WSSU welcomes 30 new faculty
As Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) celebrates its 125th anniversary, the university also welcomes 30 new faculty members.
“WSSU’s faculty have a commitment to providing an equity-minded education that supports student success,” says Dr. Carolyn Berry, interim WSSU provost. “We’re confident that our newest WSSU teacher-scholars will expand our efforts to provide high impact teaching, student engaged scholarship, and impactful service to the university and community.”
Learn more about the new faculty members.
The College of Arts, Sciences, Business and Education
Torin Alexander
Assistant Professor, Department of Liberal StudiesPh.D., Religious Studies, Rice University
M.A., Religious Studies, Rice University
M.Div., Union Theological Seminary
M.A., Physics, University of California, Berkeley
B.S., Physics and Mathematics, Vanderbilt University
Alexander is a scholar of African American religion and religious experience. His interdisciplinary research and teaching is influenced by phenomenology, critical theories on race and gender, and post-colonial/post-structuralism studies. His publications include: the Encyclopedia of Religion in America, “Beginning a Career in Academia: A Guide for Graduate Students of Color,” and “Faith in America.” Prior to joining WSSU, he was faculty member at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.
Karen Chapman
Lecturer, Department of Human Services Studies
M.A., Social Work, East Carolina University
M.A., Public Administration, College of Charleston
B.S., Social Work, East Carolina University
Prior to joining WSSU, she worked as a medical social worker in Dublin, Ireland, and was awarded a fellowship from La Societe des Professeurs Francais et Francophones d’Amerique to complete a French immersion program at l’Universite Laval. Previously, Chapman was an adjunct instructor, teaching a variety of social work courses, at Western New Mexico University. In addition to her current role at WSSU, she teaches English as a second language at the American Language Academy in Greensboro. She is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in French at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Beau Gaitors
Laura Garner
Instructor, Department of Health, Physical Education and Sports Studies
M.A., Teaching, Salem College
B.A., Political Science, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Garner has more than 20 years of combined experience as an educator and health professional. She previously served as the director of health services for the Northwest North Carolina Chapter of the American Red Cross. Previously, she was employed as a CPR/lifeguarding/first aid instructor at Wake Forest University and taught second and third grade for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools.
Felicia Griffin
Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics
Ph.D., Biostatistics, Florida State University
M.S., Biostatistics, Florida State University
B.A., Mathematics, Albany State University
Griffin joins WSSU from Montgomery College in Silver Spring, Maryland. Her professional experience includes working as a site coordinator for the NASA Innovation program, where she developed hands-on NASA-based activities pertaining to engineering, science and mathematics for middle school students. Griffin also worked as a mathematical statistician for the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
Christan Horton
Assistant Professor, Department of Human Services Studies
Ph.D., Rehabilitation Counseling and Rehabilitation Counselor Education, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
M.S., Rehabilitation Counseling, North Carolina A&T
B.A., Psychology, North Carolina A&T
Horton joins the faculty from North Carolina A&T. Her research interests are trauma and trauma informed care, mentorship and the impact on counselor trainee self-efficacy, and counselor self-care/wellness. Horton’s research, “Traumatic birth experiences and maternal empowerment: A rehabilitation counseling perspective,” was published in “Ideas and Research You Can Use.”
Kelly Minor
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychological Sciences
Ph.D., Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology, Boston College
B.A., Psychology, Georgia State University
Minor’s professional and scholarly interest include: adolescence and positive youth development, racial and socioeconomic inequalities regarding college access, and STEM education. She has published research articles in peer-reviewed journals, including “Frontiers in Psychology,” “Counseling Across the Lifespan: Prevention and Treatment,” and the Journal of Career Development.
Jessica Mushi
Visiting Lecturer, Department of World Languages and Cultures
M.A., Applied Linguistics, Ohio University
B.A., Education, University of Dare-es-salaam
Mushi, native of Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, has taught Swahili at Ohio University, Harvard University and Boston University. Previously, she was a lecturer at the University of Dodoma in Tanzania. In addition, Mushi has presented her research at national and international conferences. Her core competencies include: language instructional design and delivery, teaching Swahili language to English speakers/foreigners, and educational programs management.
Catherine Payne
Assistant Professor, Department of MathematicsPh.D., Mathematics, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
M.A., Mathematics, UNCG
B.A., Mathematics, UNCG
Payne joins WSSU from UNCG. Her research interests include: numerical solution of differential equations and topology. Payne has a publication in research journal Topology and its Applications and has presented her research at several national conferences. She is currently working on a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded project in mathematical biology, focused on the consequences of density-dependent dispersal. She also serves as a mentor to an undergraduate student on a Differential Equations project as part of a research mentoring team.
Tangela Nichole Phillips
Assistant Professor, Department Management and MarketingPh.D., Business Management, University of Central Florida
M.B.A., Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
B.S., Florida A&M
Phillips’ areas of specialization are: organizational behavior, human resource management and business strategy. She has presented her scholarly research at national and international conferences, and has published research articles in peer-reviewed journals including: the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, Journal of Business Inquiry, Advances in Business Research, and Human Resource Management Review. Prior to joining WSSU, she held positions at Virginia Tech and the University of Mary Washington.
Antonia Randolph
Assistant Professor, Department of Behavioral SciencesPh.D., Sociology, Northwestern University
B.A., Spelman College
Randolph specializes in race and ethnicity, culture, education, gender and sexuality. Prior to joining WSSU, she served as a lecturer at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia. Her publications include her book, “The Wrong Kind of Different: Challenging the Meaning of Diversity in American Classrooms,” and numerous research articles in peer-reviewed journals, such as Youth and Society; Anthropology and Education Quarterly; and Race, Gender and Class. Randolph is in the process of submitting research on “Defining misogyny out of existence: Power evasive and victim blaming discourses among rappers.”
Alyssa Reynolds
Assistant Professor, Department of Management and MarketingPh.D., Marketing, New Mexico State University
B.B.A, Marketing, New Mexico State B.B.A., General Business, New Mexico State
B.B.A., International Business, New Mexico State
Reynolds joins WSSU from New Mexico State University. She has experience teaching courses such as Advertising Strategy, Consumer Behavior, and Introduction to Marketing. She serves as an editor for the Journal of Business Ethics, and is a branding and digital marketing strategies consultant for a real estate company. Her research articles include, “Putting Consumption in Context: Susceptibility to Environmental Cues Impacts Eating Behavior,” and “Keeping up with the promotions: The implications of Kardashians, cord-cutters and the changing landscape of celebrity.”
Dominick Rolle
Assistant Professor, Department of EnglishPh.D., English Language and Literature, Emory University
M.A., English Language and Literature, Emory University
B.A., English Language and Literature, University of Virginia
Rolle has taught courses on President Obamas rhetoric and speeches, the literature of Black warfare, and baseball in American culture. His research interests include: community-engaged learning; 20th century and contemporary American, African American, Anglo-phone Caribbean; and African Diasporic literatures. He has been published in the Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro-Latin Biography and presented at numerous national conferences. Prior to joining WSSU, Rolle was a Jackie McLean Fellow in the English and Modern Languages Department at the University of Hartford.
Daniel Rose
Assistant Professor, Department of Behavioral SciencesPh.D., Sociology, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
M.A., Sociology, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
B.A., Sociology, University of Florida
Rose’s areas of expertise include: the sociology of health and illness; race and ethnicity; social class and stratification; and urban sociology. He has published articles in peer-reviewed journals, such as the Journal of Undergraduate Research, Qualitative Health Research, and Off the Edge of the Table. Prior to joining WSSU, he served as department head for the Social and Behavioral Sciences department at Chattanooga State Community College, where he was also an assistant professor of sociology.
Tasneem Siddiqui
Assistant Professor in the Department of History, Politics and Social Justice
B.A., Anthropology, University of California, Irvine
M.A., American Studies and Ethnicity, University of Southern California
M.S., Social Anthropology, London School of Economics and Political Science
Ph.D., American Studies and Ethnicity, University of Southern California
Previously, Siddiqui was a fellow at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, where she was the primary investigator for the American Muslims Elections Project 2016. She is trained in American studies, critical American Muslim studies, ethnic studies, Black studies and the African diaspora, political geography, U.S. history, and social anthropology. Her current research explores the ways in which racial, ethnic, social, gender, and religious identities are activated, managed, and manipulated for a broad range of political behaviors in the contexts both of the contemporary political activity of American Muslims and of the historical political activity of Black Americans.
Krista Sowell
Assistant Professor, Department of Health, Physical Education and Sports StudiesPh.D. Nutritional Biology, University of California, Davis
B.S. Biochemistry, California State University, Chico
Sowell joins WSSU from the University of California. Her teaching experiences include: human physiology, nutrition, and biochemistry. She is a member of the American Society for Nutrition and the Teratology Society. She has published research in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal for Excellence in College Teaching and Healthcare. Sowell received grants to fund research on the association of maternal immune function and circulating fatty acid levels on offspring neurodevelopment and risk of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in Ukrainian populations.
Dawn Tafari
Assistant Professor, Department of EducationPh.D., Educational Studies, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
M.A., Teaching, The Johns Hopkins University
B.A., Psychology, Hofstra University
Tafari is passionate about the arts, culture, education, and translating theory into practice. She serves as an educational consultant for Guilford County Schools. Her previous experience includes being an elementary school teacher in Brooklyn, New York, and Baltimore, Maryland. Currently, she is the interim coordinator of Birth through Kindergarten Education (BKE) program at WSSU. Her research interest includes: Black boys and P12 schools, critical pedagogy, and literacy instruction and development. Tafari has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals and authored book chapters in publications such as “Intersectionality of Race, Class and Gender with Teaching and Teacher Education,” and “The International Handbook of Critical Pedagogies.”
Tracy Foote White
Assistant Professor, Department of MathematicsPh.D., Mathematics Education, North Carolina State University
M.A.Ed., Mathematics, Wake Forest University
B.S., Mathematics, Winston-Salem State University
White has over 15 years’ experience in teaching. She has taught mathematics on the secondary and collegiate level. As a math teacher with Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, she presented at several conferences, including the North Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics Annual State Math Conference; the Annual Distinguished, Intellectual, Virtuous Academic Sistas Conference; and the Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education in Vancouver, Canada. White’s research is published in Teaching Children Mathematics, the Journal of Technology Studies, and Studies in Teaching 2001 Research Digest. Prior to joining the faculty at WSSU, she was a mathematics teacher for the North Carolina Math and Science Education Network on WSSU’s campus.
Tan Zhang
Assistant Professor, Department of Health, Physical Education and Sports StudiesPh.D., Pedagogical Kinesiology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Ph.D., Physical Cultural Studies/Sport Sociology, University of Maryland, College Park
MHK., Human Kinetics, University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada
B.A., Beijing Sports University
Zhang’s areas of specialty include: pedagogy theories, achievement motivation theories, and critical theories. Previously, she served as an assistant professor at Arkansas State University. Zhang has presented at numerous national and international conferences, and is published in several peer-reviewed journals, including Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise Science; European Physical Education Review; and Sociology of Sport Journal.
School of Health Sciences
William Anong
Assistant Professor, Clinical Laboratory Science DepartmentPh.D., Chemistry, Purdue University
M.B.A., Healthcare Management, Davenport University
B.S., Chemistry, University of Indianapolis
Anong is a certified clinical chemist and a medical laboratory scientist. Most recently, he taught at Georgia Military College. He is an experienced instructor, teaching college-level courses that include chemistry, biochemistry and molecular biology-related research, healthcare, and laboratory skills. He is a member of the American Chemical Society and the American Association for Clinical Chemistry. Anong’s research has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Biological Chemistry and the Journal of American Society of Hematology.
Christina Criminger
Assistant Professor, Department of Physical TherapyPh.D., Physical Therapy, Texas Woman’s University
M.S., Physical Therapy, WSSU
B.S., Exercise and Sport Science, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Criminger is a licensed physical therapist and a board certified clinical specialist in geriatric physical therapy. She has over 10 years’ experience as a clinical employee at various hospitals, and has instructed courses in physical therapy, occupational therapy and human gross anatomy. Prior to joining WSSU, she worked as a PRN physical therapist at UTSW Zale Lipshy University Hospital in Dallas, Texas, while completing her Ph.D.
Melissa Foster
Assistant Professor, Department of Healthcare ManagementD.H.A, Health Administration, University of Phoenix
M.H.A., Health Administration, University of Phoenix
B.S. Radiologic Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Foster’s research interests involve electronic health records for mobile and communication purposes for traveling athletic teams and sports entertainment companies. Foster is a certified CPR and AED instructor, EKG technician, and a phlebotomy technician. She is certified in radiography and computed tomography. Her work experiences include working as a CT Technologist at Moses Cone Health System/Hospital and as a health sciences instructor at ECPI University,
Pandora Goode
Assistant Professor, Division of NursingPh.D., Nursing Science, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
D.N.P., Nursing Practice, University of Tennessee
M.S.N., Family Nurse Practitioner, WSSU
B.S.N., Nursing, North Carolina A&T State University
Goode has over 20 years’ experience as a nurse. She has worked as a staff nurse in the Oncology unit at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and in the Diabetes unit at Wesley Long Hospital in Greensboro. She also has experience as a Hemodialysis nurse per diem at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. Her research to reduce obesity in African American females on historically black college and university campuses was grant funded by ECKO. She is also published in the Journal of Renal Nursing and Advance for NPs & PAs journal. Prior to joining the faculty at WSSU, she worked as a Family Nurse Practitioner at the Alpha Medical Clinic in Greensboro.
Sheilia Goodwin
Assistant Professor, Division of NursingPh.D., Education, Indiana University
M.S., Nursing, Indiana University
B.S., Nursing, Purdue University
Goodwin has extensive national and international work experiences. She worked as a program assistant for grants at the Center for International Education and Development Assistance in Bloomington, Indiana. She was also an educational project manager and curriculum developer for PT Berkala Pranasetia in Jakarta, Indonesia. Goodwin has taught courses such as Pharmacology in Nursing, Mental Health Nursing, and Transcultural Nursing. Her scholarly works are printed in over 20 publications.
Joanna Hargis
Instructor, Division of NursingM.S.N., Nursing Education, Winston-Salem State University
B.S., Nursing, Erlanger School of Nursing
Hargis joins the School of Health Sciences after working as a nursing instructor for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. She has experience teaching course such as nursing roles, medical terminology, and pharmacology and mental health. She has over 15 years of nursing experience as a nurse and minimum data set coordinator.
Bridgett Sellars
Director of RN-BSN, Associate Professor, Division of NursingPh.D., Nurse Scientist, University of San Diego
M.S., Nursing, UNCG
M.A., Health Services Management, Webster University
B.S., Nursing, UNCG
Sellars is an experienced academic educator and nurse leader with more than 20 years of nursing experience, as well as several years of teaching experience in the classroom setting. She has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including Nurse Leader Journal, Nursing Management, and Healthcare Executive. Sellars has presented her research at numerous national conferences. Prior to joining WSSU, she was an assistant professor at California State University's School of Nursing and later an adjunct online faculty member at South University.
Phillip Timcheck
Instructor, Division of NursingM.S. Nursing, Carlow University
M.B.A. Healthcare Management, Carlow University
B.S. Nursing, Robert Morris University
Timcheck joins WSSU from Robert Morris University in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, where he was an adjunct nursing faculty member. He is pursuing his Ph.D. in Nursing from Indiana University in Pennsylvania. Timcheck’s professional experiences include working as a nurse in the surgical intensive care unit and as a research assistant in an anesthesia department.
Claudia Wilson
Instructor, Clinical Laboratory Science DepartmentM.S., Healthcare, University of Phoenix
Wilson has over seven years of experience teaching and assessing students in various clinical laboratory classes. She is a certified medical laboratory scientist by the American Society of Clinical Pathologists. She is also a member of Lambda Tau a national honor society for medical technologists.
Center for Innovative and Transformative Instruction (CITI)
Dr. Bartlett Ganzert
Faculty Development Specialist/InstructorEd.D. Educational Leadership, Appalachian State University
Ed.S., Adult Education, Appalachian State University
M.A. Education, Wake Forest University
B.A. English, Wake Forest University
Ganzert is an veteran education professional with experience in instructional design, learning communities, and program and course development. He has over 25 years of experience in secondary and post-secondary education. Prior to joining the Center for Innovation and Transformative Instruction, he worked as an adjunct instructor of expository writing and argument-based writing at Forsyth Technical Community College. His work includes textbook editing and chapter critiques for Pearson Higher Education, Macmillan Publishing, and Cengage Learning. He has also been published in Community College Week, Current Issues in Education, and the Buffalo Law Journal.
Dr. Wanda White
Associate Professor/Faculty Development SpecialistEd.D, Educational Leadership, University of North Carolina, Charlotte
M.A., English, University of North Carolina, Charlotte
B.A., English, Winston-Salem State University
White is a seasoned educator in instructional design, research methodology, and collegiate instruction. She has experience in technology, instruction, and workplace learning and development. Previous to joining the Center for Innovation and Transformative Instruction, she served as the department chair for the Division of English, Reading, and Humanities at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte.
