University of Colorado Denver

Downtown Campus

Master of Humanities/Master of Social Science Campus Box 127, P.O. Box 173364 Denver, Colorado 80217-3364 Phone: 303-556-2305, Fax: 303-352-3872

Campuses: Downtown Denver • Anschutz Medical Campus • Ninth and Colorado

April 27, 2011

Dear CLAS Administration,

I am writing this letter in support of Ms. Kathy Pounder’s application for promotion to the rank of

Senior Instructor. Kathy is currently an Instructor in the Department of Communication and has served

in that capacity for at least 15 years. In addition, within the last couple of years she has become

Online Pedagogy Coordinator for that Department. In the nearly 10 years that I have known her as a

colleague, I have been impressed with Kathy’s professionalism and proficiently as an exemplary

teacher who serves the communication department well. In the course of her career teaching for us and

for other area institutions, she has taught 18 different courses in the communication curriculum, some

of which she is reinventing in an online format. The diversity of her courses and her ability to offer

them online makes her more valuable than any instructor I can think of. In addition, more so than any

other instructor, Kathy engages in frequent professional development targeted to meet specific

Departmental needs. For example, her recent Master’s Certificate in Instructional Technology &

Design as well as her and her Online Pedagogy Certification are all intended to place the Department

of Communication on the forefront of online pedagogy in the college. There are no other instructors in

the Department who can do this.

Kathy’s expertise with online education is starting to get noticed in the college and she has been asked

by the Academic Ethics Committee (overseen by Trishia Vasquez in the CLAS Advising office) to

consult with them to help troubleshoot problems with and protocols for dealing with on-line student

ethics. After speaking with Kathy about her commitment to online education and her leadership role in

overseeing this for the communication department, I suggested to Associate Dean Jeff Franklin that

Kathy could serve as a model for other departments to establish their own online course coordinator or

Kathy could be appointed in an advisory role to the college in helping other departments work through

important issues regarding online pedagogy. Certainly, this is a broader question than that of Kathy’s

possible promotion to Senior Instructor. I mention it here only to help document my argument that

Kathy Pounders is an unusually effective instructor and a tremendous resource for the communication

department and that the College of Liberal Arts and Scinces should do everything possible to cultivate

and nurture her career on this campus, which would be well served by promotion to Senior Instructor.

If you have any questions, I can be reached by direct line at (303) 556-5660 or by email at

omar.swartz@ucdenver.edu.

Sincerely,

Omar Swartz, J.D., Ph.D. Associate Professor Director, Master of Social Science Program

Coordinator of the CLAS Law Studies Minor