Debbie Rolfes MA, MTS
Director & Associate Professor Ron and Jane Graham School of Professional Development

The Ron and Jane Graham School of Professional Development (SoPD) provides a unique opportunity for those of us with humanities backgrounds to contribute to the development of students in technical programs. I call upon my background in theology and English literature, as well as my volunteer experience in the engineering community, to help prepare students to be fully-engaged and ethical citizens with careers in technical professions.

MTS, Biblical Studies, Old Testament (Critical Reading), College of Emmanuel and St. Chad

CACE, Certificate of Adult and Continuing Education, University of Saskatchewan

M.A., English, UCLA

B.A., English, University of Saskatchewan

Newman Theological College, Lecturer, Sacred Scripture, 2012 - present

Brian Eckel Awards Judges Committee for ACEC-SK awards

Editorial Committee for the Professional Edge, APEGS’ publication (Term ended May 2018)

Council for College of Emmanuel and St. Chad (Term ends May 2020)

Advisory Board of Queen’s House of Retreats

Public Appointee to APEGS Board and member of Discipline Committee (Term ended May 2013)

Awards

Honorary Fellow of Engineers Canada, FEC (Hon), May 2019

Friend of the Professions Award, Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists (APEGS), May 2019

Awards

Provost’s College Award for Outstanding Teaching, May 2019

USSU Teaching Award, March 2018

 

Courses Taught

• RCM 300 Effective Professional Communication
• RCM 401 Oral Rhetoric
• RCM 495 Retorical Peer Mentorship

Conference Proceedings

Rolfes, C Owen, and J. Hunchak. 2018. Preliminary Results of a Study Assessing Engineering Students’ Formation of Identity as Rhetorician. Proceedings for the Canadian Engineering Education Conference, June, Vancouver, British Columbia.

Rolfes and J. Hunchak. 2017. Integrating Mentorship in a Communication Capstone Class to Support the Development of a Community of Practice. Proceedings for the Canadian Engineering Education Conference.

Rolfes and C. A. Owen. 2016. Some Epistemological Foundations for a Qualitative Analysis of a Communication Community of Practice. Proceedings for the Canadian Engineering Education Association Conference.

C.A. Owen and D. Rolfes, 2015. Communication Class Size and Professional Identity.

https://peer.asee.org/communication-class-size-and-professional-identity

Corey Owen and Debora Rolfes. 2014. Situated Professional Development: A Rhetorical Approach. Canadian Engineering Educators Association Conference, June, Canmore, Alberta.

Books/Book Chapters

Moffatt, J., Owen, C., Rolfes, D. & Wills, J. (2019).“Know-Nothing Foreign Celebrity Millionaires”: Celebrity, Authenticity, and the Sabotage of Civil Discourse in the Controversy of the Alberta Oil Sands. In H. Graves and D. Beard (Eds.), The Rhetoric and Discourse of Oil. New York: Routledge.

Presentations

Communication as Ethical Action. March 3, 2017. APEGS Professional Development Days. Saskatoon. (with Dr. Jeanie Wills) 

Sharpen Your Technical Communication Skills.  July, 2013. Canadian Society for Bioengineering Annual Technical Conference, Saskatoon. (with John Moffatt)