Biography

In 2012, Joan began working for the Utah Fire & Rescue Academy (UFRA) here at Utah Valley University (UVU). UFRA is a great department to work for, while serving Utah firefighters, chiefs, and departments statewide. Joan has spent the past 12 years serving, supporting, and assisting others in finance, the training division, and UFRA executive leaders. In 2014, she was the executive assistant to former UFRA Director Hugh Connor (2014-2016) and afterwards UFRA Director Brad Wardle (2016-2021). Joan served as a coordinator for Fire Ops 101 in 2019, and division supervisor during the 2020 & 2022 Winter Fire School. As of October 2021, she's the Certification Program Manager and loves working with her Certification Team! Together they serve Utah's Chiefs and training officers to provide excellent service for all of Utah's firefighters.

Joan oversees UFRA's Certification Accreditation working with Subject Matter Experts updating UFRA Standards, the Utah Fire Service Certification Council, and stays informed as she attends IFSAC and Pro Board conferences. The past three years she (with the help of SME's) successfully completed 42 levels of accreditation - 30 levels were Technical Rescue. Additionally, she has created an online testing process for all UFRA Certification written tests to be administered online (moving towards paperless).

Joan earned her master's degree in Organization Development and Leadership (MODL) - 3.95 GPA (May 2019), a Bachelor's degree in Business Management (Magna Cum Laude), and Certificate in Accounting. She's interested in andragogy, self-directed, and experiential learning. She prefers non-traditional teaching methods that support a student-centered approach to learning, that welcomes engaged facilitation, open discussions, and honest dialogue in the classroom, as well as creative approaches to teaching.
She loves spending time with her kind husband, family, friends, & grandkids!