Ariel Dingus, SKCTC faculty member, named Developmental Education Specialist

A Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College faculty member, Ariel Dingus, has received notification naming her as a Developmental Education Specialist by the prominent Kellogg Institute for the training and certification of developmental educators. In her third year at SKCTC, Ms. Dingus, a native of Clintwood, Va., was one of 20 educators selected across the United States to participate in the Kellogg Institute project and its certification process.

The Kellogg Institute, now in its 35th year, offers a unique month-long living/learning experience for the training and certification of educational professionals who work with academically underprepared students on college campuses. Each year Kellogg participants take part in a summer training program, followed by a semester-long practicum in which participants implement new techniques on their home campuses.

Ariel was awarded certification as a result of her participation in the training program and completion of an implementation project titled Using Peer-Facilitated Writing Groups to Foster a Community Writing Project at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College. The certification is awarded through the Kellogg Institute, in conjunction with Appalachian State University of Boone, N.C.

I am pleased to have been able to participate in the program, she said. The curriculum places its emphasis on training educators to be proficient developmental instructors as well as to be at the cutting edge of pedagogy. It is quite the tribute to have been honored and to receive this certification.

She is a graduate of Virginia Intermont College earning a Bachelors in English; she also retains a Masters Degree from Middle Tennessee State University. At Southeast, she teaches developmental English classes and also teaches college-level English and literature classes as well as the Introduction to College courses. I enjoy every moment working with the students who are dedicated and invested in their learning like the students I worked with on the writing project. The sense of achievement from a job well done radiating from the students makes every day worthwhile.