Dr. L. K. Curda
Associate Professor (& Fire Chief)
Office Address: 77/115
Telephone Number: (850) 474-2295
Email: lcurda@uwf.edu
Office Hours: Monday 9AM - 3 PM (online),
Tuesday 9 AM - 2 PM (online), On campus by appointment. 

Personal Information

• Married to Dr. Steve Curda 
• Five Children - Riley (10 years), Piper (9 years), Major (7 years) and Glory (4 years), and Saylor (2 year)
• One Dog - Shakespeare (14 years)

Education

• B.A. in Elementary Education w/ Early Childhood Specialization from Eckerd College
• B.A. in Psychology from Eckerd College
• Ph.D. in Instructional Psychology and Technology from The University of Oklahoma

Professional and Life Experiences

• Kindergarten Teacher
• 1st Grade Teacher
• 2nd Grade Teacher
• Pre-K Handicapped Teacher
• Peace Corps Volunteer - Haiti - Early Childhood Teacher Trainer
• Wife and Mother
• Professor at Florida State University
• Professor and Program Chair at University of Toledo
• Professor at University of West Florida
• Consultant/Trainer for DoD
• Consultant for Cardean Learning Group

Melissa's main responsibility throughout this course will be helping anyone with technical problems. So, if you have any questions related to downloading, accessing, sending attachments, etc., she is the first one you should email. Melissa provides technical assistance to students enrolled in numerous online classes in our Masters program. As you can imagine she stays pretty busy. Like the rest of us, Melissa also has a busy life with a full-time job, her own courses, and gets paid only a small amount to work as a mentor, so please do not expect her to drop everything the second you send her an email. She will do her best to respond to you as quickly as possible and assist you with your problem. If you have questions related to the course content and assignments, you should not send these to Melissa, but to me.

Melissa will also be available for general guidance through the course and is responsible for tracking all your assignments. She will be keeping track of your weekly assignments in the class gradebook (firefighter inspection). So, if you have any questions related to the gradebook she is the first one you should email. Also, if you turn in an assignment late, you should be sure to email her so she will know to backtrack, check, and give you partial credit. Melissa is human just like the rest of us and is likely to make errors here and there when trying to keep track of everyone's assignments. If you find an error, please email her to request respectfully that she review your assignments, giving as much detail as possible to help her identify the problem. The gradebook will be updated once each week. If the error is not corrected the following week, then feel free to send her a friendly reminder. As a mentor, Melissa is here to help me with the extra time it takes to run a firehouse (teach an online course) and to help you with any and all questions you may have.  Melissa is well aware of my expectations related to assignments, participation, and anything else you may want to know but be hesitant to ask. She may also be able to answer any content-related questions if you are somehow unable to get a hold of me. Melissa is a student of several of our online course. Feel free to ask her any questions you may have. At times, if she is not confident she can provide the answer she may ask you to send an email to me also. As the instructor, I (Dr. Curda) grade all assignments and provide all feedback so if you have a question related to this you should always communicate with me.

Ms. Melissa Kelly
Emergency Technician