NCU Dissertation award winner's research scoops press

Alumni unearths virtual PTSD problem

Dr. Robert Herz, NCU class of 2008 and co-winner of the School of Business Dissertation of the Year award, is finding his dissertation to be of interest not just to academe but to the world media and armed forces as well.

Herz and his dissertation, “Assessing the Influence of Human Factors and Experience on Predator Mishaps” were key sources for a recent International Herald Tribune article, “Remote Control Stories.” The piece, datelined August 7, 2008 and syndicated by Associated Press, looks at the operators of Predator drones who launch missile attacks over Iraq remotely from 7,000 miles away, in “the safety of Southern California.”

As the story puts it, “Working in air-conditioned trailers, Predator pilots observe the field of battle through a bank of video screens and kill enemy fighters with a few computer keystrokes. Then, after their shifts are over, they get to drive home and sleep in their own beds.”

The problem is, despite their geographic distance from the horrors and carnage of the battlefield, the pilots are exhibiting all the symptoms of battlefield stress. This may be due in part to the remarkably high definition images the drone operators work with, giving them an up-close and personal view of the battlefield that belies their actual distance. Switching from carnage to traffic jam with the end of a shift, and vice versa, is thought likely to contribute to the psychological impact.

"It's bizarre, I guess," one Predator pilot is quoted. "It is quite different, going from potentially shooting a missile, then going to your kid's soccer game."

Herz, a Lt. Colonel in the Air Force as well as an academic, became aware of this problem while researching his doctoral dissertation, which focused on human error in Predator operations. He can explain the profoundly jarring disconnect quite simply: "They're putting a missile down somebody's chimney and taking out bad guys, and the next thing they're taking their wife out to dinner, their kids to school."

Alerted to this very modern problem, the Air Force has begun seeking ways to address it. As an initial response, for now, additional Chaplains have been posted to Predator installations in California, Texas, Nevada, and Arizona. Further study of the issue is anticipated.

Lt Col/Dr. Herz is himself an example of a venerable military paradigm, the warrior scholar. The NCU community includes a number of these—Dr. Olin Oedekoven, for example, is an NCU Mentor and Alumni, and also a brigadier general and commandant of the Wyoming Army Guard. In the case of Herz, Dr. Freda Turner, Dean of NCU’s School of Business and Technology is pleased with his success.

“NCU is very proud to have such global interest in the dissertations of its doctoral learners,” Turner said. “It speaks very highly of the quality of both our instructors and our students.”

Dr. Wanda Curlee delivers keynote at Poland Conference

NCU Mentor presents paper, speech to Project Management Institute Conference

August 8, 2008 — Wanda Curlee, DM, presented a research paper and gave the keynote address at the Project Management Institute’s international conference held last month in Warsaw, Poland. Her speech focused on how project management can reduce risk for the banking industry.

In addition to being featured at the conference, Curlee’s paper, "Modern Virtual Project Management: The Effects of a Centralized and Decentralized Project Management Office," has been selected for publication in Project Management Journal. The organization that sponsored the conference, the Project Management Institute, is the most prestigious for-profit association in that field worldwide.

Dr. Curlee has been on NCU’s School of Business and Technology Management faculty since 2006 mentoring courses in project management and organizational leadership. She has a BA and MA from the University of Kentucky and earned her MBA and Doctor of Management degrees at the University of Phoenix.

Curlee’s research interests will likely be utilized even more thoroughly in the near future, as Northcentral University rolls out its new business specialization in project management. This is a dynamic field with enormous professional demand, so NCU will be gratifying a significant academic need by offering the new specialization.

Project Management courses have been in the NCU catalog for some time, but the Fall 2008 is the first one in which the new specialization will appear.

In addition to her professorial duties, Dr. Curlee is a senior manager for BearingPoint, one of the world’s largest providers of management and technology consulting services. She resides in Exton, Penn. with her husband Steve and their teenage daughter. The couple has one son in the Naval Academy and another son is a recent graduate of West Point. Curlee is herself a former officer in the US Navy.

NCU Learner has coursework accepted for publication

Daniel Stewart's paper selected for JOLT publication

July 11, 2008 — The Fall 2008 edition of the Journal of Online Learning and Teaching (JOLT) will feature a paper by Daniel Stewart, who is working on his doctor of education degree with a specialization in Curriculum and Teaching. Titled "Classroom Management in the Online Environment," the paper is based on work Stewart produced as part of CT5007, The Classroom: Managing and Organizing for Student Achievement. He attributes his Mentor, Dr. Kelly Walters, with the encouragement that impelled him to submit his work for publication. His paper demonstrates that when appropriate preventive management strategies are applied, the online learning environment can be as rich and productive as the traditional classroom.

Stewart's paper is slated for publication in September and will be viewable at the journal's website, http://jolt.merlot.org

A native of Brewer, Maine, Stewart served 21 years in the U.S. Army before retiring in 2005. While in the service, he earned a BS from Wayland Baptist University and an MA from California State University, Dominguez Hills. His master’s thesis, “General Sherman in Fayetteville NC: Impact on a Community,” won all-campus thesis of the year at CSUDH in 2004. An adjunct professor of history and humanities at Fayetteville Technical Community College, North Carolina, Stewart has been working on his EdD at NCU since spring 2006. He will begin the dissertation phase this August and expects to graduate in 2011. He and his wife, Tammy L. Stewart, an academic librarian at FTCC, have three sons.

NCU Mentor honored with Wagner Leadership Award

Dr. Larry Flegle accorded award by Distance Learning Administration Association

June 16, 2008 — Northcentral University (www.ncu.edu), an innovator in online higher education, is pleased to congratulate Dr. Larry V. Flegle, a Mentor in the School of Business and Technology, on being selected to receive the 2008 Wagner Leadership Award.

The Wagner Leadership Award is bestowed annually by the Distance Learning Administration Association to the individual who has embraced and significantly impacted distance education and distance learning practices. It is the association’s top annual award. Flegle will be honored at the DLAA conference at Jekyll Island, Ga. on June 22.

Dr. Flegle has been a Mentor at NCU since August 2006. He came to the University with a DBA in management from Nova Southeastern and a master’s in public administration from Pepperdine. He earned his BA in speech at the University of South Florida.