Four Northwestern Faculty Members Earn Doctorates
December 20, 2024
Four Northwestern Oklahoma State University faculty members earned their doctoral degrees this past year.
They are: Sarah Fry, assistant professor of criminal justice and sociology; Shane Hansen, chair of the Health and Sports Science Department and instructor of health and sports science; Shannon Leaper, library services director of the J.W. Martin Library and assistant professor of library and information science; and Keenan Meeker, assistant professor of mathematics.
Dr. Sarah Fry, assistant professor of criminal justice and sociology, earned her Doctor of Sociology from Pennsylvania State University in 2023.
Fry graduated with her Doctor of Sociology from Pennsylvania State University in 2023. Her dissertation is titled “Patterns of Force: A Comparison of Data Sources on Officer-Involved Homicide Rates.” She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Sociology from Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, in 2012. She received her Master of Arts in Criminology from Penn State in 2015.
Dr. Shane Hansen, chair of the Health and Sports Science Department and instructor of health and sports science, earned his Doctor of Education from Walden University in December 2024.
Hansen earned his Doctor of Education from Walden University in December 2024. A Northwestern alumnus, Hansen earned his Bachelor of Science in Education in health and sports science education in 2008 and his Master of Education in adult education management and administration in 2010.
His dissertation is titled “Faculty Perceptions of Academic Advising.” Hansen’s study was a mixed methods study.
“I administered the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE) Academic Advising Topical Module to faculty,” Hansen said. “Then, I used a participant self-selection process to identify faculty academic advisers to interview.”
Hansen believes this study could be a resource for his fellow academic advisers.
“I advise a large number of students,” Hansen said. “The process of researching the topic, gathering data, analyzing data and reaching conclusions on the data will help me be a better faculty member.”
Hansen said he is grateful for the opportunities Northwestern has provided for him and his wife, Kaylyn Hansen, director of assessment and institutional effectiveness and academic support.
“I want to continue to serve our university to the best of my ability,” Hansen said.
Dr. Shannon Leaper, library services director of the J.W. Martin Library and assistant professor of library and information science, in her doctoral regalia.
Leaper earned her Doctor of Higher Education from Texas Tech University in September 2024.
Her dissertation is titled “Academic Libraries and Co-Located Academic Support Services: A Collective Case Study of Students’ Perceptions.”
The study looked at the evolution of academic libraries at higher education institutions, their purposes in supporting student-centered experimental and collaborative learning and their relationships with academic support services, particularly when those services are co-located within the library. The study was conducted with focus groups of undergraduate students enrolled at three similarly sized and geographically located higher education institutions.
“This co-located model often provides seamless support to students by offering one-stop shop services for students seeking assistance from both knowledgeable librarians and academic support services staff,” Leaper said. “Knowing why students gravitate towards certain spaces and how students utilize the resources in those spaces may assist institutional administrators with strategic planning and setting goals that include a student-centered focus on facilities and space design, resource allocation and program planning.”
Leaper earned her Bachelor of Science in Occupational Education from Wayland Baptist University in 2004. She graduated with a Master of Library and Information Science from Valdosta State University in 2012 and earned a Master of Adult Education Management and Administration from Northwestern in 2017.
Leaper started at Northwestern in 2012 as the research and instructional services librarian and became the director in 2018.
“I’ve worked with students at all stages of their educational journey and recognize that the resources made available to them, whether physical resources, online resources, services, and even physical environment, contribute greatly to their overall educational experiences,” Leaper said.
Leaper grew interested in user experience (UX), student-centered facilities and space design after researching for her dissertation, and may explore that more in the future.
“I see myself as a lifelong learner so I don’t feel the doctorate is the end of my educational journey,” Leaper said. “I plan to continue to learn and grow in my current field of librarianship, but I’m also happy to explore other areas of interest as they arise.”
She plans to travel more now that her weekends are free from writing.
“I’m leading the Northwestern Study Abroad trip to Spain and Portugal in May 2025, and I’m also planning several trips for next year with a goal of seeing more of Oklahoma and Texas,” Leaper said. “My husband is hoping we can spend a couple of weekends at home, so I may try that as well.”
Dr. Keenan Meeker (right), assistant professor of mathematics, and his wife, Tiffany (left) pose for a photo on the Oklahoma State University campus after he received his doctoral degree in December 2023.
Meeker earned his Doctor of Education with an emphasis in Educational Technology from Oklahoma State University in December 2023.
His dissertation is titled “Instructors’ Use of Technology for Learning in Developmental Mathematics Classes.”
Meeker explained this study used a convergent mixed-methods to assess how well behavioral beliefs, normative beliefs, and control beliefs predict the use of technology within developmental mathematics courses.
“The Theory of Planned Behavior provided the theoretical framework for this study,” Meeker said. “The sample consisted of developmental mathematics instructors from across the United States of America. This study found that the instructor's attitude, produced from behavioral beliefs, towards technology integration, was the most significant predictor of technology usage in developmental mathematics courses.”
Meeker believes these findings will assist the administration, mathematics departments, and other stakeholders with ways to support the developmental mathematics instructors' use of technology within their courses.
Meeker’s research was published in volume 67 of the research journal TechTrends in September 2023. The article is available online at link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11528-023-00887-1.
“I am currently working on getting a few more journal articles out of my dissertation,” Meeker said. “I would like to continue to research the area of the use of technology in introductory mathematics courses and apply what I discover to my courses here at Northwestern.”
Meeker completed his Bachelor of Arts in pure mathematics in 2008 from The Master’s University in Santa Clarita, California. He completed his Master of Education in adult education and management with an emphasis in mathematics in 2015 from Northwestern, which included coursework from Pittsburg State University.
In the past, Meeker primarily taught introductory mathematics courses at Northwestern including beginning algebra, contemporary mathematics, and college algebra. This semester he has expanded to include college geometry and teaching for secondary mathematics.
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