Resume

Fred Jordan

1558 Westmoreland Avenue
Syracuse, NY 13210
412.559.4805
fjordaniv@gmail.com

Education

Advising and Career Services

Advising: Wheeling Jesuit University utilized an advising system common to many small liberal arts colleges. Freshmen were assigned to full-time faculty members, who would work with students to develop schedules, track student progress, and ensure that students were fulfilling core and degree requirements. We would then approve their schedules using Academus, a Datatel web portal, which allowed them to register for classes electronically.

We steered students toward majors by matching their interests and longterm goals with our programs.

In the 2007-08 academic year, my advisees included all students majoring in Professional Communication, which afforded me the opportunity to work with upperclassmen.

Professional and Career Support: Students in the Professional Communications program were required to complete practicums and internships. I worked closely with students and departments on campus to ensure that our majors fulfilled our department’s expectations concerning hours and paperwork.

Retention: We worked with students who showed signs of faltering as determined by their midterm grades. Students were assigned to faculty members who would help them to develop effective study habits and time management skills.

Student Development Services Class: I taught several sections of SDS 102, a first year experience class that familiarized our students with career, research, and advising resources through presentations and visits to offices and facilities.

SDS Syllabus

In addition to familiarizing students with Blackboard, I spent a considerable amount of time covering CCACentral, CCAC’s Datatel system.

Teaching Experience

I have included copies of my syllabi and a handout distributed to my English 103 students. The files are linked to the course descriptions below.

I have a a class observation report available here.

Reappointed to the Adjunct Faculty roster on December 22, 2017.

English Composition was paired with a section of English 099: Basic Composition.

The course was based on Rebecca Cox’s The College Fear Factor and a portion of Paolo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Students were encouraged to examine their experiences in education and consider challenges facing contemporary college students.

The course ended with a problem solution essay.

Syllabus (this is the standard departmental syllabus formatted with my older syllabus template).

Paolo Freire Survival Guide (with departmental rubrics at the end).

Basic Composition was paired with Composition 1 as part of the Onondaga Community College’s Accelerated Learning Program. The class provided additional opportunities for writing and discussion of topics and assignments for the paired 103.

Syllabus (modified version of the departmental syllabus).

Teaching Observation

The Community College of Allegheny County consists of four campuses and four centers, although the West Hills Center could rightfully be regarded as a fifth main campus.

Each campus has a president, different department heads, unique offerings, and a distinctive culture. Classes are often filled with students in their 40s, high school seniors and students from tiny coal patch towns, suburbs, or one of Pittsburgh’s many neighborhoods. A growing number of international students added to the school’s diverse student population.

I had the opportunity to teach at all four of CCAC’s main campuses and three of its centers, and I appreciated the opportunity to work with the college’s dedicated department chairs. The system, while complex, afforded me the chance to teach a wide variety of classes and to teach in vastly different settings, and I enjoyed the opportunity to teach such a diverse student population.

I have included a list of the classes I taught at CCAC with links to syllabi. Although CCAC used a universal course template and outline for each class, we had considerable flexibility regarding readings and assignments.

Combined with English 100, English 089 helped to prepare students for Composition 1. Although students would write several several short essays, the emphasis was on grammar, structure and paragraph development. There was a heavy focus on revision, editing and recognizing patterns of error. I taught this class most semesters during my time at CCAC.

Syllabus

CCAC’s second developmental class, English 100 shifted the focus toward short compositions. Students typically wrote 4 to 5 short essays (2-3 pages) and engaged in peer editing. The essays followed the pattern of traditional rhetorical modes. As with English 089, 101 and 105, I taught this class most semester and several summer sessions during my time at CCAC.

Syllabus

Composition I featured five theme-based assignments using a variety of strategies. The essays were culled from chapters in the text. These courses also emphasized discussion of issues presented in the text or handout. The final essays utilized material drawn from our library’s databases.

Syllabus

English 102 was taught as a literature-based class until 2015 at the North Campus. The class was divided into three components: short stories, poetry, and drama.

Essays focused on analysis and explication.

In 2015, the focused shifted to research and argumentation. Assignments included classical and Rogerian arguments and visual analysis.

Students drew their sources from our library’s databases, particularly Academic Search Elite and Opposing Viewpoints.

Literature-Based Syllabus

Research-Based Syllabus

Technical Writing involved assignments such as brochures, resumes and technical reports with a focus on rhetorical strategies.

Creative Writing focused on the creative process. We utilized storyboarding, workshops, and readings. Assignments were geared toward writing poetry and short stories.

Syllabus

Children’s Literature started with nursery rhymes and concluded with a young adult novel. Students wrote fables, created illustrated storybooks in groups, wrote analysis, and delivered presentations at the end of the semester.

Syllabus

The course covered the history and evolution of film, aesthetics, and analysis.

Syllabus

English 200 focused on exploring the history, development, and content of plays. We discussed historical context, implicit and explicit meanings, and the development of stagecraft.

Syllabus

A survey course that focused on the history and development of poetry with a focus on techniques, philosophical and political interpretations, and aesthetics.

Syllabus

English 202 was a survey course focusing on in-depth analysis of short stories.

Syllabus

Early American Literature was a survey class that began with an exploration of Native American texts and concluded with discussions of transcendentalism and the development of a narrative of national identity.

Syllabus

This course traced the development of contemporary American literature from the Realists and Naturalists through Postmodernism.

After working at Wheeling Jesuit for one year as an adjunct in the English Department, I taught in the university’s Professional Communications program for three years and served as the program’s acting chair in the fall of 2007.

In addition to teaching, I advised students, participated in recruitment and retention initiatives, and photographed plays and sporting events.

Basic Writing was a class based around a series of short essays with a focus on grammar and basic composition. The essays were typically 2 pages in length and followed the pattern of rhetorical modes: narration, description, compare and contrast, cause and effect and argument.

English 105: Process of Composition was Wheeling Jesuit’s primary composition class. The course emphasized expository and persuasive writing, and centered on four essays: extended definition, problem solution, persuasive and analysis. Class discussion, revision and peer review were also stressed.

Syllabus

One of two required core literature classes, Literary Foundations involved a genre based approach, with short fiction, poetry and drama each occupying a third of the semester. Students were also introduced to literary terminology and techniques. Assignments included an explication, a 5 page literary analysis and several major exams. Students in the online sections participated weekly on the Blackboard discussion forum and submitted 4 essays.

Syllabus

Poetry Handout

Literary Explorations was the second required core class and featured an emphasis on a particular theme or issue in literature. My sections utilized a variety of sources: novels, poems, short stories and essays to examine the theme of ethics and human interaction as viewed through the works of romantic, realist and modernist authors. The course involves weekly posts on Blackboard, as well as 4 major essays, culminationing with an eight page analysis.

Handout

Principles of Professional Communications acted as a portal to the field of communications. The class centered around discussion, examination and implementation of ethical, rhetorical and aesthetic considerations in personal, academic and professional communications. Students prepared resumes and cover letters, PowerPoint presentations, video scripts and websites.

Syllabus

Digital Photography encouraged a blend of technical knowledge and techniques aimed at fostering creativity in composition. Students submitted a variety of weekly assignments to a closed group on Flickr for public comment. There were several additional formal assignments, including a photographic essay, a portfolio, and a single photo selected as an entry in a public display at the end of the semester.

Syllabus

Handout

Professional Writing 242 Feature Writing stressed the study and practice of narrative and descriptive writing techniques in newspaper and magazine length feature stories. Assignments included longer stories based on interviews, research, a discussion of ethics in journalism and several major assignments, culminating in a long feature-length article.

Desktop Publishing and Visual Design involved preparing several major assignments, including brochures, stationary packages and pamphlets, using Adobe InDesign. The primary focus was on the use of visual design as rhetorical principle with an emphasis on typography and aesthetics.

Folder Handout

Stationary Systems Handout

Public Relations Writing focused on the complex interplay of ethics and client need in the field of public relations. Assignments included the submission of press kits, articles, pamphlets and promotional material.

Writing For Advertising examined the relationship between marketer and consumer. Assignments included billboards, newspaper ads, television or radio commercials and an integrated advertising campaign.

Syllabus

Newspaper Ad

The Senior Seminar was the capstone experience for Seniors in Wheeling Jesuit University’s Professional Communication Program. Seniors prepared a multi-part project in the fall. In the spring, the focus shifts toward a brief presentation of their projects before the department, as well as the completion of an employment portfolio.

The Professional Communications program required students to complete practicums and internships in their Junior and Senior years. Students submitted reports and certifications for evaluation.

Academic Service and Activities

Making Sense of the News: News Literacy Lessons For Digital Citizens.
Noncredit Class offered through The University of Hong Kong and SUNY Stony Brook,
Completed February 2017.

Faculty and Student Creative Readings, CCAC North Campus. 2015-2017

Photographer, Athletics Department. Wheeling Jesuit University. 2006-2008

Study Abroad Committee. Wheeling Jesuit University. 2007-2008

Faculty Secretary. Wheeling Jesuit University. 2005-2006

References

Advising

Daniel Murphy. Technical Coordinator. Challenger Learning Center. Wheeling Jesuit University • Wheeling, WV • 304-243-2063 • dmurphy@wju.edu

Daniel Shea. Editor in Chief of Marketing at Fairmont State University. Former colleague at Wheeling Jesuit University • danvshea@gmail.com

Teaching

Beverly Carmo. Department Chair of English. Community College of Allegheny County, South Campus • 1750 Clairton Road (Route 885) • West Mifflin, PA 15122-3029 • 412.469.6354 • bcarmo@ccac.edu 

Joyce Frauenholz. Department Chair of Communication Arts. Community College of Allegheny County, North Campus • 8701 Perry Highway • Pittsburgh, PA 15237-5353 • 412.369.4143 • jfrauenholz@ccac.edu 

Gretchen Mullin-Sawicki. Campus President. Community College of Allegheny County, North Campus • 8701 Perry Highway • Pittsburgh, PA 15237-5353 • 412.369.3610 • gmullinsawicki@ccac.edu

Skills