BS Psychology Faculty

Dr. Stacy Bjorkman started with Walden in 2011 as a Contributing Faculty member and in 2013 became a Core Faculty member. Dr. Bjorkman completed her doctorate in Psychology with a specialization in School Psychology at Northern Illinois University and has taught at the university level for over 7 years. Prior to Walden, Dr. Bjorkman spent several years as a special education teacher and school psychologist in the public school system in Illinois. She taught graduate classes in psychology and education at a local university and another online university before accepting the full-time position at Walden. Her background as a special education teacher influences both her work as a school psychologist and her teaching methods, in that she makes every attempt to accommodate individual differences in learning and maximize the positive impact of the diverse backgrounds of her students.

She continues to consult with local school districts on the implementation of the federally mandated Response to Intervention initiative, which focuses on using data to inform instruction and respond to the educational and social-emotional needs of students. Dr. Bjorkman has taught various courses in Walden’s BS Psychology program, but regularly teaches PSYC 3002 Introduction to Basic Statistics. For fun, Dr. Bjorkman enjoys traveling, reading, cooking, yoga, and anything that involves being outdoors in the sun.

Advice: Explore the resources that Walden has to offer! Need help building your writing skills, writing in a scholarly voice, or polishing up your APA style? Check out the Walden Writing Center for webinars, interactive and multimedia resources, self-paced modules on a variety of topics, or to schedule a paper review with one of the writing tutors. Interested in searching for a job, creating or revising your resume, preparing for an interview, or using social media to network and brand yourself? Peruse the Career Services Center for resume-writing tools, webinars, videos, or to schedule an appointment with a Career Services team member. Looking for a tutor to help with statistics homework, navigating a new (or old!) software program, or finding success strategies as you embark upon or continue your academic career? The Academic Skills Center is the place to go for a variety of resources to support you on your journey. Having trouble finding an article that is the perfect fit for an assignment or discussion? Visit the Walden Library to find course readings, learn how to efficiently search for books and articles, and even contact a librarian directly for that specialized support you need. Walden has an amazing array of tools and support staff to help you achieve your goals at every step along the way. Feel free to bookmark the websites linked above, or ask any of your course instructors for more information about the many free resources that are available to you as a Walden student.

Background: Dr. Liz Clark began working for Walden in 2008 as a contributing faculty member in the undergraduate psychology program. Since that time she served as a Subject Matter Expert, rewriting PSYC 3007, Influence and Persuasion. Dr. Clark was previously a full professor at Kaplan University and currently teaches for other online universities at the undergraduate and graduate level. She has co-authored a Human Services degree program for an online university and has written courses for that program and others. Dr. Clark earned Doctorate in Human Development, a Master’s degree in School Counseling and another MS degree in Organizational Systems. She has taught at the college level for over 35 years and has been teaching online classes since 2004.

Other Related Work: Dr. Clark’s research interests are qualitative in nature and she has presented her work on the influence of place as agentic in our daily communicative activities, overseas and here in the US. She has also conducted research involving the online discussion board experience for adult learners in a university degree program, and has also researched the role of anonymity on learning in the environment.

Dr. Clark has taught various courses for Walden in the Undergrad Psych program, the Undergraduate and Graduate Human Services program, and works with our PhD students as Chair, second committee member and a Walden URR. She regularly teaches PSYC 3007. Dr. Clark’s hobbies include reading, walking the hills with Mica her black lab, and puttering in her flower garden.

Advice: Dr. Clark encourages all of her students to review the assignments early in the week and to reach out to her with questions sooner rather than later. She also reminds students to check Announcements often where she puts sample APA formatted work, links to help students in any given week and important updates that impact all students. Dr. Clark advises students to ask for a phone call which often can clarify the questions the student has in a short amount of time as she and the student can review the work in question together in real time. Dr. Clark stresses that she uses the rubrics when grading and students should use those to make sure all prompts are fully addressed before submitting assignments. Lastly, she encourages students to reach out to the faculty at the writing center. We have so many super resources for our students!

Background: Justina Grayman, PhD, started working for Walden in 2018 as a Contributing Faculty member in the BS Psychology program. Dr. Grayman is a community psychologist and artist (dance, film, community spaces) with a BA in Psychology from Stanford University and a PhD in Applied Psychology from New York University. Since 2013, Dr. Grayman has taught psychology courses at New York University and Manhattan School of Music. Justina is committed to inspiring communal liberation through divine connection.

Other Related Work: When Justina did her PhD, she studied what influences people to form or join a group that engages in collective action (activism, basically). She is interested in all topics that will help her to understand how to get people to work together to create a brand new world and how we create experiences and living spaces that are liberating and transformative. She is also an artist (dancer/filmmaker) and uses her art to motivate people to take action and to create these transformative community spaces. As a movement creator and filmmaker, Justina most recently premiered Black Man in America (2018), a dance film that explores what it means for Black men to break free. The film received tremendous community support, raising over $21K for the project from over 400 supporters and premiering at San Francisco Dance Film Festival. Her first dance film, Woman Versus (2016) also explored collective liberation and was an official selection of American Dance Festival’s Movies By Movers. As a dancer, Justina has been a company member in STREB Extreme Action Company (2013-15) and currently dances with Kristin Sudeikis Dance. As an activist-researcher, her largest project involved collaborating with over 30 New York City community organizers to study and reflect on the strategies they used to invite people to activism events. Justina currently dances and teaches psychology classes at Walden University (Intergroup Conflict and Peacebuilding, Racial and Ethnic Identities, Methods of Psychological Inquiry), while creating a movement method for raw, dynamic movement and partnering with communities to create celebrations of Black men (blackmaninamericafilm.com). Her ultimate mission is to transform the institutions of daily life with divine connection.

Advice: A piece of advice I give to my students is to take care of yourself. If you are at Walden, the reason why is because, despite all things you have going on, you have chosen to advance your education. You have already proven that you are beyond dedicated, and what matters is that you are psychologically healthy. Don’t stress yourself out trying to be perfect because nobody is. Resting, understanding your limits, and knowing that you are doing the best that you can. Know that it is okay to take a day, an hour, a minute to rest your mind and not worry.

Dr. Meredith McKee started with Walden in 2010 as member of our core faculty and in 2013 become the Academic Program Coordinator. Dr. McKee completed her doctorate in Developmental and Child Psychology at the University of Kansas, and has taught at the university level for nearly 15 years. Her other professional interests include the use of well-established principles of applied behavior analysis in the design of model behavioral programs for elementary and secondary educational settings, as well as in the design of effective, proactive, parenting interventions. At the university-level, her research has included the facilitation of classroom interventions specifically designed to decrease common misconceptions people typically hold about various areas of psychology (particularly the “myths and misconceptions” that surround psychoanalysis and behaviorism). Dr. McKee is also interested in the “Critical Thinking” research as it pertains to adult learning strategies in both academic and employment settings. Dr. McKee has taught various courses in the program but regularly teaches PSYC 3003 Methods in Psychological Inquiry, and is the Psi Chi advisor to Walden’s Undergraduate Chapter. For fun, Dr. McKee enjoys traveling, reading, and is an avid walker who completed two half-marathons last fall.

Advice: Don’t want until the day assignments are due to begin working on assignments! Research indicates that newly learned information is retained better when students distribute their study time across several sessions rather than in one long session, and take hand-written notes. As such, an effective approach at Walden is to start early in the week by first reviewing all of the assignment directions (discussions, applications, etc.) to organize the focus of your study, and then begin reading the assigned Learning Resources. As you read, take hand-written notes (as you would if you were sitting in classroom) that could help you in your preparation of your assignments. The best way to grasp the material is to take notes and summarize the material in your own words rather than provide word-for-word content from the learning resources. If you are unclear what the assignment expectations are, or you need clarification on challenging aspects of the readings, do not hesitate to contact your instructor for help – that is what we are here for! Finally, be sure to give your instructor at least 24 hours to answer your questions and provide feedback, which is another good reason to start working on assignments early in the week.

Background: Dr. Mary Wells completed her masters and doctorate degrees in Clinical Psychology at Ohio University. Prior to her career in higher education, she worked as a clinician specializing in community mental health and the treatment of persons with severe and chronic mental illnesses. Mary started working for Walden in 2009 as a contributing faculty member. She has taught a number of undergraduate courses for the Psychology Department including Social Influences on Behavior, Psychology as a Natural Science, Psychology as a Social Science, and Psychological Disorders. She currently teaches Introduction to Addictions, Addictions Assessment, Prevention and Treatment of Addictions, and Case Management and Addictions. In addition to her duties at Walden, she is also an Associate Professor and Chairperson for the Psychology Department at Sinclair College in Dayton, Ohio.

Other Related Work: Mary served as a Campus Lead for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Completion by Design Initiative and as the National Project Director for the initiative’s teaching and learning project. She is currently a coach for the Ohio Student Success Leadership Institute and consults with other Ohio colleges on the development of structured academic pathways. She also served as a Faculty Fellow for Sinclair’s Center for Teaching and Learning and as coordinator for Liberal Arts and Sciences Career Community.

Mary regularly presents at conferences and colleges across the country on the topic of guided pathways and faculty engagement. Her research interests include academic hope theory and the impact of teacher empathy on student success.

Advice: A piece of advice that Mary gives to other faculty is to let students see your passion for your discipline. It is contagious!