New Staff and Faculty

New Employees Join CMU Team

Katrina Hopkins - Business Office Central Methodist University’s newest Business Office employee is Katrina Hopkins, a Slater native and mother of three. She began her tenure as the new collection specialist at the end of July.

After graduating from Slater High School, Hopkins traveled the world with her husband. His Air Force job took them to various countries across the globe, including to England for more than three years, which she called “the best place I’ve lived.”

Upon returning to Missouri, Hopkins has worked as a driver and production worker in the area, but now she is enthusiastic to serve the CMU community.

“I am excited to do something different,” she said. “I’m excited to see all the students and just looking forward to seeing what the future holds here.”

Leisha Nakagawa - Admissions The newest admissions representative for Central Methodist University’s Enrollment Management team is Leisha Nakagawa, a native of Hawaii. Nakagawa first moved to the middle of the country in 2015, when she attended Garden City Community College in Garden City, Kan., on a softball scholarship. After playing two years for the Broncbusters, she transferred to Missouri Valley College, where she received a bachelor’s degree in nonprofit agency management with concentrations on human services and recreation administration.

Prior to joining the CMU staff, Nakagawa worked as a developmental assistant for elderly individuals with mental disabilities. While her day-to-day responsibilities in her new job will be quite different from that work, she is excited for the opportunity to continue to “make a positive impact” on people’s lives. Janice Perkins - Financial Services The newest member of the Financial Services staff at Central Methodist University comes in with plenty of experience in the higher education realm. Janice Perkins began her new job as the documentation coordinator on July 6, following 20 years of employment at the University of Missouri.

After receiving her degree in consumer affairs from the university, Perkins was employed by MU from 1999 until this year, serving in roles such as business support specialist, executive assistant, and advancement associate.

In her new role, Perkins will be responsible for the collection of documents necessary for securing students’ financial aid. She says she is excited to be “helping families” as their children enter college at CMU.

A mother of three adult children whose youngest is also preparing to go to college, Perkins lives with her husband in southern Howard County. They enjoy going on walks outside with their dogs, she said.

Savannah Schaefer - Admissions After a two-year stint living out of state, Central Methodist University alumna Savannah Schaefer, ’16, has come home to Howard County and her alma mater. As the new events coordinator in the Admissions Office, she begins her second run of employment with CMU.

“I’m very excited to be back on campus,” Schaefer said. “I missed it while I was gone.”

Schaefer worked as a leasing consultant at an apartment community in Tampa, Fla., for the last two years, but began her newest job at Central on July 9. She previously served as a resident hall director in Holt Hall from 2016 to 2018.

In her new role, Schaefer will be responsible for coordinating prospective student tours and other events in the Admissions Office, as well as overseeing the student ambassadors when they return to campus.

Rhonda Senor - Business Office In her role as the billing specialist, Rhonda Senor will be responsible for coordinating billing processes for programs in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS). She will assist students and parents with billing questions, provide transcript verification, and process third-party paperwork and invoicing, among other primary duties and tasks.

Prior to joining the CMU team, Senor was in management and customer service with Missouri Cotton Exchange in Columbia. She ran the front end for the screen printing and embroidery business for 17 years and spent almost 30 years total in the industry.

Now that she is a member of the Central staff, however, she says she is excited about being close to home and in a different environment.

“It is very much family-oriented, and that’s something I’ve not really had before,” she said of the campus environment. “It’s a nice feeling to be here.”

As a wife and mother who describes her family as her “driving force,” it’s no surprise that the Central family has already made her feel at home in her new job. Senor has four children, Emmalen (11), Alden (17), Kellen (19), and Maclaren (22), who graduated from Central last year with a degree in middle school social science education.

Dr. Patrick Dill - Choral Director Perhaps no new faculty member coming in to Central Methodist University has bigger shoes to fill than Dr. Patrick Dill, the new director of choral activities and assistant

professor of choral music education. Dill was selected this spring to take over the role following the retirement of Dr. Claude Westfall, who helmed the Conservatory Singers and Chorale for 12 years.

Taking over for such a beloved instructor as Westfall comes with its own challenges, but Dill’s task has been made even more daunting by the ever-present threat of COVID-19.

He’s up to those challenges, however.

“I find myself in a remarkably unique situation and am having to be incredibly realistic about what we can hope to accomplish,” said Dill. “My first and foremost priority is the well-being of my students, so my focus has been on finding a way for our choirs to make beautiful choral music in a manner that minimizes the possibility for transmitting the virus, thereby protecting the health of our singers and the CMU community as a whole.”

Much of the day-to-day operation for faculty in the Swinney Conservatory of Music has been affected by the pandemic, but because of the respiratory nature of the virus, Dill says, singers in particular are prone to transmission through their more “athletic” breathing. He worked tirelessly all summer to make sure the students can have the best, safest experience possible.

Dill has been in music education ever since he graduated from Millikin University with a degree in choral music education. After a ten-year run in Texas as a high school teacher, he pursued graduate studies at the prestigious Westminster Choir College in Princeton, N.J., then returned to Texas for his doctoral studies at the University of North Texas in Denton.

Alaina Mayfield - Assistant Professor of Education After a four-year stint in elementary school administration, Alaina Mayfield is returning to the teaching realm as the newest assistant professor of education at Central Methodist University.

Born and raised in Moberly, Mayfield stayed in the mid-Missouri area for her undergraduate studies, attending Moberly Area Community College and then the University of Missouri. She went on to receive her Master of Education degree from Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass., before returning to the Show-Me State to pursue her doctorate.

Mayfield’s teaching experience has taken her to multiple schools as an early-childhood educator. She worked in St. Louis, Boston, and Kansas City before moving back to central Missouri to serve as an assistant principal at Columbia Public Schools for four years.

As a CMU professor, Mayfield uses her experience both in the classroom and in administration to teach early-childhood education courses.

Outside of work, Mayfield is kept busy by her nine-year-old son, Zaque, whom she adopted this February. Together, they like to ride bikes, swim, and take walks with their dog. She also enjoys traveling, reading, and spending time outdoors.

Kristin Newbegin - Visiting Assistant Professor of Music and Voice The Swinney Conservatory of Music has welcomed a new visiting assistant professor of music and voice for the fall, Wisconsin native Kristin Newbegin. Newbegin comes to Central Methodist University after serving for two years as an assistant professor of voice at Missouri Western State University. In her role at Central, she will be teaching courses in applied voice and guitar tech.

The professor brings an extensive list of both teaching and performing experiences, including roles in various operas throughout the Midwest. In addition, she holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota and a master’s and a doctorate from the University of Kansas.

Outside of the classroom and other professional duties, Newbegin says she loves to spend time being active outdoors. A certified personal trainer and competitive cyclist, she and her husband – also a professional musician – often go on rides together and attend concerts. They also open their home to foster dogs and have a Weimaraner named Bently.

Joshua Nickell - PTA Director of Clinical Education Central Methodist University’s new PTA director of clinical education has both the experience and the enthusiasm to help shape the next generation of physical therapy assistants at CMU. After being hired this spring, Joshua Nickell will take over in his new role as the fall 2020 semester begins.

Born and raised in Beatrice, Neb., Nickell earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He later pursued and received an Associate of Applied Science degree as a PTA from what is now State Technical College of Missouri.

Since earning his PTA degree, Nickell worked for eight years providing therapy services in a skilled nursing facility.

“My past work experience in a clinical setting often allowed me to train PTA students,” Nickell said. “I am extremely excited to be able to transition to this position, which will allow me to assist in shaping the career paths of many future therapists.”

Nickel, whose past work experience also includes 12 years working in and directing employment and training service programs, will be responsible for overseeing clinical coordination and placement of students in clinical settings for educational purposes. He is also slated to teach Essential Skills for the PTA and Pathophysiology for the PTA this fall.

Nickell lives in Columbia with his wife, Angie, their two sons, AJ and Evan, and two dogs.

Madison Presley - Assistant Professor of English Central Methodist University’s new assistant professor of English is Madison Presley, a Kentucky native with teaching experience at multiple institutions of higher education.

Presley, who will be teaching a variety of English courses at Central, received a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University, a master’s at North Carolina State, and a PhD from Florida State University. Her teaching experiences began in Florida and North Carolina, but most recently she served as a visiting professor of English at Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina, Kan. In her final year at the school, she also worked as an advisor for students majoring in English.

She has also recently become a member of the Columbia community, after moving with her family from central Kansas. Presley is a mother of two and says her life outside of work is centered around her children, Abilene (2) and Sadie (1). In her free time, she enjoys reading as much as she can, watching PBS shows with her husband, and delving into true crime and reality TV.