling Psychology major Maggie Levikoff will co-present "Instant Results: Teacher and Learner Perspectives on Using an Online Evaluation Tool" with Dr. Buskirk-Cohen. 
  • Dr. Gregory George of the Biology Department was an invited symposium presenter for the Wilson Ornithological Society meeting this past summer. His presentation was entitled "Avian Responses to Gas Well Development in the Central Appalachians." 
  • Reg Hoyt is the recipient of The Harleysville National Bank Professorship. This award is given every two years, and includes financial support for teaching excellence and a designated project in the amount of $2,500 each of two years. Reg is using the funds to support the development of a habitat restoration project for a wooded area on campus which he uses for multiple classes. This semester students enrolled in Current Topics in Ecological Habitat Restoration are working on the basic element of a plan for evaluation of the site, possible activities to improve the site, and means of monitoring various indicators of ecosystem health and overall biodiversity. Reg hopes that several classes, in various departments, will use the site as a living classroom, gathering monitoring data that over the long-term will indicate if his restoration efforts are successful. The classes involved will include: from Biology--Ecology, Limnology, Ornithology, & Entomology; from Environmental Sciences--Dendrology & Watershed Management; and from ABC--Wildlife Management, Mammology & Herpetology. 
  • The DVC Rain Garden designed by a student in Environmental Design, Giovanni Thomas, under the leadership of Michael Fleischacker, Assistant Professor of Ornamental Horticulture and Environmental Design has won the 2010 PHS Community Greening Award. Awards will be given on Sunday, November 7 at 2:00 p.m. at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society in Philadelphia. 
  • Svetlana Shkitko, Lecturer of Mathematics successfully applied for and received a grant of over $9,000 to support the Piszek-Evans Diamond Exchange Program with the University of Podlasie, Poland. The funds are being used to bring four students and a faculty member from Poland for a nine day visit to the college. Svetlana coordinates the program. She also attended the recent conference of the PACIE to learn more about international education. 
  • Angelo Telatin, Director of the Equine Studies program was presented his official certificate acknowledging his designation as a Fellow of the British Horse Society. While Angelo received this prestigious award last spring, the presentation of the certificate, which was planned by faculty members in the Equine Studies Program, was an official recognition by the college of the award.