College of Arts and Sciences

Education:

• EdD, Educational Leadership and Policy, Drexel University, 2015
• MS, Criminal Justice, Saint Joseph's University, 1998

Bio:

Cyndi Rickards, EdD, comes to higher education with over a decade of experience in the criminal justice field as an administrator of an alternative school. Her graduate research explored racial disparities in urban juvenile drug use patterns. More recently, her research has examined the emergence of 21st-century skills as a result of democratic engagement within community-based learning courses.

Rickards teaches community-based learning courses in the department of Criminology and Justice Studies. She regularly teaches courses within the Philadelphia Prison System and brings together Drexel students and incarcerated students for and Inside-Out course. In partnership with the University’s Lindy Center for Civic Engagement, she co-developed UConnect – an urban extension center model that brings students and community members together to navigate the city’s complex social service system.

In addition to her interest in community-based learning, Rickards is interested in the relationship between technology, alternative assessment and ePortfolios as tools for student success.

Selected Publications:

• Rickards, C. (2012). Women, Society and You instructor manual. (6th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.
• Rickards, C. R. (2009). Serial survivors; women's narratives of surviving rape. Violence Against Women, 15(11), 1414-1417. doi: 10.1177/1077801209347607

Select Conference Presentations

• Rickards, C. (2015). Examining 21st-century Skills as a Result of Democratic Engagement in a Side-by-Side Community-Based Learning Course . Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities, October 2015. Omaha, Nebraska.
• Rickards, C. (2013). Shared Learning in Our Community: The Creation of New Knowledge. Global University Network for Innovation Conference, May 2013. Barcelona, Spain.
• Rickards, C. (2013). Using iPad Technology to Meet Program and University Learning Objectives; The process of developing a program that actively engages faculty and students inside and outside of the classroom. Lily Conference on College and University teaching. May 2013. Bethesda, MD.
• Johnson Kebea, J. & Rickards, C. (2014). Faculty Engagement in West Philadelphia. Philadelphia Higher Education Network for Neighborhood Development (PHENND) Annual Conference, April 24-25, 2014. Philadelphia, PA.
• Rickards, C. (2014). Changing our Culture through Active Reflection, Alternative Assessment and the E- Portfolio. Drexel University Annual Assessment Conference, September 10-12. Philadelphia, PA.
• Johnson Kebea, J. & Rickards, C. (2014). Drexel University’s Community Based Learning Framework and Faculty Support. International Association for Research on Service Learning Annual Conference, September 29 – October 1, 2014. New Orleans, LA.