University awards extended contracts and promotions to faculty members
OMAHA, Neb. – College of Saint Mary (CSM) awarded extended contracts and promotions to four faculty members this month. Dr. Amanda Roe, assistant professor of biology, was promoted to associate professor and received an extended contract. Dr. Jing Chang, associate professor of mathematics, and Dr. Kristi Preisman, associate professor for the doctor of education program, were both promoted to the rank of full professor. Dr. Mark Sand, director of and professor for the mathematics program, was awarded an extended contract.
Dr. Amanda Roe has served as a professor of biology at CSM since 2014. She received her Bachelor of Science in agroecology from the University of Wyoming, her Master of Science in entomology and her Ph.D in applied ecology, both from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She teaches anatomy and physiology, entomology, and forensic sciences. She is Walk Tall Honors Program faculty member and Director of the Science Enrichment Workshop series. Dr. Roe has recently conducted and presented research on insect biodiversity at Glacier Creek Preserve and tick attractiveness to mammal decomposition. This fall, her research is focused on how climate and land-use change has impacted insect biodiversity at Devils Tower National Monument.
Dr. Jing Chang began teaching at CSM in 2008. Serving as a professor of mathematics, she received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Central South University in China, her master’s in mathematics from Tennessee Technological University, and her doctorate in mathematics from Southern Illinois University. Dr. Chang teaches statistics, physics, and a wide variety of other mathematics courses and serves as the advisor for mathematics majors. Much of her research and publications center on statistics and online versus face-to-face learning, and she presented at the Nebraska/South Dakota section of the Mathematical Association of America conference in 2019.
Dr. Mark Sand has been a faculty member at CSM since 2010. He serves as director of the mathematics and physical science programs and as a professor of mathematics. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in mathematics and physics from Drake University and both his Master of Science in mathematics and Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Sand teaches a gamut of mathematics classes at CSM along with first-year physics. His most recent publication was “Adding and Subtracting in the Cantor Set,” which appeared in the January 2019 issue of The College Mathematics Journal, and his current research has been to find additional values of the Riemann zeta function.
Dr. Kristi Preisman is the director of the doctor of education (Ed.D.) program at CSM and has been employed at CSM since 2015. She holds her bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Nebraska-Kearney, her master’s degree in education from the University of Nebraska-Omaha, and her doctorate in curriculum and instruction from the University of Texas-Austin. She teaches courses in curriculum and assessment, adult learning theory, and research in the Online Ed.D. program as well as advises students in their dissertation work. Her research interests include social presence in online education and online advising, which have resulted in a variety of presentations and publications.
