Directory - Employee

Dr. Cook received her Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee in Agricultural Economics with a specialty in Marketing. Her primary areas of interest are: marketing research and international marketing. She has worked as a consultant for state, national, and international organizations. She is currently Associate Professor of Marketing at Husson and Senior Lecturer at the University of the South Pacific in Suva Fiji Islands and teaches during the 2nd trimester in the Master of Business Program for the University of the South Pacific.

My philosophy of teaching is based upon the following six concepts: supportive environments, providing choice, pleasant atmosphere, scholarly activity, relevancy, and integration.

Providing a supportive environment means providing an emotionally safe environment for the student. This does not mean lowering standards or providing easy material. Students should be given options or choices in a class as not everyone learns in the same manner. So, students should be provided with various ways to learn. Learning should take place in a pleasant environment where students are encouraged to interact in a meaningful way. However, students must be encouraged to develop critical thinking skills through scholarly activity. Material presented in class should be as recent and up-to-date as possible and be relevant to the objectives of the class. Material presented in class should also relate to other courses that have been taken or are being taken.

All classes are presented with the above concepts in mind.

Dr. Coy-Ogan serves as Provost at Husson University. Prior to this appointment, she was the Dean of the School of Education at Husson for five years.

Before joining Husson University, Dr. Coy-Ogan spent twelve years as a school administrator and in 2002, she was honored as Maine's National Distinguished Principal. Dr. Coy-Ogan holds degrees from Boston University, Johns Hopkins University and Liberty University in Elementary Education, Special Education, School Counseling and Educational Leadership. Since 2002, she has served as the facilitator for the Great Beginnings Induction Series for New School Administrators through the Maine Principal's Association. Dr. Coy-Ogan has served on numerous state task forces for issues such as the Learning Results, Principal Induction, and Highly Qualified Teachers. Involvement in classroom research during her teaching career strongly influences her objective, data-driven approach to selecting best practices and facilitating group problem-solving. Her passion for educational excellence and commitment to student success are balanced by the enjoyment she finds in spending time with her husband and two daughters.

Mikal is an Associate Professor with the Graduate Programs in Counseling & Human Relations. Prior to joining the Husson Faculty, she was a staff psychologist at the Counseling & Psychological Services Center and then Associate Professor and Program Coordinator for the Graduate Program in School Counseling at Frostburg State University in Maryland. She received her undergraduate degree in Journalism from West Virginia University and her master's and doctoral degrees in Counseling Psychology from Frostburg State University and West Virginia University respectfully. She completed a pre-doctoral internship in psychology at the University of Maine Counseling Center, and knew she would return to Maine when the right opportunity presented itself. She holds credentials as a Licensed Psychologist in Maine and a National Certified Counselor.

Mikal has a strong commitment to well-being and balance in personal and professional functioning. She infuses the ethic of self-care and counselor well-being into the courses she teaches. She further encourages self-exploration and self-reflection in her students to mitigate impairment and burnout in their personal and professional lives.

In addition to self-care and wellness, Mikal is active in research on the challenges and rewards of counseling practice in rural, small town and "neighborhood" settings, and how self-care and well-being occur in such environments.

One of the most important things a therapist can do for their clients is to have a clear sense of their own identity and a strong commitment to self-care. In the courses I teach, we spend a great deal of time discussing well-functioning and impairment, and the impact of mental health work on the practitioner. I want students to go into the profession with a clear understanding of both the rewards and the risks to them of engaging in such work. It is my intention as a counselor educator to help them gain awareness of the challenges and also ways to manage such challenges effectively.

As a firm believer and avid practitioner of self-care, I stress the importance of daily attention to ones own sense of well-being. To this end, I practice what I preach! I love to swim, sail, cross-country ski, snowshoe, hike and sit by the water and read. Together with my husband and funky little dog, I find as many excuses to be outdoors as possible in all four seasons. And what would a day be like without at least one good belly laugh!

Kimberly received her BS in occupational therapy from the University of New England and her MS in occupational therapy from the University of New Hampshire. Kim's doctoral work was completed at Rocky Mountain University. Her primary interests are in psychiatric occupational therapy and management. In addition to her full-time faculty position in the Husson Occupational Therapy Program, she contracts with Mountain View Youth Development Center in Charleston, Maine and provides per diem work for RehabCare in local rehabilitation facilities. She is a member of several local advisory boards. She is also actively involved in the state and national occupational therapy associations.

My idea of education is based on the belief that learning is an active process. I work very hard to provide students with an environment that they can be engaged in and assist them in taking an increased responsibility for their own learning. This is consistent with the philosophy of occupational therapy, which says that students are occupational beings who are active, capable, self-directed creators of their own learning. Husson's OT program fosters students to become professionals who engage in lifelong learning.

Dr. Conrad Dhing is an Associate Professor of Social and Administrative Sciences in the Department of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and a Ph.D. in Pharmacy from the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Before joining Husson University in July 2009, Conrad taught at Long Island University and St. John's University in New York. He was also a health economics consultant for a research firm in New York City.

Conrad's research interest is focused on the pedagogy of pharmacy education and secondary data analyses, with emphasis on the access and utilization of health care services and medications. He has over 20 research papers and posters presented at national meetings and was a regular speaker at pharmacy continuing education programs. Conrad was inducted into Rho Chi, Phi Kappa Phi, Omicron Delta Kappa and the Mortar Board. He was also awarded Teacher of the Year in 2006.

I believe these are exciting times for everyone, especially the pharmacy and health care students in Maine and across the country. The practice of pharmacy is evolving and so is the health care system. Husson University, School of Pharmacy has a great team of faculty and administrators to prepare and guide our students towards their future.