School Psychology Program Faculty
The SSP Program is very fortunate to have such tremendous core and affiliate faculty members. They are an important part of what makes our Program great, and we’d like to tell you a little more about them:
Core Faculty
Dr. Ramona M. Noland
Dr. Ramona M. Noland grew up in the rural community of Paden City, WV and is a proud Wildcat alumna of the town’s public high school. She attended Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, WV and graduated with her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology in 1991. She then moved to Knoxville, TN where she attended graduate school at The University of Tennessee, graduating with her Ph.D. in School Psychology.
Several years of professional work experience followed Dr. Noland’s pre-doctoral internship at the Tennessee Internship Consortium in Professional Psychology, including work as a school psychologist for the Clermont County Educational Service Center in Batavia, OH, and Montrose County School District RE-1J in Montrose, CO. Dr. Noland began work as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at SHSU in the fall of 2003, and assumed the role of SSP Program Director following her tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in June, 2010. She was honored at the 2023 Annual Faculty and Staff Meeting for 20 years of service to Sam Houston State University!
Dr. Noland’s current areas of research interest are centered broadly on the practice of school psychology and specifically focus on testing and assessment practice and pedagogical concerns. Dr. Noland has been a long-time instructor of the undergraduate Human Sexuality course, and as an extension of this experience has developed a broad interest in topics of investigation dealing with sexuality, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
In addition to professional roles and responsibilities, Dr. Noland enjoys personal pursuits that include spending time with her family, running, and reading for her monthly Book Club.
Dr. Nicolas L. Sheel
Several years of professional work experience followed Dr. Noland’s pre-doctoral internship at the Tennessee Internship Consortium in Professional Psychology, including work as a school psychologist for the Clermont County Educational Service Center in Batavia, OH, and Montrose County School District RE-1J in Montrose, CO. Dr. Noland began work as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at SHSU in the fall of 2003, and assumed the role of SSP Program Director following her tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in June, 2010. She was honored at the 2023 Annual Faculty and Staff Meeting for 20 years of service to Sam Houston State University!
Dr. Noland’s current areas of research interest are centered broadly on the practice of school psychology and specifically focus on testing and assessment practice and pedagogical concerns. Dr. Noland has been a long-time instructor of the undergraduate Human Sexuality course, and as an extension of this experience has developed a broad interest in topics of investigation dealing with sexuality, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
In addition to professional roles and responsibilities, Dr. Noland enjoys personal pursuits that include spending time with her family, running, and reading for her monthly Book Club.
Dr. Nicholas L. Scheel grew up living in a small resort city on Geneva Lake in southeastern Wisconsin. After graduating from Badger High School in Lake Geneva, WI, he attended the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. While working as a behavioral specialist in a residential facility for youth and adolescents with severe social, emotional, and behavioral concerns, Dr. Scheel began developing an interest in addressing systemic issues in public education.
In 2017, Dr. Scheel began his doctoral work in School Psychology at the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa, FL. While at USF, he worked with Drs. Jose Castillo and Donald Kincaid in investigating effective practices in implementing positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS); evaluating student outcomes to detect discipline disparities among different student sub-groups; and identifying approaches to effectively build capacity in teachers, staff, and admin to implement multi-tiered systems of supports (MTSS) with high fidelity. While completing his doctoral studies, Dr. Scheel provided social-emotional, behavioral, and mental health related services in alternative and high school settings. Dr. Scheel completed his pre-doctoral School Psychology internship in Santa Barbara Unified School District through the Santa Barbara Psychological Internship Consortium (APPIC #2455) in Santa Barabara, CA.
Dr. Scheel joined the School Psychology program at Sam Houston State University (SHSU) in the fall of 2022. He teaches undergraduate courses in development psychology, as well as graduate courses in evidence-based child therapy, school-based counseling, academic, social-emotional, and behavioral assessment, and systems change. His current research interests include identifying systems change and reform efforts in implementing MTSS frameworks to enhance social-emotional, behavioral, and mental health services as well as school safety and crisis prevention, intervention, and postvention initiatives and practices in schools.
Dr. Scheel enjoys running, playing ultimate frisbee, writing and playing alternative and punk rock music, and exploring new places with his wife.
Dr. Dieu Truong
Dr. Dieu Truong a proud Vietnamese-born Chinese grew up in Saigon Vietnam, Dr. Truong is fluent in both Vietnamese and Cantonese. She immigrated with her family to Houston, Texas during her early teenage years when she started learning English in high school. The experience of growing up as an immigrant and a woman of color with other intersecting multiple marginalized identities heavily influenced her professional identity, shaping of a culturally and linguistically affirming clinician and researcher.
Dr. Dieu M. Truong holds the position of Assistant Professor of Psychology and is a Licensed Psychologist (LP) in Texas, a Licensed Specialist in School Psychology (LSSP), and a Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP). Dr. Truong’s completed her Ph.D. in School Psychology at the University of Houston, a program that is accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) and approved by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP). She went on to complete her APA-accredited predoctoral internship at the Center for Autism Research at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) where she also completed her postdoctoral fellowship with the specialization in autism assessment and intervention
Dr. Truong's contributions in research and service have earned her numerous invitations for co-authoring critical clinical and training works in the field of school psychology. Notably, she was invited to be the lead co-author of the influential School Psychology Unified Call for Deeper Understanding, Solidarity, and Action to Eradicate Anti-AAAPI Racism and Violence (2021). This statement received widespread endorsement from prestigious national and international School Psychology organizations, including APA Division 16, Trainers of School Psychologists, American Board of School Psychology, International Association of School Psychology, and NASP. Additionally, she co-authored a chapter titled Best Practices in School Psychology Leadership and Advocacy in the seventh edition of Best Practices in School Psychology (2023), recognized by NASP as a “prestigious and foundational publication in School Psychology graduate training and practice”. Dr. Truong’s commitment to social justice has earned her multiple national awards and recognitions, including Fellow of the APA Minority Fellowship Program (2019 – 2022), Presidential Citation of the APA Division 16 of School Psychology (2021), AAPI Leaders in School Psychology by the Trainers of School Psychology (2022-2023), and the Global Scientific Excellence Award at CHOP.
Water holds immense cultural significance in Southeast Asian culture, particularly in Vietnam, and is deeply intertwined with its cultural values. To honor this cultural heritage, Dr. Truong and her collaborators named their team using the acronym W.A.T.E.R., symbolizing Worldwide Autism Training, Education, and Training. The W.A.T.E.R. Institute strives to center the voices, experiences, and guidance of autistic self-advocates (person-centered), families/caregivers (family-centered), and communities from multiple marginalized backgrounds (community-centered) within the U.S. and internationally, including Vietnam. Guided by the Vietnamese idiom of resilience and perseverance, "Nước Chảy Đá Mòn," the W.A.T.E.R. Institute aims to elevate the intersectional experiences of Southeast Asian culture and neurodiversity, primarily neurodevelopmental conditions, through its primary goals of:
Dr. Jiaju ("J. J.") Wu earned his doctorate in School Psychology in 2018 (A long time ago) from the University of Iowa (Go Hawks!). In Iowa, he worked as a graduate research assistant at the Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development. His dissertation is about how an early college entrance program affects gifted students' academic and social development. He completed his pre-doctoral School Psychology Internship through Tennessee Internship Consortium in Psychology (APPIC # 1556) in Knoxville, Tennessee. After that, he worked as a school psychologist in Iowa and taught in New York. Dr. Wu joined Sam Houston State University in the fall of 2023. He teaches both undergraduate (e.g., Introduction to Psychology, learning) and graduate psychology courses (e.g., Consultation in School Psychology). His recent research interests include gifted education, twice-exceptional students, and applied behavior analysis (ABA). He enjoys serving children with disabilities, hiking, working out in the gym, and spending time with his family.Dr. Jiaju Wu
