Professional Educator Profile: Marthann Schulte, Ph.D.
– Royce Young

Marthann Schulte, Ph.D., is a professor at Park University in Parkville, Missouri. She handles mainly online courses and is active in ACHE as she is on the program committee for the Philadelphia conference. She recently visited with Royce Young, a member of the University of Oklahoma Outreach Marketing and Communications Department, about her career choices.

Park University is truly a multifaceted institution. ACHE members may be familiar with Park's campus centers and online offerings. People in the Kansas City area are familiar with Park due to its liberal arts program that is targeted to traditional daytime students. Many military members know Park for its degree completion opportunities online and face-to-face. Park has a little bit of something for everyone. I am a good example. I am a full-time faculty member in the School for Education and have my appointment in the Graduate Adult Education program. I also have half-time administrative release time to the College for Distance Learning at Park. My administrative work is in online instructor training, mentoring, observation and evaluation. I lead a team of six full time faculty who also have administrative release time to work with our online instructors. My work at Park is almost exclusively with online programs. I teach online, work with online instructors and courses, and my research and professional work is also predominantly with online learning topics. When I began my teaching career, it was as in traditional face-to-face learning modes. I taught history courses face-to-face. I really enjoyed those years of teaching. When working on my doctorate in education (curriculum and instruction), I sought a topic that was current and useful. Online learning had that type of currency and usefulness. My dissertation led me into online learning. ...and I have never looked back!

 What is it like to not have a traditional classroom, but rather an online one? That is an interesting perspective. I have found that the type of classroom (face-to-face or online) is not really that important. I have taught in very nontraditional, face-to-face physical classrooms. So a classroom is what you need it to be. To be truthful, I do not miss a traditional face-to-face classroom. Online learning modes provide a lot of
flexibility for students and instructors. I greatly enjoy online teaching and the rich relationships that can be formed in online learning communities. Online students have opportunities to be as open and communicative as face-to-face students. The types of communication are different from mode-to-mode
and all are conducive to active, engaging, beneficial learning.

My decision to pursue my Ph.D. was not completely calculated, but there were driving forces that did push me in that direction. First, I am from an education family. My father was a career-long high school business teacher. My mother was a career-long elementary and middle school music teacher, so teaching has always been a part of my life. I think I always knew that I wanted to be a teacher, but not which particular discipline. In my freshman year of college I realized my love of history. I then combined this discipline with teaching when I received by baccalaureate degree in history education with certification to teach 5-12 history, social studies, political science etc. I was a December baccalaureate graduate and so I decided to begin taking masters level history classes in the spring semester and then seek a full time high school teaching position for the next academic year. Well, I enjoyed my masters level courses so much that I chose to continue working on my masters degree full time!  The good thing was that I had my master’s degree in 18 months. The bad news was that high schools were no longer interested in me because I had an additional degree and would cost more money on their payment schedules!

There is the connection between Park University's military education community and my spouse being an Army officer. However, I began working in military education-continuing education before meeting my husband. In fact, it was my military education connections that led me to both my husband and to Park!

Prior to my position at Park University, I was working at Fort Hays State University, located in western Kansas. Fort Hays State has a large distance education program for its size and had begun to expand its programs for military members. While completing my doctorate I began working in the Fort Hays State distance education program and was directed to investigate military initiatives. I knew little about military education at the time and soon got a “crash course” about the GI Bill, tuition assistance, and the special needs of military members and their dependents. During this time, I attended various military education conferences. Park University was also present at these same military education conferences and I was rightfully intrigued by their military education programs and their emphasis in online learning modes. Also at a military education conference I met my husband who was an Army recruiting commander at the time. I tried to recruit him to take online courses at Fort Hays State. He tried to recruit me to enter the Army Reserves. Let's just say that we compromised and recruited each other for a very rewarding marriage! My work in military education has not been necessarily planned at any point. But there are benefits in being a military spouse as I work with military students at Park University. Knowing their special needs and circumstances expands my appreciation for all nontraditional adult learners

I really enjoy having a solid role in ACHE. People have been most welcoming to me and have strongly encouraged that I become involved as my skills allow. It's invigorating to work with my ACHE colleagues!  Their ideas, experience, drive and compassion are unparalleled. I can thank (or curse) the ACHE president-elect for much of my work in the association!  Roxanne Gonzales introduced me to ACHE by suggesting that I attend a Region 8 (Great Plains) conference several years ago. I had been active in other continuing education organizations, but had not yet been exposed to ACHE. I was immediately impressed with the mission of ACHE and the fact that ACHE addresses many facets of continuing education (marketing; credit and non-credit programs, innovative learning modes, etc). I also liked the fact that ACHE has both regional and national components. Many professional organizations have only national levels and it is difficult for a “newbie” to become excited about or involved in a new organization at a national level. ACHE has options at various levels and in various areas of continuing education. Also, ACHE is large enough to make a difference, but not so large that you feel like a number.