Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park
Biography
KerryAnn O’Meara currently serves as an Associate Professor of Higher Education in the College of Education at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her research and practice focus on the academic profession and the civic mission of higher education. She is particularly interested in how reform in academic reward systems and in opportunities for professional growth can advance faculty work and institutional missions. She is currently P.I. on a collaborative project with the Kettering Foundation to study the origins of faculty civic agency and serves as the Associate Editor for Research Articles for the Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, and Associate Editor for the Journal of the Professoriate.
Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Maryland in fall of 2007, she served on the Higher Education faculty at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Previous to this appointment she spent two years at the Harvard Project on Faculty Appointments, and 5 years as a professional in Student Affairs and Academic Affairs, directing service-learning programs, undergraduate research, and in residence life.
KerryAnn’s work has appeared in the Review of Higher Education, Journal of Higher Education, Research in Higher Education, Michigan Journal of Service-Learning, the NASPA Journal, Planning in Higher Education, the Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, the Journal of Teaching Excellence, the Journal of Faculty Development, the Handbook on Higher Education Research, among others.
In 1998 she received the Emerging Leader Award from the National Society for Experiential Education, in 2003 the Teacher of the Year Award, School of Education, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and in 2008 the Early Career Research Award, from the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement, where she joins the Board for a three year appointment in fall, 2009. She consults with institutions, national associations, and networks on issues of faculty development, reform in academic reward systems, and community engagement.
Selected Publications
O’Meara, K. and Niehaus, E. (2009). Service-learning is…..How faculty explain their practice. Michigan Journal of Community Service-Learning, 16 (1). 1-16.
Saltmarsh, J. Giles D. E. Jr., O’Meara, K., Sandmann, L. , Ward, E. and Buglione, S. M. (2009). The Institutional Home for Faculty Engagement: An Investigation of Reward Policies at Engaged Campuses. P. 3-30. Advances in Service Learning Research, Information Age Publishing.
O’Meara, K., Jones, J. Knepler, E., Pullaro, N. (2009, November 2). Book Review: Mary Burgan’s What ever happened to the faculty? Drift and decision in Higher Education. Teachers College Record. Date Published: November 02, 2009. http://www.tcrecord.org ID Number: 15817
O’Meara, K. (in press). Rewarding Multiple Forms of Scholarship: Promotion and
Tenure. Handbook on Community Engagement. Hi Fitzgerald and Cathy
Burack (editors). Michigan State University Press.
O’Meara, K., & Bloomgarden, A. (in press) Prestige at what Cost: Examining the consequences of striving for faculty work-life, reward systems, and satisfaction. Journal of the Professoriate. Volume 4, (1).
O’Meara, K. (in press). Faculty Civic Engagement: New Training, Assumptions, and Markets needed for the Engaged American Scholar. John Saltmarsh and Matt Hartley, (Eds). “To serve a larger purpose:” Engagement for Democracy and the Transformation of Higher Education. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
O’Meara, K. (in press). Introduction to Civic Engagement and Discipline Section. John Saltmarsh and Ed Zlotkowski book.
Colbeck, C.L., O’Meara, K. & Austin, A. (eds). (2008). Graduate Education and Community Engagement. Educating Integrated Professionals: Theory and Practice on Preparation for the Professoriate. New Directions for Teaching and Learning Volume. 113, p 27-42.
O’Meara, K., Terosky, A.L. and Neumann, A. (2008). Faculty Careers and Work Lives: A Professional Growth Perspective. ASHE Higher Education Report, 34 (3). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Bloomgarden, A. & O’Meara, K. (2007). Harmony or cacophony? Faculty role
integration and community engagement. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 13(2), p. 5-18.
O’Meara, K. (2007). Stepping Up: How one faculty learning community influenced faculty members’ understanding and use of active learning methods and course design. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching. 18 (2), p. 97-118.*
O’Meara, K. (2007). Striving for What? Exploring the Pursuit of Prestige. J.C. Smart
(ed.). Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, Vol. XXII, 121-179.
O’Meara, K., & Jaeger, A. (2007). Preparing future faculty for community
engagement: History, barriers, facilitators, models and recommendations. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 11 (4), p. 3-26.
O’Meara, K. (2006). Encouraging multiple forms of scholarship in faculty reward
systems: Have academic cultures really changed? (pp. 77-96). In J. Braxton (Ed.), Analyzing faculty work and rewards: Using Boyer’s four domains of scholarship. New Directions for Institutional Research, 129.
O’Meara, K. (2005). Encouraging multiple forms of scholarship in faculty reward
systems: Does it make a difference? Research in Higher Education, 46(5), 479-510.
O’Meara, K. (2005). Encouraging multiple forms of scholarship in faculty reward systems: Influence on faculty work-life. Planning for Higher Education, 34(2), 43-53.
O’Meara, K. (2005). Principles of good practice: Encouraging multiple forms of
scholarship in policy and practice. In K. A. O’Meara & R. E. Rice (Eds.), Faculty priorities reconsidered: Encouraging multiple forms of scholarship (pp. 290-302). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
O’Meara, K. (2005).The Courage to be Experimental: How one faculty learning
community influenced faculty teaching careers, understanding of how students learn and assessment. Journal of Faculty Development. 20(3), 153-160.
O’Meara, K. & Braskamp, L. (2005). Aligning faculty reward systems and development
to promote faculty and student growth. National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) Journal, 42(2), 223-240.
O’Meara, K. A., & Rice, R. E. (Eds.) (2005). Faculty priorities reconsidered: Encouraging multiple forms of scholarship. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
O’Meara, K. (2004). Beliefs about post-tenure review: The influence of autonomy, collegiality, career stage, and institutional context. The Journal of Higher Education, 75(2), 178-202.
O’Meara, K. (2004). Reframing incentives and rewards for community service-learning
and academic outreach. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 8(2), 201-220.
O’Meara, K. (2003). Believing is seeing: The influence of beliefs and expectations on
post-tenure review in one state system. Review of Higher Education, 27(1), 17-44.
O’Meara, K. Kaufman, R., & Kuntz, A. (2003). Faculty work in challenging times: Trends, consequences and implications. Liberal Education, 89(4), 16-23.
O’Meara, K. (2002). Uncovering the values in faculty evaluation of service as scholarship. Review of Higher Education, 26(1), 57-80.
Upcoming Presentations
Rivera, J., Robbins, C. Campbell, C. & O’Meara, K. (2010, February 12). Exploring Work-Life Balance and Status of Women at the University of Maryland. Maryland Student Affairs Conference. College Park, MD.
O’Meara, K. (2010, February 25). Rewarding Engaged Scholarship. Loyola Marymount University.
O’Meara, K. & Terosky, A. (2010, March 25). From Professional Growth to Impact: Connecting Faculty Learning, Agency, Relationships and Commitments to High Impact Practices. Faculty Roles in High-Impact Practices Conference, AACU. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Sandmann, L., Giles, D., Saltmarsh, J. & O’Meara, K. (2010, March 27). High Impact Engagement Practices: Lessons Learned from Carnegie Classified Community-Engaged Institutions. Faculty Roles in High-Impact Practices Conference, AACU. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Select Presentations
O’Meara, K. (November 19, 2009). Traversing the New Landscape of Faculty Careers and Work-Lives. ASHA Conference. New Orleans, LA.
O’Meara, K. (November 12, 2009). Engaged Scholars in Public Universities: Recognizing and Rewarding Excellence. Keynote Speech. Scholar in Residence, University of Vermont.
O’Meara, K. (November 12, 2009). Something is Happening Here: Presentation to Department Chairs and Deans. Scholar in Residence, University of Vermont.
O’Meara, K. (November 13, 2009). Rewarding the Engaged Scholar: Presentation to Promotion and Tenure committee: Scholar in Residence, University of Vermont.
O’Meara, K. (November 7, 2009). Gender and Community Engagement: Report from a Research Project. Association for the Study of Higher Education. Vancouver, CA.
O’Meara, K. , Jaeger, A. & Giles, D. (November 5, 2009). Civic learning and the classroom: How and in what contexts classroom experience enhances civic action. Association for the Study of Higher Education. Vancouver, CA.
Campbell, C. & O’Meara, K. (2009, November 5). Institutional Research and Higher Education Programs: Collaborating on Research, Teaching, and Service. Association for the Study of Higher Education, Vancouver, CA.
Janke, E., Stewart, T., Howard, J. , O’Meara, K. (October 9, 2009). Publishing in Service-Learning and Community Engagement. International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement. Ottawa, Canada.
O’Meara, and Rosen. (April 2-4, 2009). Crafting Faculty Work Lives that Address Both Faculty and Institutional Needs. Shaping Faculty Roles in a Time of Change Conference,
Association of American College and Universities. Pre-Conference Workshop. San Diego, CA.
O’Meara, K. (April 15, 2009). Expanding and Deepening Notions of Faculty Work to
Support Under-served students. Virtual Think Tank Meeting. Boston, MA: New England Resource Center for Higher Education.
O’Meara, K., Anderson, A. and Sireci, S. March 30, (2009). Understanding what Matters: Defining the Difference for Students in Public Institutions. American College Personnel Association. Washington, D.C.
O’Meara, K. (2009, February 5). In Search of the “Shire”: Embracing a Journey toward
our Ideal Academic Homes. University of North Carolina Greensboro.
O’Meara, K. (2009, February 5). Taking Faculty Learning Seriously: Implications for
Reward Systems, Professional Development, and Community. University of North Carolina Greensboro.
O’Meara, K. (October 17, 2008) From Constraint to Growth: Reconsidering the
Narrative in Studies of Faculty. University of Georgia.
O’Meara, K. (October 17, 2008). Developing a Career as an Insider: Promotion and
Tenure. A session with the Franklin Fellows. University of Georgia.
O’Meara, K. (October 27, 2008). From Constraint to Growth: Reframing Faculty
Community Engagement. International Research Association for Service-Learning and Community Engagement. Invited Presentation as 2008 Early Career Research Award winner session. New Orleans, LA.
O’Meara, K. (2008, November 7). Taking public work seriously: Enhancing civic agency
through faculty development. Paper presented as part of a symposium organized and chaired by Audrey Jaeger. Annual Conference of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Jacksonville, FL.
O’Meara, K. and Niehaus, B. (2008, November 8). Service-learning is…How faculty
explain their practice. Paper presented as part of a symposium organized by Tami Moore and Kelly Ward. Annual Conference of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Jacksonville, FL.
O’Meara, K. and Campbell, C. (2008, November 8). Can I, Should I, Will I? Faculty Sense of Agency in Decisions about Work and Family. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Jacksonville, FL.
Saltmarsh, J. Sandmann, L., Giles, and O’Meara, K. (2008, October 27). An Integrated
model for advancing the scholarship of engagement: Creating academic homes for the engaged scholar. Annual conference of the International Association for Service-Learning and Community Engagement. LA: New Orleans.
O’Meara, K., Terosky, A. & Neumann, A. (2008, AERA, March 27) Faculty Professional growth considered: Understanding faculty, their careers, roles, and work in new ways. American Educational Research Association, Annual Conference, New York.
Sandmann, L., Saltmarsh, J., Giles, D. & O’Meara, K. (2008, AERA, March 27).
Creating Academic Homes: An Integrated Model for Advancing the Scholarship of Engagement. American Educational Research Association Annual Conference, New York.
O’Meara, K. (August 27, 2008). Faculty Professional Growth: Implications for Students, Faculty and Institutional Learning. Faculty Professional Development Day. Worwic Community College.
O’Meara, K. (April 15, 2008). Taking Service Seriously: Uncovering the Many Layers
and Values of Service in Higher Education. Keynote to Annual Faculty Retreat. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
O’Meara, K. (2007, September 28). Why service-learning? Why now? Reflections on the
power of service-learning in faculty work. Lunch Keynote address. To whom much is given: State-wide service-learning conference. University of Alabama.
O’Meara, K. (2007, September 28). Maximizing learning in service-learning: Strategies
and resources. To whom much is given: State-wide service-learning conference. University of Alabama.
O’Meara, K. (2007, September 28). Exploring the “So what? Now what?” Question.
Documenting impact and scholarship in faculty reward systems. To whom much is given: State-wide service-learning conference. University of Alabama.
O’Meara, K. & Reiff, J. (2007, March 26). The Challenges and Rewards of Service
Learning. Consortium of Springfield Colleges Annual Faculty Retreat.
O’Meara, K. (2007, November 8). The Influence of Gender on faculty careers and
experiences. Discussant. Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education. Louisville, Kentucky.
O’Meara, K. (2007, October 23). Motivation for Faculty Community Engagement:
Learning from Exemplars. Coalition for Urban and Metropolitan Universities conference. Baltimore, MD.
Keanan, C. & O’Meara, K. (2006, November 3). Just Point, Click and Teach, Right? Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Anaheim, CA.
O’Meara, K. (September 14, 2006). New Work for New Scholars. University of
Nebraska. Preparing Future Faculty Collaborative.
O’Meara, K. & Jaeger, K. (2006, November 3). Preparing Future Faculty for
Engagement: History, Barriers, Facilitators, Models and Recommendations. Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Anaheim, CA.
O’Meara, K. (2006, November 4). Faculty Motivation for Engagement: Listening to
Exemplars. Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Anaheim, CA.
O’Meara, K. & Nemeth, E. (2006, October 9) Graduate Education and Civic
Engagement. Outreach Scholarship Conference. Columbus, Ohio.
O’Meara, K. (2006, April 10). Socializing future faculty for community engagement.
American Educational Research Association (AERA), San Francisco, CA.
Bloomgarden, A., & O’Meara, K. (2006, April 8). Harmony or cacophony? Faculty role
integration and community engagement. American Educational Research Association (AERA), San Francisco, CA.
O’Meara, K. (2006, February 22). Graduate student presentations: Faculty respondents.
Civic Engagement Conference sponsored by American Association of Colleges and Universities (AACU), Campus Compact, and NERCHE, Providence, RI.
O’Meara, K. (2005, November 19). Encouraging multiple forms of scholarship in faculty
reward systems: Have academic cultures really changed? Annual Conference of
the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE). Philadelphia, PA.
O’Meara, K., & Bloomgarden, A. (2005, November 17). Exploring the characteristics of
striving institutions. Annual Conference of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE). Philadelphia, PA.
O’Meara, K. (2005, April 28). Encouraging multiple forms of scholarship in faculty
reward systems: Influence on faculty work-life. Annual Conference of the New England Educational Research Organization (NEERO).
O’Meara, K. (2005, March 24). Academic reward systems from a comparative
perspective. Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Ottawa, Canada.
O’Meara, K. (2005, April 11). Encouraging multiple forms of scholarship in faculty
reward systems: Have academic cultures really changed? Annual Conference of the American Educational Research Association (AERA).
O’Meara, K. (2004, April 13). Encouraging multiple forms of scholarship in faculty
reward systems: Does it make a difference? Annual Conference of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). San Diego, CA.
O’Meara, K. (2004, April 5). Encouraging multiple forms of scholarship: The influences
on faculty involvements, satisfaction, retention, institutional culture and direction. Semi-Annual Meeting of the Lynton Riesman Higher Education Faculty Group.
Rice, R., & O’Meara, K. (2003, March 16). Does a broader understanding of scholarship
have a future? Annual Conference of the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE), Washington, D.C.
O’Meara, K. (2003, March 15). Encouraging multiple forms of scholarship: Best
practices from award winning campuses. Annual Conference of the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE), Washington, D.C.
O’Meara, K. (2003, March). Beliefs about post-tenure review: The influence of
autonomy, collegiality, career stage, and institutional context. Annual Conference of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Chicago, IL.
O’Meara, K. (2002, November 21). Believing is seeing: The influence of beliefs and
expectations on post-tenure review in one state system. Annual Conference of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE).
O’Meara, K. (2002, April 5). Reward systems and structures in academic communities.
Massachusetts Campus Compact Conference. Amherst, MA.
Academic Profession
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