The College of Southern Maryland (CSM) welcomed new faculty members for the fall semester, further enriching CSM’s academic prominence and breadth of experience.
“This was a large freshman faculty addition to our family and each of them brings with them a wealth of expertise and strengths to our programs,” said CSM President Dr. Maureen Murphy. “Faculty excellence is the key to student success and we are excited to bring such a high caliber of instructors to our campuses.”
Joining the college this fall are the following individuals, listed by their respective disciplines.
Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, and Education (AHS)
Dr. Randall Salmis is an assistant professor of sociology at the Leonardtown Campus. Over the last 30 years, he has worked in a variety of fields including higher education, social science research, conflict resolution, peace building and exploited child labor. He has taught more than 100 courses in sociology and conflict resolution, and written on conflict resolution, peace education, child labor and ethnic conflict in Syria. From 1995 to 2002, he led conflict resolution and human rights training in Colombia and from there he led juvenile justice training with Fairfax County; supervised U.S. Department of Labor exploitative child labor cooperative agreements; and supported numerous social research projects.
Salmis supported World Vision and UNICEF peace education work, including a conflict analysis of the education sector in Rakhine State, Myanmar in 2014, after which he led a research unit for the NGO Forum in Turkey, conducting primary research on the Syrian affected population leading to six reports addressing displacement, protection and humanitarian access.
Salmis has master’s degrees in conflict analysis and resolution and in business administration, and a doctorate in sociology, with a specialization in globalization and study of ethnic identity in Syria.
Business, Technology, and Public Service (BTP)
Christopher Estes is an instructor of computer science and cybersecurity at the Prince Frederick and Leonardtown campuses. He studied at American University and University of Maryland. His expertise is in all aspects of enterprise data systems, operations, software development, database management, telecommunications and satellite communications. He has recently passed the CISSP certification exam, the gold standard for cybersecurity professionals. Estes is one of the CSM faculty members participating in the Maryland Cyber Range EARN ACT training program this year.
Lakisha Ferebee is an instructor of cybersecurity at the Leonardtown Campus. She studied at Virginia Tech, UMUC and CSM. Ferebee began her career at CSM as an assistant in the computer security summer scholars class and later as a cybersecurity network technician to support the college’s cybersecurity program before teaching as an adjunct instructor. Over the summer she established a networking lab for the Leonardtown Campus and is setting up equipment to teach digital forensics at Leonardtown this spring.
Dwight Johnson is an assistant professor of accounting at the Prince Frederick Campus. He studied at University of Maryland, Baruch College and New York University. Johnson has taught for Rutgers University in China. Prior to that, he taught for Burapha University in Thailand.
Dr. Jones Kasonso is an associate professor of accounting at the La Plata Campus. Kasonso studied at Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants, Oxford Brookes University, Keller Graduate School of Management, and Northcentral University. He is a certified public accountant and has extensive experience as an accountant, instructor, researcher, auditor and fiscal analyst. He is originally from Ndola in the Republic of Zambia and authored the book, “The Original Templates: A Way to Find Meaning in a Broken World.”
Julia Madison is an instructor of cybersecurity at the La Plata Campus. Madison studied at Elizabeth City State University, Clarion University and Syracuse University. Her experience includes security analyst for the Federal Reserve Board and IT experience at the Department of Homeland Security. Madison is devoting time this fall and winter to completing the CISCO Networking Academy Instructor training program.
English, Communication, and Languages (ECL)
Assistant Professor Jesse Gonzalez has taught at the La Plata Campus CSM as an adjunct for seven years. He holds a master of arts in English from Purdue University Calumet. There, he was a visiting lecturer in English and philosophy as well as a graduate aide in the campus writing center. At CSM, he has taught a variety of English classes as well as the first-year seminar. He has tutored CSM students and mentored new adjunct faculty in the division. He belongs to the Modern Language Association and the Comics Studies Society.
Dr. Ren VanderLind is a new English faculty member at the La Plata Campus, specializing in developmental and first-year composition. VanderLind previously was at Texas State University, where she earned her doctorate in developmental education – literacy. There she served as graduate coordinator for the writing center, doctoral research assistant and reading course coordinator. She has taught at Northern Michigan University and served as a professional English tutor at Finlandia University. She has published research in a number of national journals.
Health Sciences (HEA)
Jeanne Hill is an assistant professor of nursing. She is a 2001 graduate of CSM’s nursing program and a previous recipient of the Maryland Nurses Association District 9 Student of the Year award. In 2016, Hill obtained her Master of Science in Nursing from Walden University with a specialization in education, and now she joins CSM as full-time faculty for maternal-newborn nursing. A majority of Hill’s nursing career has been spent at MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital, where she most recently was director of the Women’s Health & Family Birthing Center.
Mathematics (MTH)
Joseph Bowling is an instructor of developmental math. Before accepting this position, he spent several years with CSM as an adjunct math instructor and the math lab manager. He has experience working at Grace Christian Academy of Maryland teaching calculus and as a part time cross country coach. He completed his undergraduate studies at Stevenson University and graduate work at Nicholls State University.
Science and Engineering (SCI)
Dr. Edith Carron is an assistant professor of anatomy and physiology at the La Plata Campus. She earned a master’s degree in microbiology and a doctorate in cell biology. Carron spent many years working as a researcher for universities, research hospitals and private companies throughout the U.S. and abroad. Her main areas of research were infectious diseases and vaccine development. Carron has authored many peer reviewed research papers and patents. She taught biology courses for undergraduates and graduates at George Mason University, the University of Maryland system and CSM. She is a recipient of the Faculty Excellence Award honoring Adjunct Faculty.
Learning, Technology, and Resources (LTR)
Eric Belt, CSM’s director of learning technology, is an educational technology doctoral student at Boise State University. He holds a master’s degree in distance education & eLearning from UMUC and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Towson University. Prior to joining CSM, Belt was the assistant director of eLearning at Howard Community College and served as an instructional designer at various community colleges.
JaNeene Sanders is the new academic support specialist. She grew up in the panhandle of Florida and graduated from Troy University with a master’s degree in international relations.
About CSM
CSM’s story began when the Charles County Junior College was established as part of the continuing expansion of the community college in America. At its inception in 1958, the college was governed by the Charles County Board of Education, with the first classes conducted at La Plata High School in the evenings. The Friendly Hall Campus, which is now the La Plata Campus, was established in 1968. The college expanded its services to St. Mary’s County in 1978 and Calvert County in 1980.
Today, CSM is a regionally accredited community college that provides programs and services with a special focus on local workforce development to maintain and grow a healthy economy and community. CSM serves more than 23,000 credit and continuing education students at its campuses located in Hughesville, La Plata, Leonardtown and Prince Frederick, as well as a Higher Education Center shared with University of Maryland University College in Waldorf and a Center for Transportation Training in La Plata. For information about the college’s history, visit https://news.csmd.edu/60th/.
For information about CSM, call 301-934-7765 or visit www.csmd.edu.
For information on employment at CSM, visit www.csmd.edu/employment.
For information about CSM’s faculty excellence, visit www.csmd.edu/about/faculty-excellence-awards.