Marrissa Dick

Marrissa R. Dick, Ph.D.

Biography

Dr. Dick is a Teaching Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator for Aggies at the Goal Line and Distance Education for the Department of Liberal Studies at North Carolina A&T State University. Marrissa earned a Ph.D. in Educational Studies and Cultural Foundations with a Specialization in Cultural Studies and a minor in Communication Studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where her dissertation focused on Fantasy and Mis-Educative Experiences inside the classroom. She earned a master’s degree in Adult Education with a Specialization in Training and Development from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, and she also holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a Specialization in Business Management from Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Marrissa is known for her passionate and engaging teaching pedagogy, earning her the 2022 – 2023 Outstanding Teaching Professor of the Year Award at NC A&T State University. Dr. Dick believes in remaining at the forefront of effective teaching strategies. She was excited to be an inaugural participant in receiving national certification from the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) at NC A&T State University. Marrissa has been certified in online teaching and learning and is the asynchronous Subject Master Expert (SME) Online Course Developer for Master Course LIBS 311- The Idea of Africa. She is best known for utilizing retentive measures by exposing students to experiential learning, time management, and critical thinking while fostering a holistic “Other Mothering” classroom pedagogy.

Dr. Dick is also known for guiding her academic advisees toward curriculum completion and, as such, was the recipient of the 2021 Outstanding Academic Advisor of the Year Award for the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. She has worked in a collegiate setting for over 20 years as an administrator, adjunct lecturer, professional academic advisor, and, initially, an administrative assistant. As a professional academic advisor, Dr. Dick developed SCS 099 - Strategies for Academic Success, a retentive course for students on academic probation. She utilized her professional administrative and retentive advisement experience to form TranSiJon Consulting Services, Inc. to facilitate post-high school educational sessions that enlighten rising, first-year college students on avoiding the pitfalls of campus life. 

Marrissa’s academic interests include Mis-Educative Experiences and Micro-Aggressive Experiences in the American educational system. Specifically, her research primarily focuses on Mis-Educative oppressions in the classroom regarding African Americans in education and critical pedagogy. Her research also incorporates Fantasy Theory as a metacognitive defense for oppressive educational environments and qualitative narrative research that consists of phenomenology, autoethnography, and “accidental” ethnography. Her dissertation, An African American Woman’s Educational Journey: Pragmatic and Pedagogical Practices of Fantasy, supports her experiential study.

Remaining faithful to her discipline in fantasy and metacognition, Dr. Dick formed Nubian Romance Novels where she authored five African American Contemporary Christian “Sci-Fi” Romance Novels entitled Angel Fire, Cousins, Déjà vu Desires, Déjà vu Desires Part 2: Comfort, Letters, and Them’s Eve’s Daughters. Her flavorful romance novels are centered around spiritual warfare and struggles of the flesh while attempting to maintain Christian values.

In addition, Dr. Dick is the president and founder of The Paperwork Guru 4 U, Inc., where she helps entrepreneurs start their businesses and assists non-profit organizations with obtaining non-profit status.

Dr. Dick’s family is essential to her; she enjoys spending quality time with them, especially her great-nieces and great-nephews. She also enjoys traveling to the Caribbean, attending church, riding roller coasters, and cooking.