Dr. Richard Parent joined the University of New England in August 2013 and is the Director of Assessment for the University’s online College of Graduate and Professional Studies. In addition to providing strategic leadership to the College and University on educational assessment and effectiveness, he has successfully led the teams of instructional designers and assessment specialists who collaborate with faculty and other subject matter experts to design and build all of the graduate, competency-based, and undergraduate courses UNE offers in its fully-online programs.
He is an award-winning teacher of undergraduate and graduate students, and has participated in highly-selective leadership development programs such as the Academy for Innovative Higher Education Leadership and the Breakthrough Models Academy for Developing the Next Generation of Higher Education Leaders. He brings these experiences to his work leading the University’s leadership development partnership with Bangor Savings Bank.
Dr. Parent holds a BA in English from the University of North Texas, an MA in English from Mills College, and a Ph.D. in English: Cultural and Critical Studies, specializing in Pedagogy, Literacy, Rhetoric, and Composition from the University of Pittsburgh. Before coming to UNE, Dr. Parent was faculty at the University of Vermont, where he was responsible for the University’s largest Graduate Teaching Fellow training and development program. At UVM, he conducted research and taught courses on the ways computers and online environments affect the materials we read and write, the ways we read and write, and the cognitive demands and effects of this online reading and writing. He led numerous workshops and professional development events on teaching effectiveness and teaching with technology, designed the University’s computer lab and classroom for digital composing, and created and taught the University’s first writing with technology curriculum.
Dr. Parent has extensive experience researching, teaching, and delivering development programs on communication, technology, and increasing emotional intelligence skills for leadership. He has presented his work at prestigious national conferences and at international conferences in Canada and Europe.
