Humanities professor earns doctorate

March 17, 2006

Professor of Humanities, Dr. Charlene Kiser, recently earned her doctorate. Photo by Ryan C. Harris

Recently Ms. Charlene Kiser became Dr. Charlene Kiser.

On Feb. 17 Kiser defended her dissertation, which was the final step to acquiring her doctorate from Virginia Tech, where she had been working on it for five years.

“They have a great instructional technology program,” said Kiser, associate professor of humanities. Her main emphasis was on English and education, with a minor emphasis in instructional technology.

Obtaining her doctorate was a long-term goal, which she decided to pursue as other things were going on in her life.

“If you’re a professor, it’s expected for you to get your doctorate,” she said.

Her dissertation was 200 pages long and studied the use of writing on college campuses.

“I interviewed 25 Milligan faculty members on how they used writing in the classroom,” said Kiser. “I discovered that the use of writing is inconsistent across our campus, and my dissertation includes recommendations for the college to increase the emphasis on writing here.”

Kiser intends to present a proposal to Mark Matson, Milligan’s Academic Dean, on ways in which the college can improve its writing program.

“I am very pleased that Dr. Kiser has worked diligently and earned this degree,” said Academic Dean Mark Matson. “She has already been incorporating much that she has learned in her research over the past few years, but I am confident that Milligan will continue to benefit from this effort.”

In earning her instructional technology minor, Kiser studied how technology could enhance the curriculum as well as benefit students in the classroom. Kiser said her classes “looked at a lot of software” and discussed how they could use that software to the teacher’s advantage.

“I’m glad it’s over,” Kiser said. “I found a lot of encouragement from this community throughout this entire time.” She said she is grateful for the faculty and students who have encouraged her along the way.

Kiser said receiving her doctorate will not change the way she teaches or interacts with students. “I received an e-mail from a student who called me Ms. Kiser, (then another) saying they were sorry for not calling me Dr. Kiser,” she said. “It doesn’t matter to me whether my students call me Ms. or Dr. Kiser.”

“We are all very proud of Dr. Kiser,” Matson said.