What does it take to rethink a course, break down barriers to learning, or partner with students in new ways? The Kirwan Center’s Impact Blog Series highlights the experiences of faculty and staff leading innovative projects across the USM. Through honest reflections on OER development, digital accessibility, and SoTL research, these stories celebrate the collective effort to shape more engaging, equitable, and accessible learning environments.
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Developing Human Resources Management of the 21st Century: Centering the Human Dynamics in Organizations
October 2026
Denean Robinson, Associate Professor of Business, Howard Commnity College and Adjunct Business Professor, Prince George's Community College
Denean Robinson is an Associate Professor of Business and Program Coordinator for Introduction to Business at Howard Community College, where she provides academic leadership, oversees curriculum development, and supports student success initiatives. In this role, she has developed and revised courses and curricuclum, ensuring alignment with industry standards and workforce needs. She also is an Adjunct Business Professor at Prince George's Community College (PGCC). Her experience in higher education includes OER curriculum design, course development, assessment, program coordination, and instructional leadership, with a strong commitment to preparing students for success in today's dynamic business environment.
I am excited to share my experience developing the Open Educational Resource (OER) for BMT 2610: Introduction to Human Resource Management at Prince George's Community College through the Maryland Open Source Textbook (MOST) Grant initiative.
As an educator, I have always believed that access to high-quality learning materials should not be limited by cost. Developing this OER provided an opportunity to create a resource that not only supports student success but also reflects the evolving realities of today's workplace. The result was Human Resources Management of the 21st Century: Centering the Human Dynamics in Organizations, a course resource designed to help students understand human resource management through a people-centered lens.
The development process began with a clear goal: to move beyond traditional HR concepts and create content that emphasizes the human side of organizations. While HR professionals are often associated with policies, compliance, and administrative functions, modern human resource management is increasingly focused on employee engagement, workplace culture, diversity and inclusion, leadership development, and organizational well-being. I wanted students to see HR as a strategic discipline that helps organizations thrive by investing in their people.
Creating the OER involved extensive research, curriculum design, content development, and alignment with course learning outcomes. I carefully selected topics that addressed both foundational HR principles and emerging trends impacting today's workforce. Areas such as talent acquisition, performance management, employee relations, workplace ethics, diversity, equity, inclusion, remote work, and organizational culture were incorporated to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of contemporary human resource management.
This textbook is the first fully ADA-accessible textbook developed at PGCC, ensuring that all students have equitable access to course materials. To enhance student engagement, the team incorporated TED Talk videos, multimedia resources, and real-world case studies that directly connect course concepts to current business practices. The case studies were intentionally selected to help students understand not only business theories but also how those theories are implemented in real organizational settings. This is the first semester using this textbook and I have noticed that student grades have improved and classroom discussions have become more meaningful and interactive. Students appear more engaged because they can connect the material to real-world situations and hear diverse perspectives from business leaders featured in the videos. This experience has also influenced my teaching approach by allowing me to focus more on critical thinking, application, and discussion rather than solely on content delivery. Overall, the combination of accessibility, multimedia content, and practical applications has created a more engaging and effective learning experience for students.
One of the most rewarding aspects of developing this course was the opportunity to create materials that are accessible, relevant, and engaging. Open Educational Resources remove financial barriers for students while allowing instructors the flexibility to customize content to meet the needs of diverse learners. By eliminating textbook costs, students can focus more on learning and less on the financial burden often associated with higher education.
The MOST Grant provided invaluable support throughout this process and reinforced the importance of expanding access to affordable educational resources across Maryland's higher education institutions. The initiative encouraged innovation and collaboration while empowering faculty to develop content that directly benefits student learning and academic achievement.
Through this experience, I not only enhanced my understanding of instructional design and OER development but also strengthened my commitment to student-centered education. Developing Human Resources Management of the 21st Century: Centering the Human Dynamics in Organizations allowed me to combine my passion for education, workforce development, and human resources into a resource that I hope will positively impact students for years to come.
I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the growing OER movement and to support Prince George's Community College's commitment to affordability, accessibility, and academic excellence. I look forward to continuing to develop innovative learning experiences that prepare students to become thoughtful, ethical, and effective professionals in the workplace.
#MOSTGrant #OER #OpenEducationalResources #PGCC #PrinceGeorgesCommunityCollege #HumanResources #HRManagement #WorkforceDevelopment #StudentSuccess #HigherEducation #InstructionalDesign #TeachingAndLearning
The Stories Behind Our Impact
September 2026
Jennifer E. Potter, Ph.D., Associate Director, Kirwan Center for Academic Innovatoin, ĎÂÔض¶Ňő
Jennifer Potter served as a faculty member and department chair at Towson university for 15 years before joining the Kirwan Center in 2024. Her work focuses on faculty development initiatives in digital accessibility, generative AI pedagogy, and alternative credentials.
For many years, my colleagues and I have been talking about the challenges facing our public speaking program. We had a clear idea of what changes we wanted to make to the program, but we also recognized that we didn’t have the time or resources to make the changes. Then we saw the announcement for from the Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation, and suddenly, a project that had felt aspirational seemed possible.
At the time, I was a longtime faculty member and department chair at Towson University (TU). Our department offered more than 50 sections of public speaking each year, many taught by adjunct faculty. The COVID-19 pandemic had made the disconnection within this large, multi-section course especially visible. Our instructors cared deeply about their students, but they did not have a shared set of teaching resources or a strong community through which they could learn from one another. Students’ experiences varied considerably from one section to another, including differences in assignments, expectations, and the number and length of speeches. Students were also paying for a commercial textbook and online platform that many did not find particularly useful. During the disruption and financial uncertainty of the pandemic, that student cost became even harder to justify. Melanie Morris, Assistant Teaching Professor & Public Speaking Program Director, and I knew we wanted to do more than replace an expensive textbook with a free one; we wanted to redesign the entire course experience.
A M.O.S.T. institutional grant allowed us to create a comprehensive collection of resources for instructors, including lesson plans, activities, quizzes, rubrics, presentation materials, and a shared course structure. Faculty members retained the flexibility to personalize their courses, but they no longer had to begin entirely from scratch. That was particularly valuable for adjunct instructors teaching the course for the first time. The funding also helped us bring our students into the work and expand the project.
Through TU’s Public Communication Center (PCC) and our use of undergraduate learning assistants (ULAs), we knew the distinctive power of peer mentorship. We often shared stories about how students often heard guidance differently when it came from another student. As our OER project developed, we worked with PCC mentors to record model speeches, offered students the opportunity to annotate the textbook, and engaged students to contribute their perspectives to the materials we were creating. Adjunct faculty also helped shape and co-author content. Most significantly for me, I worked with my undergraduate student and peer mentor, Olivia Kuehner, to co-author a workbook on public speaking apprehension and to build a class presentation module available to all faculty across the campus.
Working with Olivia required me to step out of “expert mode.” I had to become comfortable sharing unfinished writing, receiving her edits, and treating her not simply as a student but as a genuine partner. Once I learned to let go of some control, the collaboration became one of the most rewarding experiences of my faculty career. Our work eventually became the foundation for an article co-authored with Olivia and my faculty colleague Melanie Morris, “.”
The Kirwan Center’s contribution extended well beyond the grant funding. The project came with a timeline and accountability, but it also came with people who helped us see new possibilities. Conversations with Nancy O’Neill and Annika Many always gave us something new to consider. In fact, the idea of inviting students to annotate the textbook emerged from one of those conversations. The Kirwan Center also connected us with faculty doing related work, helping our individual project become part of a broader community. My experience with the Kirwan Center didn’t just change the course—it also was the beginning of a change in my professional trajectory.
I had already begun wondering what might come after many years as a department chair. I loved faculty mentoring and development, but a traditional administrative path did not feel quite right. When the Kirwan Center’s Associate Director position opened at the tail end of our work on this project, the work felt immediately familiar. OER, digital accessibility, generative AI, alternative credentials, and the scholarship of teaching and learning were all areas that connected to my own faculty experience and interests. Although leaving Towson after spending my entire career there was difficult, the opportunity to support faculty across the ĎÂÔض¶Ňő felt like the right next chapter.
Today, I see the Kirwan Center’s impact from a different vantage point. We can count participants, dollars awarded, and satisfaction ratings, and those measures matter. But they cannot fully capture what happens after a faculty member receives support. They do not show the redesigned course, the adjunct instructor who no longer must start alone, the student whose voice becomes part of a textbook, the relationships formed, or the unexpected professional path that opens.
That is why we are beginning this series. In the coming months, faculty and staff will share stories from their projects and programs supported by the Kirwan Center. My story is only one example of how the Kirwan Center’s work travels outward through people, classrooms, programs, and campuses. Together, these stories will show not simply what the Kirwan Center supports, but what that support makes possible. We hope you’ll come along with us and our participants, as we share our journeys, insights, and continued possibilities in academic innovation.
