Date:
12/5/2012
Contact: Registrar Office at 575.562.2175
PORTALES–Eastern New Mexico University is hosting its 123rd Commencement Convocation on Saturday, Dec. 8, at 10 a.m. in Greyhound Arena in Portales. There are 235 candidates eligible to participate in commencement.
A reception, sponsored by Alumni Affairs, will be in the south gym of Greyhound Arena immediately following the ceremony.
The commencement speaker will be Kathleen Donalson, associate professor of reading education. Her topic will be "Duck Dynasty Philosophy."
She says, "In order to find true success and happiness, one must pursue their true passion in life. One must keep their life in balance remembering to put first the people and things that matter most. They must conduct themselves with integrity. When passion, integrity, family, and God are present, success is sure to follow."
Donalson has spent her career working with adults and children who struggle with reading. She runs a reading clinic on-site at ENMU each summer. Children, who struggle in reading, come from Portales and surrounding areas to work one-on-one with college students to receive reading tutoring.
Each spring, Donalson works with a team of graduate students offering free reading testing to families with children who struggle in reading. Students in Dr. Donalson's classes have numerous field experiences including reading with children from the New Mexico Baptist Children's Home, the Bonem House, and the New Mexico Christian Children's Home.
Donalson was born and raised in Albuquerque, N.M. She received her Ph.D. from Texas Tech University in curriculum and instruction focusing on language and literacy. In 2005, Donalson was awarded Texas Tech University College of Education Doctoral Student of the Year. She received both her bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of New Mexico.
She taught 14 years in public K-12 school classrooms. Much of her teaching career was in Title I/Chapter I (a federally funded program for children at a disadvantage). Dr. Donalson taught for five years as a bilingual teacher and English as a Second language (ESL). She served five years in Title I administrative positions in the public schools. She served on the Board of Directors for the Roosevelt Literacy Council and volunteered teaching adults basic literacy and ESL.
She is currently serving on the SW International Dyslexia Association Board of Directors. She has been awarded several grants in the state of New Mexico to fund educational programs. She has multiple publications on instructional implications for readers who struggle. In addition, Dr. Donalson works as an educational consultant for the Woodcock Munoz Foundation helping to create reading intervention strategies.
Also on Saturday, the Academic Honors Convocation will be at 7:45 a.m. in the Campus Union Building Ballroom.
The commencement and reception are free and open to the public.
For more information, call the Registrar Office at 575.562.2175.