Gearing up for the 2024 Fall Semester, the University of Georgia’s Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) has selected the cohorts for three of its faculty fellows programs.
“Our team at the Center for Teaching and Learning is excited to work with faculty from so many schools and colleges across UGA,” said CTL Director Meg Mittelstadt. “Our fellows programs foster a vibrant exchange of ideas among dedicated, innovative, and highly motivated faculty from diverse disciplines, and offer avenues for professional growth and personal rejuvenation.”
These three programs, the Lilly Teaching Fellows, the Senior Teaching Fellows, and the Fellows for Transformative Teaching, will unite faculty from schools and colleges across campus. Each fellows program connects faculty from similar professional levels to participate in workshops and discussions on new teaching pedagogy, share ideas and experiences, and plan innovative teaching practices that will enhance student success in their classrooms.
The Lilly Teaching Fellows program selects 10 tenure-track assistant professors who are in their first, second, or third year at the University of Georgia. The cohort will meet over two years to discuss effective instruction techniques, learn how to balance teaching with research and service, develop an instructional project to strengthen teaching in their academic department, and promote a learning community spirit throughout UGA.
This fall, Sarah Shannon, Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor with the Department of Sociology in Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, will step into the role of co-director of the Lilly Teaching Fellows. Shannon was a member of the 2014-2016 Lilly Teaching Fellows Cohort and has been the program’s assistant director since 2020. Shannon has served as director of UGA’s Criminal Justice Studies Program since 2022, and she is also the recipient of the Service-Learning Teaching Excellence Award, the Richard B. Russell Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award, the Creative Teaching Award, and the Sandy Beaver Excellence in Teaching Award.
“I am delighted to step into this new role with the Lilly Teaching Fellows program,” Shannon said. “It has been a joy to help organize this program over the past several years, and I am thrilled I can continue to bring faculty together to grow as educators and be successful on the tenure track. The Lilly program has been instrumental to my own experience at UGA, and I look forward to continuing to support it with my time and energy as co-director.”
Shannon will be filling the shoes of Steve Lewis, associate professor of physics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, who has served in the faculty director role with the program since fall 2017. Lewis will continue serving as co-director for the 2023-2025 Lilly Teaching Fellows cohort and will step down at the end of the 2024-2025 academic year following eight years of leadership.
“I consider serving as faculty director of the Lilly Fellows program to have been a career highlight and a genuine honor,” Lewis said. “Ever since I was selected as a Lilly Fellow twenty-five years ago, this program stood out for me as the ‘crown jewel’ of UGA experiences. The camaraderie and the deep discussions that this program fosters and promotes give young, determined faculty that extra something they need to become truly outstanding educators and scholars. As I am often heard saying, Lilly Fellows are the best!”
As Shannon moves into her new role, Tim Samples, associate professor with the Legal Studies Program in the Terry College of Business, will become the program’s new assistant director. Samples is a former Lilly Teaching Fellow and has served on the Lilly Fellows Advisory Board since 2018. He received the Russell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in 2020, Outstanding Teacher Recognition by the Student Government Association in 2018.
The members of the 2024-2026 Lilly Teaching Fellows are:
- Mariana Lima Becker, Mary Francis Early College of Education, Educational Theory and Practice
- Jeremy Davis, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, Philosophy
- Nicholas Jun Hao Eng, Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications, Advertising and Public Relations
- Alexander Fyfe, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, Comparative Literature and Intercultural Studies
- Katie E. Marages, College of Environment and Design, Historic Preservation
- Julia Rice Mattison, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, English
- John Meixner, School of Law
- Dax Ovid, College of Veterinary Medicine, Physiology and Pharmacology
- Niyantri Ravindran, Family and Consumer Sciences, Human Development and Family Science
- Katelyn Stauffer, School of Public and International Affairs, Political Science
The Fellows for Transformative Teaching program, which is going into its second year at UGA, was designed by the CTL to offer senior-rank non-tenure track faculty focused opportunities to network and develop new teaching practices. This program brings together 10 faculty from across the university to collaborate, explore new and advanced teaching methods and strategies, and design instructional projects to strengthen their academic departments. Selection to this cohort provides recognition for dedication to instruction and student success at UGA.
The 2024-2025 Fellows for Transformative Teaching are:
- Charles Byrd, Franklin College of the Arts & Sciences, Germanic and Slavic Studies
- Paula J Davis-Olwell, College of Public Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Global Health Institute
- Jonathan Dees, Franklin College of the Arts & Sciences, Plant Biology
- Emily Gertsch, Franklin College of the Arts & Sciences, Music Theory
- Melissa Scott Kozak, College of Family & Consumer Sciences, Human Development & Family Science
- Jodie Lyon, Franklin College of the Arts & Sciences, Religion
- Jason W. Matthews, Terry College of Business, J.M. Tull School of Accounting
- Kate A. Morrissey Stahl, School of Social Work
- Amy Murphy, Mary Frances Early College of Education, Educational Theory and Practice
- Christine M. Scartz, School of Law
The Senior Teaching Fellows program admits faculty members with the rank of associate or full professor who have been at the University of Georgia for at least five years. This program was first established at UGA in 1987 with the goals to improve post-secondary education and provide senior faculty with new opportunities that strengthen and renew their professional and personal experiences at UGA. This cohort will meet regularly over the next year to discuss teaching challenges and strategies, brainstorm methods to elevate teaching methods throughout each member’s academic department, and promote synergy between teaching, research, and service.
The members of the 2024-2025 Senior Teaching Fellows are:
- Jennifer Birch, Franklin College of the Arts & Sciences, Anthropology
- Josh Bynum, Franklin College of the Arts & Sciences, Hugh Hodgson School of Music
- Andy Kavoori, Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications, Entertainment and Media Studies
- Dennis Kyle, Franklin College of the Arts & Sciences, Cellular Biology
- Tisha Lewis Ellison, Mary Frances Early College of Education, Language and Literacy Education
- Jane McPherson, School of Social Work
- Demitra Thomloudis, Franklin College of the Arts & Sciences, Lamar Dodd School of Art
- Kari Turner, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Animal and Dairy Science
- Kristin Sayeski, Mary Francis Early College of Education, Communication Sciences and Special Education
All three programs are organized by the CTL and supported by the University of Georgia’s Office of Instruction. In each program, faculty members receive $2,000 to fund an instructional project designed to enhance courses and teaching methods in their academic department. The Fellows meet regularly throughout the year and participate in a fall retreat to exchange ideas and discuss relevant topics in higher education.