Dr. Thillainatarajan Sivakumaran

Over the last few weeks, we have spotlighted the recipients of the Spring 2015 faculty Research grants. This is the last installment of these spotlights. Get to know these distinguished faculty members below!

Names: Thillainatarajan Sivakumaran, Ph.D., Holly Hall, J.D., APR, & Annette Hux, Ph.D.

University: Arkansas State University

Title of Proposal: The effectiveness of specific types of interactions in large scale distance learning courses

Bios:

Dr. Thillainatarajan Sivakumaran is the Executive Director of Global Initiatives at Arkansas State University. He attended the University of Tennessee in Knoxville where he earned a Ph.D. in Instructional Technology in 2005. He completed his master of science degree in 2001 with a major in Secondary Science Education and earned his bachelor of science degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology in 1997 from the University of Washington in Seattle. He served as Dean of the College of Education and Behavioral Science from 2012-2014. Prior to joining AState, Dr. Sivakumaran served in several academic and administrative capacities at the University of Louisiana-Monroe including associate dean for Undergraduate Studies and Assessment and Accreditation (2011-present). His responsibilities included

Holly Hall, J.D., APR

coordinating all undergraduate programs; certification and candidacy of all teachers within the College of Education, including admissions, curricula and program evaluation; clinical and field experiences; recruitment, retention and risk management; and coordinator of the online degree program. He also handled the organization of ULM’s study abroad programs and

coordinated the digital media studio.

Holly Kathleen Hall, J.D., APR is an Associate Professor of Strategic Communication at Arkansas State University. She practiced public relations professionally for ten years in a variety of industries including healthcare, finance, academia and not-for-profit organizations. She earned her Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) in 2007 from the Public Relations Society of America. Her research interests are in US/UK comparative media law and social media She currently teaches classes in social media, media law and public relations. Hall developed a cross-listed graduate/undergraduate class in Social Media and Strategic Communication. She has been published in Communication Law and Policy, Visual Communications Quarterly, Communications Law Review and has written four book chapters dealing with social media.

Dr. Annette Hux

Dr. Annette R. Hux is an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and served in 2013-2014 as Chair for the School of Teacher Education and Leadership at Arkansas State University. She majored in elementary education undergraduate at Southwest Baptist University; she received her MSE in Elementary Administration and Special Education Administration from Southeast Missouri State University. Annette earned her doctorate in Educational Leadership and Higher Education at Saint Louis University in Saint Louis, Missouri. She has served on the Task Force for developing the state K-12 special education curriculum for Arkansas, serves as Vice-President for ARPEA (Arkansas Professors of Educational Administration). She worked in the public school systems of Missouri as a resource teacher for students with mild/moderate disabilities, autism, emotional disorders. She also taught regular education, second and fourth grades. Dr. Hux has also developed a private preschool for a local church in Missouri. Dr. Hux’s current research interests include, cyberbullying/bullying, Common Core and higher learning, collaboration, and large-scale online distance learning.