JMU InterView:
Dr. Amanda Rockinson-Szapkiw, LPC, Edd, PhD

I am an educator, scholar, counselor, and innovator. My educational journey has resulted in a B.A. in Elementary Education (2002), an M.A. in Counseling (2004), an Ed.D. in Distance Education (2009), and a Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision (2018). I have over ten years of experience in higher education, serving both as a faculty and administrator. In my capacity as a faculty, I have had the opportunity to mentor over three dozen EdD candidates, both national and international, who have successfully defended their dissertations. As an administrator, I have served as both a chair and program coordinator for a variety of residential, blended, and online doctoral programs. 

I am passionate about developing and investigating systems (e.g., family, technological, institutional) to support the psychosocial, social, academic, and vocational success of learners, promoting racial and gender equity in STEM and higher education. My three broad research areas have included: 1) doctoral education and persistence, 2) distance education and technological systems, and 3) gender and racial equity in science, technology, math, and engineering (STEM).

Currently, I serve as a Professor and Doctoral Program Coordinator for a learning design and technology program at the University of Memphis (UofM). Before entering Higher Education, I served as a counselor, working with children and adolescents struggling with social, emotional, behavioral, and sexual issues; and I both a Virginia Licensed Professional Counselor (since 2006) and Virginia Pupil Personnel Services License (School Counselor; since 2009).