Professional Profile

Nicole Schilling is a Professor of Educational Leadership in the School of Education. Her professional background includes being a professor at the University of Findlay (2011-2015), a graduate assistant at The Ohio State University (2006-2011), and a teacher in Columbus City Schools (2003-2006). She has taught development courses in “Making Methods Match Problems of Practice,” “Applied Quantitative Research,” and “Educational Assessment and Accountability.”

Schilling’s teaching philosophy is rooted in herself being a social constructivist. She acknowledges and employs a variety of frameworks, philosophies, theories, and pedagogies in her teaching, her foundation rests on the belief that knowledge is contextually situated and should be socially constructed by the inherent uniqueness of all her students. Her current research interests include superintendents and their families, school business officials and treasurers, and online teaching and learning.

Schilling has won awards including the Quality Matters Outstanding Impact by an Individual in Higher Education (2023), University of Findlay College of Education Dissertation Chair Award (2022), Mid-Western Educational Research Association Aimin Wang and Francis Godwyll Award (2022), University of Findlay Graduate Assistant Supervisor of the Year (2020), Mid-Western Educational Research Association Omnibus Award (2018). She has contributed to educational literature with publications including “Are We Burned Out? A Multi-Year Statewide Study of P-12 Superintendents” (AASA Journal of Scholarship and Practice, In Press), “Problems of Practice: Case Studies of the Superintendency” (Emerald Publishing, In Press), “Illinois school business official burnout” (Journal of School Business Management, 2024), “Assessing Online Doctoral Student Research Competencies” (Impacting Education: Journal of Transforming Professional Practice, 2023), “Superintendent Perspectives of Effectiveness as Measured by State Standards” (Information Age Publishing, 2022), “Online Course Reviews and the Student Experience: A Case Study” (Journal of Research in Education, 2022), “Building a High-Quality Ed.D. Program on a Foundation of Research-Based Best Practices for Online Course Design” (Brill, 2022), and “Superintendent Evaluations: School Boards Report on Criteria, Procedures, and Professional Development” (Journal of Leadership Accountability and Ethics, 2021).

Academic Credentials

• Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Policy and Leadership, The Ohio State University 2010
• Master of Arts in Educational Policy and Leadership, The Ohio State University, 2009
• Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction, Otterbein College, 2006
• Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, The Ohio State University, 2003
• Bachelor of Music Education, The Ohio State University, 2003