Course Credits and References

Course Author Dr. Michele Poff (BA, MA, Ph.D.) is a Communication PhD, with an expertise in effective messaging. Her scholarly expertise lies in communication and language usage. She is a published author and a social scientist by training. She received her BA in English at the University of California, Berkeley; her Master's in Linguistics/English Language Instruction; and completed her Ph.D. in Communication. Dr. Poff has been a lecturer and instructor at the University of Washington for over 10 years.

Course Instructor

Linda Zavadil (BA, MA) is a business management professional who has directed and supervised both large and small organizations in finance, human resources, customer relations, and recruitment for over 20 years. After completing her MA in Organizational Psychology at Columbia University, Teachers College, she went on to manage mutli-million dollar budgets, mediate and train a variety of personnel issues, and developed and implemented policies, presentations and training for organizational managers and employees. She has a great understanding of how all parts of any business (accounting, finance, human resources, marketing, sales, customer service) must all work together in order to increase the company's bottom line.

Course Editor Dr. Bret Staples (BA, MS, Ph.D.) is a highly motivated, personable scientific professional with multiple college degrees and a successful 34-year track record of scientific research and publications. After completing his Ph.D. at the University of Maryland, he became a research chemist for the US Department of Energy. Dr. Staples has authored professional papers in scientific journals and reviewed other scientists’ publications and has performed scientific research in solution chemistry. Dr. Staples is extraordinarily talented in proofreading and editing journal publications, online course curriculum, as well as a strong knack for quickly mastering technology – using and programming computers since 1964.