More than 20 faculty members have joined Macon State College for the new academic year, with many of the hires the result of funding related to the Complete College Georgia initiative.

Macon State received $778,500, part of a $72.5 million funding package approved by Gov. Nathan Deal and the General Assembly, to hire more nursing and liberal arts faculty members. All 35 University System of Georgia institutions received new funding to support initiatives that will help the state increase college completion rates.

Of the 23 new faculty members at Macon State, five are teaching in nursing programs, which means Macon State will be able to admit more cohorts of students into its associate degree program in nursing and make it easier for them, once they are practicing RNs, earn a bachelor’s through the RN-BSN program. The RN-BSN program will be able to expand online course offerings.

Six new faculty members in the liberal arts will have a special focus on “core teaching excellence.” As teaching faculty fellows, they will invest most of their time in helping freshmen succeed, thus making it more likely those students will stay in college and complete bachelor’s degrees.

Here is a list of Macon State’s new faculty members. You can see their photos here:

http://www.maconstate.edu/newsbureau/newfaculty1213.aspx.

Shannon Beasley
Assistant Professor of Information Technology
Master of Management Information Systems, Georgia College

Doug Bice
Lecturer of Business
Ph.D, Economics, University of Kentucky

Sonia Dee
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Master of Science in Nursing, Western Governor’s University

Laquita Denson
Lecturer of Education
Master of Education in Instructional Technology, Lesley University

Celeste Dunnington
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Master of Science in Nursing, University of South Alabama

Michael Gibbons
Assistant Professor of Sociology
Ph.D, Sociology, University of Notre Dame

Kim Johnson
Nursing Clinical Instructor
Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Georgia Southern University

Chih Hao “Justin” Ku
Assistant Professor of Information Technology
Ph.D, Information Systems and Technology, Claremont Graduate University

Christopher Lawrence
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Ph.D, Political Science, University of Mississippi

Monica Malbrough
Lecturer of Political Science
Master of Arts in Political Science, University of Georgia

Senthil Muthusamy
Associate Professor of Management
Ph.D. in Business Administration, Oklahoma State University

Scott McElheney
Assistant Professor of Theatre
Master of Fine Arts, University of Southern Mississippi

Simone McMillion
Assistant Professor of Information Technology
Doctor of Science, Information Systems and Communication, Robert Morris University

Eric O’Dell
Lecturer of Art
Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art, Florida State University

Wendy Pooler
Lecturer of Education
Master of Education, Fort Valley State University

Pulipaka Jaya Rao
Lecturer of Biology
Ph.D, Biology, Osmania University, Hyderabad, India


Marsha Roberts
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Master of Science in Nursing, Medical College of Georgia

Sandra Shrader-Monk
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Master of Science in Nursing, University of Phoenix

Brittany Steelman
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Master of Science in Nursing, Vanderbilt University

Susan Sykes
Nursing Clinical Instructor
Bachelor of Science in Nursing, King College

Sabrina Wengier,
Assistant Professor of French
Ph.D., French, University of Miami

Kathy Wilcox
Nursing Clinical Instructor
Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Georgia Southwestern University

Andrew Wright
Lecturer of History
Master of Arts in History, Valdosta State University

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