Senior Teaching Fellows

The CTL Senior Teaching Fellows Program was originally established at the University of Georgia in 1987 through a three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE). In 1990, the program was continued with full support from the University of Georgia.

Goals of the CTL Senior Teaching Fellows Program

The goals of the CTL Senior Teaching Fellows Program are:

1. To provide senior faculty with opportunities for the sharing of ideas with other dedicated, highly motivated, and innovative teachers from other disciplines who may have similar interests and who face similar teaching challenges;
2. To provide senior faculty with opportunities for professional and personal renewal;
3. To provide funding for an instructional project designed to strengthen courses and teaching methods in each participant's academic department; and
4. To help reinforce an instructional environment that honors and recognizes dedicated teaching scholars; that values a synergistic relationship between teaching, research, and service; and that promotes a learning-community spirit on a large campus.

Selection of Participants

Eight faculty members at the University of Georgia are selected each year during the spring semester. Participation in this program begins the following fall semester. Any tenured faculty member with the rank of associate or full professor who has been at the University of Georgia for at least five years is eligible for nomination to the program. Candidates may be self-nominated or nominated by their colleagues, department head, or dean for participation in the program. Selection of the eight CTL Senior Teaching Fellows is by a committee comprised of current and former program participants and Center for Teaching & Learning staff.

Nomination Procedures

Nominations for our next cohort of Senior Teaching Fellows have closed. Nominations for the 2025-26 Senior Teaching Fellows program will open during the Spring 2025 semester.

Any faculty member, dean, associate dean, or department head interested in nominating individuals for the CTL Senior Teaching Fellows Program should e-mail Dr. Megan Mittelstadt (megan.mittelstadt@uga.edu) with a brief statement of interest (maximum of two pages). Self-nominations are also accepted. The statement of interest should include:

• A brief summary of the nominee’s contributions to teaching and learning at UGA, to date;
• reasons the nominee has decided to apply to this program, and/or reasons the nominee would benefit from the fellowship;
• any unique contributions the nominee would make to the program as a participant; and
• the nominee’s potential for positive contributions to the home unit as a result of this fellowship.

Nominations will be retained for three academic years. Nominees will be selected by a committee of past Senior Teaching Fellows and notified by the end of spring semester. 

Activities associated with the program

The following activities comprise the program for the academic year.

• A two-day retreat is held at the beginning of the fall semester. Program leaders and participants discuss needs and formulate goals for the coming year.
   
• Program participants meet monthly. Meetings are conducted as round table discussions or involve outside speakers. Meeting topics focus on in-depth discussion of issues related to college teaching and learning and academic life.
   
• Each participant is provided with $2,000 for an instructional project designed to strengthen courses and teaching methods in each participant's academic department.

Current CTL Senior Teaching Fellows

2024-2025

• Jennifer Birch, Anthropology
• Josh Bynum, Music
• Anandam Kavoori, Entertainment and Media Studies
• Dennis Kyle, Cellular Biology
• Tisha Lewis Ellison, Language and Literacy Education
• Jane McPherson, Social Work
• Kristin Sayeski, Communication Sciences and Special Education
• Demitra Thomloudis, Art
• Kari Turner, Animal and Dairy Science