- Matt Hise M ’14
- Hometown: Perry, Ohio
- Major: Educational Leadership
Despite the cold Ohio winters, Mount Union has the warmest atmosphere. What sets Mount apart from the other colleges and universities is the “personal touch.” At Mount, a student truly feels like a person, not a number.
Faculty Bios
- Dr. Thomas Gannon
- Dr. Melissa Askren Edgehouse
- Dr. Mandy Geddis-Capel
- Dr. Peter Schneller
- Dr. Ernest Pratt
- Dr. Alan Andreani
- Dr. Jennifer Martin
Dr. Thomas Gannon
Director of Graduate Leadership Studies, Co-chair of the Department of Education and Professor of Education
Gannon has more than 40 years of education experience serving as a high school teacher, supervisor, director, principal, superintendent and college professor. He has been a frequent presenter at the international meetings of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), National Staff Development Council (NSDC), Kappa Delta Pi (KDP) and National Middle Schools Association (NMSA).
A member of the Mount Union faculty since 1996, Gannon’s research interests include creating a new leadership practice for the school house that blends the moral dimension centered on purpose, values and beliefs with the best practices of Thomas Sergiovanni, Michael Fullan, Andy Hargreaves and Phillip Schlechty. This research focus is coupled with an investigation of the role teachers play in the formal and informal leadership structures of schools. He also is continually researching alternative forms of teacher interviewing, teacher supervision, induction and the impact of standards on supervision and leadership.
Education
Ed.D., Administration, Seton Hall University
M.Ed., Administration, Auburn University
M.A., History, Montclair State University
B.A., Social Science, Montclair State University
Contact Information
Office: Chapman Hall 345
Office Phone Number: (330) 823-3187
Email: gannontw@mountunion.edu
Website: www.mountunion.edu/tom-gannon
Dr. Melissa Askren Edgehouse
Instructional Design Specialist for the Master of Arts in Educational Leadership Degree Program and Assistant Professor of Education
Before returning to her alma mater to teach, Askren Edgehouse taught fifth and sixth grade for Fairless Local Schools and served as a graduate teaching assistant and adjunct instructor at Bowling Green State University. She also was Lucas County Education Service Center’s school improvement consultant, where she served as a curriculum coordinator, district testing coordinator, textbook adoption leader and assessment evaluator for numerous districts in Northwest Ohio. At Mount Union she teaches a variety of courses focused on assessment and technology, and serves on the instructional technology, graduate advisory and Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAPE) committees.
She frequently attends conferences and serves as a presenter for Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), Ohio Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (Ohio ASCD), eTech, American Educational Research Association (AERA) and Mid-Western Educational Research Association (MWERA), among others. She is an ASCD Emerging Leader and the newsletter editor and president of Ohio ASCD. Askren Edgehouse’s research interests include educational technology, women in education, leadership and organizational change, professional development, teacher evaluation and data and testing.
Education
Ed.D., Educational Administration and Leadership Studies, Bowling Green State University
M.Ed., Administration and Supervision, Ashland University
B.A., Elementary Education, University of Mount Union
Contact Information
Office: Chapman Hall 207
Office Phone Number: (330) 823-3280
Cell Phone Number: (330) 268-3632
Email: askrenma@mountunion.edu
Dr. Mandy Geddis-Capel
Assistant Professor of Education
Geddis-Capel has served as an elementary and middle school teacher in both private and public institutions, single sex and co-educational institutions, and held a variety of leadership roles within the field of education, all before returning to her alma mater to teach at the collegiate level. A member of the Mount Union faculty since 2007, Geddis-Capel teaches introductory and methods courses in the early childhood, middle childhood and adolescent to young adult programs.
While working on a doctoral degree at Kent State University, she served as a co-researcher for the Curriculum Leadership Institute and on the boards of various curriculum organizations. Her research interests include democratic education, global education, spiritual and creative development in schools, new teacher mentoring and curriculum leadership.
Education
Ph.D., Curriculum and Instruction, Kent State University
M.Ed., General Education, Marygrove College
B.A., Elementary Education, University of Mount Union
Contact Information
Office: Chapman Hall 361
Office Phone Number: (330) 823-8159
Email: capelml@mountunion.edu
Dr. Peter Schneller
Co-Chair of the Department of Education and Professor of Education
Over the years, Schneller has served as an elementary, middle school, high school and college teacher. He most recently finished editing the book Navigating the C’s: Creativity, Care, Compassion, Character, Cosmopolitanism, Contribution, and Critical Awareness, An Introduction to Comparative Education for the 21st Century. In fact, he’s the author of the chapter, “The Creative Spirit.”
In 2009, he spent three weeks conducting educational workshops on creativity at Christ University in Bangalore, India. A member of the Mount Union faculty since 1998, Schneller has presented at several international conferences including the 7th and 8th Bulgarian Comparative Education Conference in Tryavna and Plovdiv, Bulgaria and the XIV World Congress of Comparative Education Societies in Istanbul, Turkey where his paper Pushing the Border of Pedagogy: Enhancing the Creative Spirit was well received. Aside from creativity, Schneller’s research interests include creative problem solving, spirituality and teaching, literacy, pedagogy, technology and international education.
Education
Ph.D., Teacher Education, University of Idaho
M.S., Reading Specialist, The University of Akron
B.S., Elementary Education, Kent State University
B.A., English/Speech, Wittenberg University
Contact Information
Office: Chapman Hall 337
Office Phone Number: (330) 829-8223
Email: schnelpl@mountunion.edu
Dr. Ernest Pratt
Associate Professor of Education
Pratt is the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) coordinator on Mount Union’s campus, and has more than 10 years of experience teaching mathematics and science in public high schools in Freetown, Sierra Leone and Fort Worth, TX. While working toward a doctoral degree at the University of Tennessee he taught mathematics methods courses in its master’s of education program.
He is a member of numerous professional organizations including National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE), Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME), Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI), and Ohio Council of Teachers of Mathematics (OCTM). He frequently presents papers at national and international professional conferences such as the International Conference on Learning, NCTM and ACEI. His research interests include using manipulative materials in the mathematics classroom, teacher preparation, equity, diversity, multicultural education and urban education.
Education
Ph.D., Mathematics Education, University of Tennessee
M.Ed., Mathematics Education, University of North Texas
B.S., Chemistry, University of Sierra Leone
Contact Information
Office: Chapman Hall 473
Office Phone Number: (330) 829-2753
Email: pratteo@mountunion.edu
Dr. Alan Andreani
Master of Arts in Educational Leadership Degree Program Internship Coordinator, Field Placement Supervisor and Instructor
Andreani has more than 30 years of experience in public education. He is the former superintendent of the Marlington Local School District, and has held other leadership and administrative positions within the district including assistant superintendent, principal, elementary and secondary curriculum director, business manager, high school principal, high school assistant principal and coordinator of gifted programming. He was also a science instructor at Marlington High School for eight years.
At the University of Mount Union, he teaches numerous education courses such as Introduction to Education, Secondary Methods, Science Methods, Introduction to Secondary Education and Secondary School Assessment. He is the field supervisor for pre-clinical practice, and supervises clinical practice students as well. His research specialties are in school crisis planning, implementation, risk communication, strategic planning, administrative team building and the use of problem-solving models in the educational arena. He has presented on these topics at the local, state and national levels.
Education
Ed.D., Educational Leadership, Youngstown State University
M.Ed., Educational Administration, Kent State University
B.S., Science Comprehensive Education, Kent State University
Contact Information
Office: Chapman Hall 6B
Office Phone Number: (330) 823-3170
Email: andreaac@mountunion.edu
Dr. Jennifer Martin
Assistant Professor of Education
Martin worked as a special lecturer in the departments of women and gender studies and educational leadership at Oakland University. While there, she developed new programming, taught both introductory and upper level courses and facilitated the capstone internship program. She also served as the department head of English at Tinkham Alternative High School for 15 years. In this role, she designed, planned and implemented curriculum for English language arts courses and taught various courses to an at-risk population.
She is the author of Women as Leaders in Education: Succeeding Despite Inequity, Discrimination, and Other Challenges and has contributed chapters to nearly 20 books. Some of Martin’s research interests include gender equity, Title IX, service-learning, social justice, sexual harassment, bullying awareness and prevention, women's leadership in education and program development and assessment.
Martin is a member of the Association of Teacher Educators, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, American Educational Research Association, International Coalition Against Sexual Harassment, Research on Women and Education and the National Council for Teachers of English.
Education
Ph.D., Educational Leadership, Oakland University
M.A., English Literature, Eastern Michigan University
M.L.S., Women’s Studies, Eastern Michigan University
Ed.S., Administration and Leadership, Oakland University
B.A., English, Philosophy and Education, University of Michigan-Dearborn