Dr. Lisa Joyner

Education

• EdD, Curriculum and Instruction, Liberty University
• MEd, Cross Categorical Special Education, Regent University
• B.A., English and History, Tennessee Temple University

About Lisa

Lisa Joyner is the Chair of the Department of Christian Education and an instructor in the Christian Education and General Education departments. Her passion is rooted in pairing educational strategies and technologies with student’s individual learning styles and needs and equipping educators with the knowledge, skills, and abilities they need to make each student successful, regardless of their intellectual abilities. She completed her undergraduate work at Tennessee Temple University, and following that, she began teaching English and history at the middle and high school levels. After years of teaching in the general education classroom and noticing students in her classroom who struggled to learn like their peers, she pursued her MEd from Regent University in Cross Categorical Special Education with the intent to create a special needs learning center within the Christian school context. Following her graduation from Regent, she moved to Raleigh, NC where she founded the Specialized Learning Center within Friendship Christian School. The program is still thriving and has become a model for other Christian schools around the country. In 2017, she left the classroom environment to join Veritas Baptist College in an effort to further her education and begin training fellow educators to work with the exceptional learners within their school. As part of that pursuit, she completed her EdD from Liberty University in 2022 in Curriculum and Instruction with a specialization in Special Education. Dr. Joyner’s quantitative dissertation is entitled “Predictors of Self-Efficacy of Christian School Teachers Toward Inclusion of Students with Disabilities.”

Mrs. Ann Rill

Education

• PhD candidate, Educational Leadership in Higher Ed., Liberty University
• MLIS., Wayne State University
• M.S., English Education, Pensacola Christian College

About Ann

Ann Rill is the Academic Dean at Veritas Baptist College. She completed her undergraduate work and one graduate degree at Pensacola Christian College. She taught at the K-12 level for fifteen years at State Line Christian School in Temperance, MI, and at Faith Baptist School in Fredericksburg, VA. She also taught as a college adjunct for five years before taking a full-time position at Veritas where she has served in various roles since 2003: library director, general education department chair, director of institutional effectiveness, and most recently the Academic Dean. During her time at Veritas, she received an MLIS degree from Wayne State University and is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Liberty University. Her passion lies in mentoring the next generation for service in the classroom and encouraging educators who are currently serving in Christian schools around the world. In the past 19 years, she has presented scores of workshops to Christian educators in 28 state educator conventions and has provided in-service training in multiple Christian schools.

Dr. Bunnie Claxton

Education

• EdD, Curriculum and Instruction, Liberty University, 2016
• M.S., Special Education, Liberty University, 2013
• B.S., Education, University of Georgia, 1993

About Bunnie

My name is Dr. Bunnie Claxton. My specialty is making improvements in education. It is my desire to see improvements made in education; thus, I seek to teach others how to solve problems and make improvements in educational settings. With over 25 years of experience, I have worked in public school, private school, home school, and higher education. Roles I have served in include the Director of Applied Doctoral Research, Applied Research Program Developer, Higher Education Course Developer, Author, Subject Matter Expert, Instructional Mentor, Superintendent, Associate Adjunct Instructor, Dissertation Chair, and Teacher. 

As an educational consultant, I seek to make a meaningful difference in education. As a guiding force in improving educational outcomes and practices, I seek to shape the academic lives of students across the country and around the world by empowering doctoral and master’s candidates to solve real problems and improve practices in educational settings while earning a degree. Applied research is practical. Educators know of problems in education and applied research offers them the opportunity to solve these problems using site specific data and a review of the current scholarly literature. My focus is working closely with universities to develop an applied research program.

Dr. Dan Riley

Education

• EdD, Educational Leadership K-12, Liberty University 
  • SME and Dissertation in Special Education
• M.S., Educational Leadership, Bob Jones University
• B.A., Practical Christian Training, Music Minor, Bob Jones University

About Dan

Dan Riley is an adjunct professor for Veritas Baptist College, as well as Maranatha Baptist University. He is the Head of School of Inverness Christian Academy in Inverness, Florida, where he has served in this role since 2006.  Prior to this school ministry, Dan led Faith Christian School in Margate, FL for 10 years, as well as taught in the elementary school, for a total of 28 years in Christian education. Dan serves as an accreditation team member for the Middle States Association (MSA), Cognia (formerly SACS/Advance Ed) as well as for the Florida Association of Christian Colleges and Schools. Dan also serves as music pastor at his church, Fort Cooper Baptist Church, and also teaches wind instruments in the Citrus County youth orchestra, where he also serves as the assistant conductor of the orchestra.  

Dan and his wife, Brenda, are passionate about special education in Christian schools and began a program in their school in 2010, which has grown from 15 students with plans to over 75 in the school of 210 students.  Dan and Brenda have spoken at various Christian school association conferences on the subjects of special education, as well as administration and leadership.  

Dan and his wife were former foster parents, and have four teenage children, of which three have been adopted out of foster care. One of those adopted children has a severe intellectual disability and ASD which is one of the main reasons Dan and Brenda began a special needs program in their Christian school. Kendall’s story will be used to inspire leaders across the country that programs like this are greatly needed in Christian schools.  

As Dan approaches 30 years in K-12 Christian education, he feels God calling him to transition slowly into Christian higher education, teaching aspiring teachers and administrators that are anxious to serve the Lord in their schools. He and his wife also desire to form a ministry designed to help Christian school leaders see the need for a special education program in their schools, and to pass that vision on to their staff, as well as provide training and support for these schools.

Dr. Jeffrey Miller

Education

• PhD, Communication, Regent University
• M.A., Theatre, University of Akron
• B.S., Secondary Education, English and Speech, Maranatha Baptist University

About Jeff

Jeff Miller is the Head and Program Coordinator of the Department of Communication Studies at Bob Jones University as well as a department professor. He seeks to connect with students both in and out of the classroom, utilizing experiential and digital tools to help them meet their individual potential. He completed his undergraduate work at Maranatha Baptist University in secondary education which led to his teaching English, speech, and drama courses at the high school level for eight years. Following this, he began his college teaching career at Northland International University where he taught public speaking and theatre courses, directed university productions, and led the speech program. It was during this time that he achieved his MA in Theatre from the University of Akron. Following this, he continued teaching at the college level at Maranatha Baptist University where he was the chair of the Humanities Department and the coordinator for the speech program. During his tenure at MBU, he completed his PhD in Communication. For the past two years, he has been teaching communication courses at Bob Jones University, where he currently serves in departmental leadership. Over the course of his teaching career, he has accomplished a number of tasks in service to the schools in which he served including co-authoring the freshman speech text Fitly Spoken, creating various courses such as Media Studies and Advanced Rhetoric and Theory of Communication, creating and standardizing procedures for institutional programs such as senior capstones and internships. In addition, he has encouraged departmental community, and student recruitment and retention through such initiatives as the Com Collective, a quarterly meeting of communication studies majors at which students enjoy program updates, information related to scholarships and internships, internship presentations by their peers, and talks by guest speakers. Taking this history as a whole, the greatest joy of Jeff’s teaching career is the personal connections he makes with his students as they grow both academically, personally, and professionally.

Dr. Penny Edmonds

Education

• EdD, English Curriculum and Instruction, Pensacola Christian College 
• M.A., English, University of West Florida 
• M.S., Secondary Education, Pensacola Christian College 

About Penny

Penny Edmonds is the Chair of the General Education department and an instructor in the General Education and Christian Education departments. She is passionate about teaching her students how to use their God-given language so that they may communicate effectively in any venue. In addition to teaching students to communicate effectively, she desires to help them build a lifelong love of literature, seeing each literary selection as man’s response to God and gleaning practical life lessons.  When working with future teachers, she loves to teach them how to develop a stellar curriculum so that they are confident in integrating relevant subject material, constructing challenging assignments, and maintaining a focused study of any subject at any level. She completed her undergraduate work at Pensacola Christian College and then began her MS in secondary education while teaching college freshman English.  To deepen her content knowledge, she pursued an MA in English from the University of West Florida. After years of teaching in the college classroom, she saw the need to help instructors develop stellar curricula,  consequently leading her to pursue an EdD in English Curriculum and Development. Following her graduation from Pensacola Christian College, she has continued to help instructors develop curriculum in her role as department chair and mentor.  Over the years, she taught at Pensacola Christian College, Maranatha Baptist University, and Trinity Baptist College, and then joined the Veritas Baptist College team in 2016.

Dr. Scott Buhr

Education

• EdD, Curriculum and Instruction, University of South Carolina
• M.S., Educational Leadership, Bob Jones University
• B.S., Composite Science Education, Bob Jones University

About Scott

Scott’s work in preparing future educators for Christian service began with a PreK-12 Christian education of his own. He is blessed to be the son of a 40-year veteran Christian educator who now serves as a Christian School Principal. This front-row seat to Christian education prepared him well to formally study the field of education. After college, Scott became a public high school science teacher where he was able to live out his faith while growing professionally. In serving as a teacher, the Lord enabled Scott to also lead his local church youth group and music ministry. This service in both the church and the public school gave him experiences and perspectives that honed his ministry and pedagogy skills. As a teacher, he was able to serve his colleagues by participating in various committees and councils, including chairing the local chapter of the School Improvement Council. He served the field of science education as an AP Physics exam grader, NSTA STEM Forum steering committee member, physics textbook consultant, and ExploraVision adjudicator. These experiences helped fuel his decision to create a seminar for his believing students to help strengthen their faith in the Bible. This seminar, called Firm Foundation, went on to accomplish that same goal at nearly a dozen churches and youth group events. Before moving to higher education, Scott was recognized by his school district as a top ten teacher of the year, led his physics class to break the Guinness world record for the highest launch from a Galilean cannon, and became a state finalist for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. Now a university professor and frequent conference speaker, Scott oversees numerous programs and projects geared toward furthering the cause of Christian education and Christians in the field of education. He looks forward to seeing how God will use the next generation of Christian education for His Kingdom.