Mahli Mechenbier
Biography
Mahli Xuan Mechenbier, J.D.
Senior Lecturer
English
Mahli Mechenbier, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English at Kent State University: Geauga, teaches Technical Writing, Business & Professional Writing, Introduction to LGBT Literature, Understanding Criminal Law through Fiction, College Writing I & II, and Introduction to College Writing. Mahli is a certified Master Reviewer and a certified Face-to-Face Facilitator for Quality Matters. She has reviewed and certified online courses for Florida Atlantic University, Oregon State University, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Baldwin Wallace University, The University of Akron, and Tidewater Community College.
Prof. Mechenbier graduated with a Master of Arts in English from John Carroll University and a Juris Doctor from The University of Akron. She was a member of NCTE's Committee for Effective Practices for Online Writing Instruction and was an editor for the OWI’s Open Resource from 2013 – 2016. Mahli was the recipient of the College of Arts & Sciences 43rd annual Distinguished Teacher Award in 2012 and was honored to receive the LGBTQ+ Center's Kent State Faculty/Staff Award in 2023.
Her research interests include asynchronous online tone and communication methods; how academic administrations manage and budget distance learning; the unionization of professors; and the employment conditions and intellectual property rights of contingent faculty members. She enjoys teaching the professional aspects of writing and stresses the importance of word choice, soft skills, and accurate language delivery in her classes. Prof. Mechenbier has been teaching at Kent State University since 2003.
Mahli was adopted from South Vietnam through Operation Babylift after an American missionary nun found her next to a road outside of Saigon. She has two cats: Freyja and Hyperion.
PUBLICATIONS
------ and Ana Wetzl, and Pam Lieske. “What Our Tutors Know: The Advantages of Small Campus Tutoring Centers.” Praxis 20.2 (2023):
64 - 77. < https://www.praxisuwc.com/202-wetzl-et-al >
------ and Pam Lieske, and Ana Wetzl. “Teaching During a Pandemic: A Study of Instructors’ Preparedness for Online Composition Delivery.”
Composition Studies 50.3 (Fall 2022): 59 - 80. < https://compstudiesjournal.com/current-issue-fall-2022-50-3/ >
Meloncon, Lisa, Mahli Xuan Mechenbier, and Laura Wilson. "Introduction to 'A National Snapshot of the Material Working Conditions of Contingent Faculty
in Composition and Technical and Professional Communication'." Academic Labor: Research and Artistry 4.1 (August 2020): 1 - 21.
< https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/alra/vol4/iss1/3 >
Mechenbier, Mahli Xuan, Laura Wilson, and Lisa Meloncon. "Results and Findings from the Survey." Academic Labor: Research and Artistry 4.1 (August 2020):
22 - 59.
< https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/alra/vol4/iss1/4 >
Wilson, Laura, Mahli Xuan Mechenbier, and Lisa Meloncon. "Data Takeaways." Academic Labor: Research and Artistry 4.1 (August 2020): 60 - 82.
< https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/alra/vol4/iss1/5 >
Wilson, Laura, Mahli Xuan Mechenbier, and Lisa Meloncon. "Affective Investment." Academic Labor: Research and Artistry 4.1 (August 2020): 83 - 107.
< https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/alra/vol4/iss1/6 >
Mechenbier, Mahli Xuan, Laura Wilson, and Lisa Meloncon. "Politics of Service." Academic Labor: Research and Artistry 4.1 (August 2020): 108 - 126.
< https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/alra/vol4/iss1/7 >
Meloncon, Lisa, Laura Wilson, and Mahli Xuan Mechenbier. "Looking Forward: Considering the Next Steps for Contingent Labor Material Work Conditions."
Academic Labor: Research and Artistry 4.1 (August 2020): 127 - 151.
< https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/alra/vol4/iss1/8 >
------ and Scott Warnock. “A Collaborative Method for Observing/Evaluating Online Writing Courses.” FORUM (Fall 2019): A8 - A16 in College
Composition and Communication 71.1 (September 2019).
------ and Diane Martinez, Beth L. Hewett, Lisa Meloncon, and Heidi Skurat Harris. “A Report on a U.S.-Based National Survey of Students in
Online Writing Courses.” Research in Online Literacy Education 2.1 (March 2019): 35 - 82.
------ and Heidi Skurat Harris, Lisa Meloncon, Beth L. Hewett, and Diane Martinez. “A Call for Purposeful Pedagogy-driven Course Design in
OWI.” Research in Online Literacy Education 2.1 (March 2019): 83 - 128.
------ and Heidi Harris, Sushil Oswal, and Natalie Stillman-Webb. The Bedford Bibliography of Research in Online Writing Instruction.
Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2017.
“Contingent Faculty and OWI [Online Writing Instruction].” Foundational Practices in Online Writing Instruction. Ed. Beth L. Hewett and Kevin
Eric DePew. Fort Collins: The WAC Clearinghouse and Parlor Press, 2015. 227 – 249. Print. Perspectives on Writing Ser.
< https://wac.colostate.edu/docs/books/owi/chapter7.pdf >
“Making a First Impression: Using Practicality to Succeed in Workplace Communication.” Phenomenal Woman Magazine (May – June 2014):
12 – 13.
“Cheating the Business Template: Filling in the Blanks.” Business Communication Quarterly 74.2
(June 2011): 192 – 195.
------ and Janet Ruth Heller, Trish Jenkins, and Marie Moeller. “Organizing and the Status of Contingent Faculty.” College English 73.4
(March 2011): 450 – 465.
INVITED LECTURES
“Operation Babylift: An Adoptee’s Perspectives on the Vietnam War,” University of Connecticut: Asian and Asian American Studies Institute, Storrs,
23 March 2023.
“‘Now What?’: Next Steps for Contingent Faculty when Your WPA assigns you an online course,” Global Society of Online Literacy
Educators: Conference Plenary Speaker, 3 February 2023.
“Operation Babylift: An Adoptee’s Perspectives on the Vietnam War,” Lakeland Community College: Kirtland, 3 November 2022.
“Contingency, Inclusivity, and the Material Work Conditions in Online Literacy: Developing Calls to Action,” Global Society of Online Literacy
Educators: webinar, 8 February 2018.
<https://drive.google.com/open?id=1L7LC9WaEmmO0Yosy0cQLIs7wjDy5Aluw >
“Maneuvering Faculty Contact Zone(s): Contingent Faculty, Intellectual Property, and Teaching Evaluations,” Texas Tech University,
26 September 2016.
“Building Communities of Writers in Online Spaces: An Introduction to Teaching Writing Online—The Politics of Online Teaching,” Colorado State
University: Fort Collins, 1 August 2016.
“Making a First Impression: How Education Empowers You to Succeed in Workplace Communication,” 2nd Annual Northeast Ohio’s International
Women’s Day: Investing in Women and Girls, Cleveland Clinic: Lyndhurst, 8 March 2014.
“‘Is that Webpage my Classroom?’: Addressing Fears about Electronic Exposure and Losing Control of Content for the First-time Online
Professor,” The Office of Professional Graduate Studies Lecture Series on Online Learning, Hiram College, 12 February 2013.
Education
Master of Arts (Literature): John Carroll University