Dr. Donna M. Talbot, Professor of Educational Leadership
Higher Education and Student Affairs
Chair, Department of Educational Leadership, Research, & Technology
Event Details:
Thursday, November 7, 2019 at 1:30PM
Erickson Hall, Room 252
Impostor Syndrome, Identity, and Finding your Inner Scholar
Before becoming a “career academic,” Dr. Talbot enjoyed brief stints as a student affairs administrator at the University of Florida, Dickinson College, and University of Maryland-College Park. She helped develop a leadership center, worked as a college counselor and coordinator of multicultural affairs, conducted research for residence life, and served as a student conduct administrator under Dr. Gary Pavela. After 20 years of serving as a faculty member and 8 years as an academic chair of a large department, Dr. Talbot still struggles with her identity as a “scholar.” This talk will address the larger issue which we all face every day in higher education, one of the
most elitist organizations in this country—how is our work and worth validated?
Dr. Talbot is a Professor and Chair of the ELRT Department at Western Michigan University, where she has served as a faculty member/administrator since 1992. With her dissertation from the University of Maryland-College Park in 1992, entitled A Multimethod Study of the Diversity Emphasis in Master’s Degree Programs in College Student
Affairs (for which she received the NASPA Dissertation of the Year Award), Dr. Talbot launched her commitment to scholarship focusing on serving and understanding marginalized, historically underrepresented and underserved populations in higher education. In the 3rd edition of the Student Services: A Handbook for the Profession edited by Komives and Woodard, Dr. Talbot contributed the first chapter on “Multiculturalism (as a student affairs competency)” that made its way into that text.
In 2007, Dr. Talbot engaged in a significant, professionally challenging experience when she moved her faculty line and the student affairs
master’s program at WMU from the counseling department to the
educational leadership department. With that move, she was able to redesign the curriculum with a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Although there have been a few enhancements over the years, the core curriculum and learning outcomes remain the same. Over her 28-
year career at WMU, Dr. Talbot has chaired or served as a committee
member on more than 40 dissertations, over half of which have
focused on issues for underrepresented and underserved populations in education. Similarly, she has published 39 refereed and invited
journal articles, book chapters, and manuals. Dr. Talbot has delivered
over 100 professional presentations, and keynotes, and has been
involved in numerous consultations and program reviews on other campuses.