Susan Mortorff Robb

Professor, Special Education

Ph.D. (Special Education and Public Administration), University of New Mexico
M.A. with distinction (Special Education), University of New Mexico
B.A., Concordia University, Seward, Nebraska

Biography

Since joining the faculty in 2004, Dr. Susan Robb has provided leadership in developing new credential programs in special education and new Ph.D. coursework in that emphasis at CGU.  Previously, Dr. Robb worked in the California State University System (CSU) as a professor and department chair at Cal Poly Pomona and as Associate Director of Teacher Education and K-18 Programs in the Office of the Chancellor.  In that capacity, she provided guidance for several state and CSU projects that worked with the preparation of teachers, educational reform and collaborative partnerships with public schools. She was conferred the honor of Professor Emerita in fall 2004 from Cal Poly for her contributions on that campus and in the CSU system office. Dr. Robb has directed over $3.3 million in federal and state funding for special education projects and has served on several local, state, and national committees in the field of special education.

Teaching Interests

• Mild/Moderate Disabilities
• Leadership and Collaboration
• Research-based Strategies

Research Interests

• Efficacy of Preparation Programs
• Recruitment and Retention Issues in Special Education
• Curriculum Development

Responsibilities, Projects, and Presentations

• Coordinator, CGU Special Education Doctoral Program.
  http://www.cgu.edu/pages/4108.asp
  Course scheduling, course development, as well as program advisement is coordinated across instructors to ensure optimum course availability and minimal content overlap for M.A. and Ph.D. students.
• Director, PULSE: Phase Two.
  www.cgu.edu/PAGES/6187.asp
  Project Director of The PULSE Pipeline Project (Preparing Urban Leaders in Special Education): Phase Two, a four-year $799,000 grant beginning in 2008 from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education (OSEP) that supports the preparation of teachers for students with moderate/severe disabilities. This project was modeled after PULSE: Phase One which supported over 70 intern teachers toward full Mild/Moderate Special Education credentials 2004-2008.
• Director, Outreach Services, The IRIS Center for Training Enhancements, IRIS-West.
  www.iriscenter.com
  Responsible for coordinating national training and professional development seminars and activities for The IRIS Center (IDEA ’04 and Research for Inclusive Settings)
• Coordinator, Task Four, Teacher Preparation Program Survey, Special Education Faculty Needs Assessment (SEFNA).
  www.cgu.edu/sefna
  SEFNA is a national evaluation effort, also funded by OSEP, to provide essential information on the nation’s capacity to produce a sufficient supply of well-qualified faculty to staff university programs that prepare special education teachers. SEFNA research tasks include surveying current doctoral programs in special education, program students, program graduates, and the teacher preparation programs that hire these graduates.
• Smith, D. D., Robb, S. M., West, J., & Tyler, N. C. (in press). The changing education landscape: How special education leadership preparation can make a difference for teachers and their students with disabilities. Teacher Education and Special Education.
• Working with Higher Education Faculty in Hawaii Universities to Utilize IRIS Materials, IRIS Two-Day Seminar, Honolulu, January 8-9, 2009.
• Who’s in Charge? The IRIS Center’s Online Behavior Module Series. 2009 Hawaii International Conference on Education, Honolulu January, 2009.
• The IRIS Center’s RTI Module Series. 2009 Hawaii International Conference on Education, Honolulu January 2009.
• Behavior Management: The IRIS Center’s Online Behavior Module Series. Council for Exceptional Children-Teacher Education Division’s Annual Conference, Dallas November 2008.
• Integrating IRIS Resources for Coursework and Professional Development, IRIS Two-Day Seminar, Park City, Utah, September 5-6, 2008.
• “IRIS Center: The Behavior Module Sequence Overview,” 2008 OSEP Project Director’s Conference, Washington, DC, 7/08.
• “Four Years and Counting!!! Evaluating Claremont Graduate University’s PULSE Pipeline Program to Improve Teacher Preparation Curricula”, 2008 OSEP Project Director’s Conference, Washington, DC, July 2008.
• Preparing State and University Personnel to Utilize IRIS Materials, IRIS Two-Day Seminar, Chico Hot Springs, Montana, May 15-16, 2008.
• The Effectiveness of On-line Course Enhancements, through IRIS Star Legacy Modules. Council for Exceptional Children Annual Conference, Boston, April 2008.
• “Utilizing IRIS Resources for Teacher Preparation and Retention,” Invited Presentation. Invited Presentation. California Department of Education Special Education Stakeholder Committee, Sacramento, February 7, 2008.
• “The IRIS Center Modules for Response to Intervention”, Invited Presentation. Ventura County Office of Education RTI Symposium, January 23, 2008.

• Email:  sue.robb@cgu.edu

•  Curriculum Vitae