Listed here are brief biographies of our Faculty and Staff. For a Faculty/Staff directory of office numbers and phone numbers, click here


Education Department Chair:
Deb Morris - resume (pdf) - email Deb Morris
Dr. Deb Morris is the Chair of the Education Department and Assistant Professor. Dr. Morris joined the education faculty in January 2004. Before becoming chair, she served as the Associate Dean of ACCESS.
Dr. Morris considers herself a professional student. She holds a Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts in Education, Master of Theological Studies, Education Specialist (Ed. S.) degree, Ph.D., and will complete a Master of Education in Reading in 2008. Dr. Morris is licensed in social studies at the middle grades (6-9) and secondary (9-12) levels. 


Sharon Cupstid - email Sharon Cupstid
Sharon Cupstid is Executive Program Assistant in the Education Department.  Sharon is currently pursuing her Bachelor of Science in Business Management through the Adult ACCESS Program and plans to graduate in May 2008.  She became a member of the education department in August 2006, after working in the Adult ACCESS office for almost five years, and enjoys working with students from both the traditional and ACCESS programs as they progress through the TEP transition points. 


Elementary Education:
Teresa Stern - resume - email Teresa Stern
Dr. Stern is a professor in the Department of Education and Coodinator of the elementary Education Program at Mars Hill College. Her current teaching interests include areas of elementary education with emphasis in language arts and supervision of student teachers/interns. She is the mother of two college age sons.

Middle Grades Education:
Jim Brown - resume (pdf) - email Jim Brown
Dr. Jim Brown is an assistant professor in the department of education and coordinator for the middle and secondary education program. Dr. Brown has recently co-published a chapter in the book Many Pathways to Literacy with Dr. Susi Long and Donna Bell from the University of South Carolina. He has presented papers at the International Qualitative Interest Group Conference, American Education Research Association, and the American Education Studies Association. He has worked as a consultant and fellow for the Kenan Institute for the Arts A+Schools Program and the NC Teacher Fellows.


Secondary Education:

English:
Carol Boggess - resume - email Carol Boggess
Dr. Boggess is a professor of English and coordinator of the secondary English Education program.  She received her Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky where she concentrated on 20th Century American literature.  Her special areas of interests are Southern and Appalachian literature, adolescent literature, and English teaching methods.  She is currently writing a biography of James Still, a major 20th century writer of the Appalachian region.

Mathematics:
Jennifer Rhinehart
is the coordinator of the Math Education Program and teaches full time in the Math and Computer Science Department. Mrs. Rhinehart earned her B.S. degree in Math Education at Mars Hill College and her M.S. in Mathematics at North Carolina State University. She enjoys working with all levels of pre-service candidates to help them increase their content knowledge and pedagogy in mathematics.

History:
Dr. Phyllis L. Smith - email Phyllis Smith
is an Associate Professor and Chair of the History and member of the Women’s Studies Program at Mars Hill College. She is also coordinator for the Social Studies (9-12) Licensure Program. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Arizona in Latin American History with a specialty in Mexican history. Currently she is working on a thematic biography of Gertrude Duby Blom, a Swiss national, who lived in Chiapas, Mexico for more than 50 years. Blom was best known for her photography of the indigenous peoples of Chiapas and her efforts in preserving the Lacandon rainforest and the culture of the Lacandon peoples.

Science:
Dr. Joann Croom
is the coordinator of the Science Education program. She has a B.S. in Chemistry, M. S. in Microbiology from North Carolina State University, and Ph.D. from the Biomedical School of Oak Ridge National Laboratory at the University of Tennessee. Dr. Croom has deep roots at Mars Hill College through four generations of family members.


Special Subject Areas:
Special Education:
Dr. Chris Cain - resume - email Chris Cain
is the Coordinator of the Special Education Program at Mars Hill College. Chris is an alumnus of Mars Hill College (class of 1999). He completed his graduate studies at East Tennessee University and his doctoral degree through the University System of Tennessee. Chris has received his National Board Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification and is a certified NPBTS assessor. He has licensure and teaching experience in both regular and special education settings. His professional interests include early intervention and the effects on exceptional children, early literacy development, assistive technology, parent involvement and collaboration, and current litigation / legislation involving Special Education.

Spanish:
Dr. Gregory A. Clemons - resume - email Gregory Clemons
is Associate Professor of Spanish at Mars Hill College where he teaches language, literature, and culture classes. He serves on the Teacher Education Council as Coordinator for Spanish Education. He is also professor of Continuing Education at ABTech. Greg received his B.S. and M.A. in Spanish from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his doctorate in Spanish from the University of Florida. He regularly takes Mars Hill College students to the State of Chiapas in southern Mexico for intensive culture and language classes.

Music:
Mike Robinson - resume - email Mike Robinson


Physical:
Bill Hamilton - email Bill Hamilton
Bill Hamilton earned his BS from Mars Hill College, his MA from the University of Alabama, and is presently working toward a doctorate degree. Bill is an Assistant Professor and is presently Chair of the Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation. He joined the HPER faculty in August 2001.

Chair, Division of Education, Physical Education, and Recreation
English as a Second Language:
Thomas Destino - resume - email Thomas Destino
BA –Niagara University, Spanish/Education
MA – Wayne State University, Spanish
Ph. D. – The Ohio State University, Foreign/Second Language Education

MHC since 2002 - Assoc. Professor of ESL Education, Director Center for ESL Education
Teaching interests:
ESL Teacher Education
Second language and literacy development
Cultural and linguistic foundations of education
Second language acquisition
Research interests:
Language politics
Literacy development in a second language
Educational Anthropology