Curriculum Vitae

EDUCATION

M.A., Political Science, University of Kentucky, Lexington KY

B.A., Political Science and History, Saint Joseph’s College, Rensselaer, IN (Magna Cum Laude)

WORK EXPERIENCE

Instructional Designer, Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, October 2020 – Present 

• Responsible for designing, building, and supporting online courses at various stages of development in multiple Learning Management Systems (Canvas, Moodle, and Coursera) for faculty working with the CITL Instructional Design Team.

• Provide advice and perspective on best practices and issues within University-supported LMSs, online teaching pedagogy, course design, and assessment strategy.

• Train faculty, graduate assistants, and student workers on online course building in areas including assessments, course objectives, accessible course design, and online instructor presence and student engagement.

• Develop documentation and best practices for new instructional technologies used by the University such as Proctorio for faculty to implement in their courses.

• Led two groups of faculty through the UIUC Online Teaching Academy in Summer 2020 to help develop and implement emergency online courses.

• Planned, executed, and led the second week focused n student engagement in online and hybrid courses of the Illinois Summer Teaching Institute, June 2021. 

Assistant Instructional Designer, Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, July 2019 – October 2020

• Responsible for building online course sites in multiple Learning Management Systems (Canvas, Moodle and Coursera) for faculty working with the CITL Instructional Design Team.

• Provide ongoing support for faculty in the first semester of online course launch.

• Provide advice and perspective on best practices and issues within University-supported LMSs.

• Train faculty, graduate assistants, and student workers on online course building in areas including assessments, course objectives, accessible course design, and online instructor presence and student engagement.

• Supervise a graduate assistant on course site building, copyediting, quality control, and compliance checking.

• Serve as point-person for volume and capacity planning for Winter Term for Instructional Design and Instructional Support Teams.

Professor of Government, Tyler Junior College, Tyler, TX, August 2017 – July 2019

• Taught 5-7 sections per semester of Federal and Texas Government in both online and face-to-face modalities.

• Created course materials and assessments, including exams, discussion boards, and written assignments, in Canvas LMS.

• Participated in textbook selection process for the Government and Economics Department for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years.

• Chaired a committee of the Government and Economics Department to revise departmental policies for the Government and Economics Department.

Assistant Professor of Political Science, Saint Joseph’s College, Rensselaer, Indiana, August 2015 – May 2017

• Taught 4 courses per semester in Political Science and Core/general education curriculum, including Introductions to American Politics, Comparative Politics, and International Relations; State and Local Politics; Human Rights; US Foreign Policy; and International Law.

• Utilized Moodle LMS to create course sites, share course materials, and grade/create assessments.

• Advised 6 students in the Political Science major in coursework and professional development.

• Director of Core 2: a course in the college-wide Core curriculum. Collaborated and led a team of 10 faculty to develop an effective curriculum, including developing lectures, common assignments, and readings. Two sections of the course were greatly overhauled through collaboration of the faculty team.

• Responsible for assessing Core 2 in lectures, readings, and faculty through student and faculty evaluations: semester average of increased student learning outcomes of 48%.

• Participated in faculty committees as assigned by the Faculty Assembly Chair, such as Student Life and the Committee on the Usage of Technology in Academic Programs.

Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, August 2012 – May 2015 

• Taught 1 class per semester in Political Science, including American Government, Urban Sustainability in North America, Political Theory, and Agricultural and Food Policy.

• Utilized Blackboard to share course materials and graded assessments.

• Provided assistance in departmental tasks such as administrative assistance in test grading, planning and coordinating events (e.g. annual Kentucky Political Science Association Conference).

AREAS OF EXPERTISE & TECHNICAL SKILLS

• Course Design and Development

• Online and Hybrid Pedagogy and Andragogy

• Learning Management Systems (Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard, Coursera)

• Accessibility & Universal Design for Learning

• Program and Curriculum Development

• Program Evaluation

• Data Analysis (STATA, SPSS and R) 

• Web Content Languages (HTML)

• Microsoft 365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, Forms, Teams, OneNote)

• G Suite (Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Forms, Google Sites)

• Project Management (Smartsheet, Trello, Teams)

• Synchronous tools (Zoom, Teams, Skype for Business, Collaborate Ultra)

• Adobe Creative Suite (Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Acrobat Pro)

• College Teaching (List of courses and syllabi available upon request)

• Academic Advising

CERTIFICATES & ADDITIONAL TRAINING

• An Introduction to Accessibility and Inclusive Design, Coursera, August 2019

• Designing and Teaching Online, Tyler Junior College, Office of Continuing Education, March 2018

• Canvas Training, Tyler Junior College, Office of Continuing Education, November 2017

• International Summer School on Sustainable City Region Food and Agriculture Systems, International Research Center on Sustainability, Reims, France, June 2015

• Research Internship, John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., June-August 2010 

INSTITUTIONAL SERVICE

• Member, Canvas Steering Committee, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2022-Present

• Lead, Instructional Design Course Debrief Working Group, CITL, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2021-2022

• Lead, Planning Guide Revisions Working Group, CITL, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2020

• Member, Grad Academy Planning Working Group, CITL, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2022-Present 

• Member, Faculty Summer Institute Steering Committee, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2021-Present

• Member, Canvas Conversion & Exploration Working Group, CITL, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2019-2020

• Member, Templates Working Group, CITL, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2019

• Chair, Committee for Department Policy Revisions, Tyler Junior College, 2019

• Member, Committee on the Usage of Technology in Academic Programs, Saint Joseph’s College, 2016-2017

• Faculty Advisor, Student Association, Saint Joseph's College, 2016

• Member, Search Committee for Dean of Students, Saint Joseph's College, 2016

• Member, Student Life Committee of the Faculty Assembly, Saint Joseph’s College, 2015-2016

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

• University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA) -- Institutional Member since 2019

• EDUCAUSE - Institutional Member since 2019

WORKSHOPS & PRESENTATIONS

• Leising, J. & Coleman, X. (2022, August 17). Preparing to Teach Online. August 2021 Grad Academy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States.

• Leising, J. and Skinner, W. (2022, May 19). Modules and Student-Facing Organization in Canvas. Canvas Training Summer 2022, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States.

• Leising, J., Archibold, D., & Coleman, X. (2021, August 16). Preparing to Teach Online. August 2021 Grad Academy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States.

• Leising, J. & Archibold, D. (2021, January 21). Preparing to Teach Online. January 2021 Grad Academy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States.

• Leising, J. & Archibold, D. (2020, August 18). Preparing to Teach Online. August 2020 Grad Academy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States.

• Leising, J. & Wolf, A. (2020, May 5). Building Engagement in Online Classrooms. Transition to Online Teaching Workshop Series, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States.

• Leising, J. & Merkley, A. (2020, January 15). Preparing to Teach Online. January 2020 Grad Academy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States.

• Leising, J. (2019, October 10). Interaction in Online Courses. Create Your Own Online Course Workshop Series, Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States.

• Freshwater, D. & Leising, J. (2015, January 2015). Why Farm Support Persists: An Explanation Grounded in Congressional Political Economy. Annual Meeting of the Southern Political Science Association, New Orleans, LA.

• Bromley-Trujillo, R., Poe, J., & Leising, J. (2014, May 17). The Importance of Salience: Public Opinion and State Policy Action on Climate Change. Annual Meeting of the State Politics and Policy Section, Bloomington, IN.

• Leising, J., (2011, April 9). To Change a Constitution: The Dilemma of Alvaro Uribe and the People of Colombia. Purdue University-Calumet Undergraduate Research Conference, Crown Point, IN.