Director of Student Services at Heald College Online
Portland, Oregon Area
- Current
-
- Tour Guide (Volunteer) at Cascade Geographic Society - Portland Underground (Shanghai Tunnels)
- Past
-
- Director of Student Services at Heald College Online
- President and Executive Recruiter at Global Recruiters of Portland Southwest
- Content Research and Design (Content Specialist - Science) at Northwest Evaluation Association
- Senior Support Scientist - Education and Public Outreach (NASA Contractor) at L3-Communications: GSI
- Adjunct Assistant Professor: Education - Aerospace Education Specialist (NASA Contractor) at Oklahoma State University
- Science Teacher at Anne Arundel County Public Schools
- Education
-
- Oklahoma State University
- Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
- Capella University
- Villanova University
- Recommended
-
4 people have recommended Dennis - Connections
-
211
connections
- Industry
- Higher Education
- Websites
Dennis Christopher’s Summary
Dennis brings a rare understanding of education organization and strategic development. His background includes a blend of scientific analysis, organizational development, and training. He has been an educator and trainer for NASA Education as a contractor through Oklahoma State University. In this position he analyzed government and education needs, researched the appropriate resources, provided training on these resources, and helped to support sustainability.
Currently Dennis is the Director of Student Services for Heald College Online. This is a new division of Heald College for which he is one of the key developers. He has been a senior support scientist for the NASA /ESA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory and their contractor L3-Communications. In this position he was an architect of their public outreach plan. Again he successfully analyzed the resources and needs of the spacecraft and public to best determine how to integrate government “in-kind” services.
His favorite experience has been flying on the NASA KC135 also known as the "Vomit Comet." This aircraft was used to film the weightless scenes for "Apollo 13." He logged over 80 minutes of weightlessness equivalent to almost one orbit while flying educational experiments.
Dennis is a native of Belle Vernon, PA and currently resides with his wife and two sons in Tualatin, OR. He has a BS in Education/Earth and Space Science from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, an MS in Natural and Applied Sciences from Oklahoma State University, and a certificate in Lean Six Sigma from Villanova University. During his tenure with Oklahoma State University he was able to attend the National Staff Development Council Academy for Training and Leadership.
Dennis Christopher’s Specialties:
Expert and very experienced at representation and collaboration between industries, government entities, and education.
Critical analysis of business or organizational processes
Expert in the big picture while attending to the individual
Expert in facilitation
Expert in conceptualization
Expert in public speaking
Expert in team building
Proficient in Mac and PC Platforms
Proficient to Expert in MS Office
Proficient in Photoshop
Expert in Visio
Beginner in Flash
Beginner in HTML
Dennis Christopher’s Experience
-
Tour Guide (Volunteer)
Cascade Geographic Society - Portland Underground (Shanghai Tunnels)
(Non-Profit Organization Management industry)
May 2006 — Present (3 years 7 months)
* Key substitute lead for Portland Underground Tours
* Responsible for overall supervision which includes security, safety of the guests, relations with the store owners that allow the tours, public relations, public outreach, and volunteer education and coordination.
* One of only three authorized tour leads at the Portland Underground (aka Shanghai Tunnels, www.shanghaitunnels.info).
* The Portland Underground has been featured on the Travel Channel, History Channel, SciFi, and the Food Channel. The Underground is also listed as a major tourist attraction in Portland. Recently it was featured on the History Channel in their "Cities of the Underworld" series and the Travel Channel's "Most Terrifying Places in America 2." -
Director of Student Services
Heald College Online
(Privately Held; Higher Education industry)
2009 — 2009 (less than a year)
Heald College is moving into the world of totally online education starting after the beginning of the year. Will be developing the policy manual, training new student services advisors, consulting on website information, coordinating across the organization (online and ground), and supporting any other development. Heald was acquired by CCI. Since CCI has an online college I was laid off.
-
President and Executive Recruiter
Global Recruiters of Portland Southwest
(Staffing and Recruiting industry)
December 2007 — July 2009 (1 year 8 months)
Global Recruiters of Portland Southwest is dedicated to matching candidates with their dream jobs. We are also dedicated to placing the most qualified candidate with a hiring manager. GRN or Portland Southwest currently specializing in placing Strategic Planners (organizational development, training, business analysts...) in high tech industries. In the near future we plan to add warehouse operations (probably in produce) and financial specialists. Even if you are in a different field we would be glad to share your expertise with others in our network.
-
Content Research and Design (Content Specialist - Science)
Northwest Evaluation Association
(Non-Profit; 51-200 employees; Non-Profit Organization Management industry)
2005 — 2007 (2 years )
* Coordinated every activity that involved science products worth 1.5 million in sales per year.
* Coordinated move to increase sales 1 million per year.
* Developed plan to save organization approximately $850,00 in development while increasing science items by 40,000 over current plan, placing the organization in new markets, and creating great press while not impacting current organizational resources.
* Communicated inside or outside the organization. Proofread and edited science publications, planned and led writing workshops, and signed off on all science-related projects, documents, and activities.
* Researched and communicated science curriculum and education changes to the executive team including the impact of No Child Left Behind and Intelligent Design.
* Monitored all 5,000+ science items for content and grade-level appropriateness.
* Developed computerized products, including Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), Achievement Level Tests (ALT), and DesCartes. -
Senior Support Scientist - Education and Public Outreach (NASA Contractor)
L3-Communications: GSI
(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Defense & Space industry)
2004 — 2005 (1 year )
* Planned and coordinated education outreach for the NASA/ European Space Agency Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO, sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov)
* Doubled the exposure of solar physics in curriculum.
* Created 300% increase of solar physics workshops to the educational community.
* Recognized with monetary bonus. -
Adjunct Assistant Professor: Education - Aerospace Education Specialist (NASA Contractor)
Oklahoma State University
(Educational Institution; Higher Education industry)
1987 — 2004 (17 years )
* Traveled to schools to deliver nearly 3K lectures and demonstrations about the space program to groups as small as 30 and as large as 2K.
* Planned and coordinated over 500 two day workshops for over 1,500 teachers and administrators on rocketry and the physics of working in space.
* Directed the Aerospace Education office, supervising 5 staff members and scheduling 4 specialists for full-time on-the-road presentations.
* Forged connections with key organizational groups in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island to promote aerospace education and coordinate resources for each school system or educational entity. -
Science Teacher
Anne Arundel County Public Schools
(Educational Institution; 1001-5000 employees; Education Management industry)
August 1983 — June 1987 (3 years 11 months)
Earth and Space Science Teacher for grades 7-9.
Dennis Christopher’s Education
-
Oklahoma State University
Master of Science , Natural and Applied Science , 1994 — 1997
This degree was earned while working 100% in the field. At that time we did not have online classes so everything was done by mail. My GPA was 3.85. I also started a PhD in Environmental Science but dropped it when I left OSU.
-
Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
Bachelor of Science , Education - General, and Earth and Space Science , 1979 — 1983
* Co-founder of the Rock Emergency Medical Services
* Marching Rockets under Blas Scarnatti
* Rented a house senior year in Rock Creek- Activities and Societies:
- Kappa Delta Pi Educational Honorary
Marching Rockets
-
Capella University
EdS or PhD , Leadership in Administration , 2009
I started this degree to pick up an administrators certificate but may change it to a PhD.
-
Villanova University
Certificate Program , Lean Six Sigma , 2008
Additional Information
Dennis Christopher’s Websites:
Dennis Christopher’s Interests:
professional development, training, public speaking, organizational development, team building, leadership, critical analysis, conceptualization, facilitation, coordination, history, exploration, the paranormal
Dennis Christopher’s Groups:
Association for Strategic Planning
ASTD Cascadia Chapter
National Staff Development Council
National Science Teachers Association
The Breakfast Club for Networking
Cleon Cox's Networking Meeting
Volunteer - Cascade Geographic Society - Portland Underground (a.k.a. Shanghai Tunnels) Tour Guide and Organizational Development, I Take the Lead, OEN, Global Recruiters
-
eOffice -
Learning, Education and Training Professionals Group -
Portland Connect -
Strategic Business and Competitive Intelligence Professionals -
Lean Six Sigma -
RecruitingBlogs -
Organization Development Professionals Network International - ODPNi -
Database Experts -
Leading International Open Networkers (LION) -
CXO (CEO, COO, CKO, CFO, CMO, CAO, CVO, CDO, CRO, CLO, CSO & CTO) Community -
Innovative Recruitment Forum -
Mac Users -
MySalesCrowd -
pdxMindShare - Portland's Career Community -
i Take The Lead -
Job Finders Support Group -
Slippery Rock University Alumni Networking Group -
ExecuNet Portland, OR Vancouver, WA -
LinkedWorking Portland -
PDX Job Search
Dennis Christopher’s Honors:
NASA Public Service Group Achievement Award for Outstanding Educational Programming
Curator's Award - Cascade Geographic Society - Volunteer in the Portland Underground
Monitary award for exceptional performance from L3-Communications.
Connolly Award from the Pennsylvania Cable Television Public Affairs Association for Educational Programming
Nominations for 2 Cable Ace Awards for Educational Programming
Hometown Video Festival Award for Educational Programming
Dennis Christopher’s Contact Settings
Interested In:
- career opportunities
- consulting offers
- new ventures
- job inquiries
- expertise requests
- reference requests
- getting back in touch
