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Committee on Teaching and Scholarship

2020 Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching: Tammy VanDeGrift

May 22, 2020

The Committee on Teaching and Scholarship is pleased to announce that the 2020 Teaching Award winner is Tammy VanDeGrift, Shiley School of Engineering. She has been a champion of continuous improvement in teaching and student learning throughout her 15-year career at the University of Portland. Her focus on pedagogical approaches is not solely for her own teaching, but is a passion she shared by initiating Teaching and Learning Lunches and Teaching Circles within the Shiley School of Engineering, and as a generous mentor to many faculty across campus. VanDeGrift was in the first cohort of the UP REFLECT STEM Innovation project, where one peer observer noted, “Tammy is the living embodiment of an exemplary teacher, advancing student learning through skilled content organization that enables active engagement in the classroom.”

VanDeGrift’s students express appreciation for the care she takes to create a positive learning environment tuned to their needs, and the lengths she goes to help them discern their interests and connect content to “real life” applications. Comments such as the following are indicative of the types of responses in her course evaluations: “Dr. VanDeGrift always has some way of teaching that always stays with the student. She upholds participation in a manner that isn’t filled with pressure which can be a really comfortable classroom experience. It was easy to learn hard topics thanks to the schedule and strategies used in this course.” Another colleague writes that, “She cares that her students not only learn computer science, but that all students learn and learn to be computer scientists with an understanding of their broader role in society.”

Education is also a key theme in VanDeGrift’s research, where she has made valuable contributions to her profession. She has over fifty peer-reviewed publications; many of these are related to computer science education and engineering education, including topics of student advising, retention, and diversity.

Please join in congratulating Tammy VanDeGrift on this latest honor!

Filed Under: 05-25-2020, Academics, Teaching & Scholarship Tagged With: Committee on Teaching and Scholarship, Tammy VanDeGrift

2020 Faculty Award for Outstanding Scholarship: Heather Dillon

May 22, 2020

The Committee on Teaching and Scholarship is pleased to announce that the 2020 Scholarship Award winner is Heather Dillon, Shiley School of Engineering. Known as a dedicated and talented researcher among her peers, she has had a prolific record of scholarship in her eight years at the University of Portland. Dillon created her UP research lab from the ground up and developed collaborations with other industry and University partners to pursue work on renewable energy and energy efficiency. One of her colleagues wrote, “Heather has been incredibly successful in including students in her research program and mentoring them in research methods and in applying for summer research positions and for graduate school.” Dillon has mentored over 40 students and this work was recognized by the Provost Award for Faculty Mentors in 2017. She holds elected positions in the Engineering Division of the national Council on Undergraduate Research as councilor and vice-chair.

She has authored an impressive number of publications during her career including over 80 peer-reviewed journals, conference papers, and technical reports, as well as giving numerous presentations. She has also been a principal investigator for major grants which have benefited STEM education at UP. She is a co-principal investigator for a National Science Foundation grant, “Creating a Culture of Evidence-Based Teaching and Reflection,” which led to the development of observation protocols that are being tested and implemented by UP faculty to improve teaching practice. Most recently this work led to a year as a visiting Fulbright Canada Research Chair in STEM Education at the University of Calgary.

Please join in congratulating Heather Dillon on this latest honor.

Filed Under: 05-25-2020, Academics, Teaching & Scholarship, Uncategorized Tagged With: 2020 Scholarship Award, Committee on Teaching and Scholarship, Heather Dillon

2019-2020 Butine Spring Cycle Recipients

April 10, 2020

The Committee on Teaching and Scholarship (TAS) has determined award recipients for the 2019-2020 Butine Faculty Development Fund Spring cycle, according to committee chair Hannah Highlander, mathematics.  Butine award recipients are: 

  • Alexa Dare, $2000, “Streams Transformative Environmental Humanities Conference, Stockholm, Sweden, August 5-8, 2020.”
  • Vail Fletcher, $1890, “North American Association for Critical Animal Studies Conference (NAACAS), University of British Columbia, Kelowna, May 27-29th, 2020”
  • Eli Goldwyn, $1990, “18th Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Disease meeting in Montpellier, France. June 14-17.”
  • Amber Vermeesch, $2000, “American College of Medicine’s 67th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, May 26-30, 2020.”
  • Cara Hersh, $616, “New Chaucer Society 2020 Congress, Durham, UK, July 12-17, 2020”
  • Jakob Kotas, $2000, “Mathematical Association of America (MAA) Pacific Northwest Section Annual Meeting, Anchorage, Alaska, June 25-27, 2020”
  • Deirdre Katz, $1350, “International Mind, Brain, and Education Society Biennial Conference Montreal, Canada, May 18-20, 2020”
  • Ian Parkman, $2000, “Design Management Institute (DMI)‚ AI Academic Design Management Conference 2020, Toronto, CA, Aug, 5-6, 2020”
  • Angela Hoffman, $1330, “Natural product research for spring 2020 sabbatical”
  • Kathleen Bieryla, $2000, “2020 ASEE (American Society for Engineering Education) Annual Conference & Exposition, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, June 21-24, 2020”
  • Simon Aihiokhai, $2000, “Catholic Theological society of America, Baltimore, MD June 11-14, 2020”
  • Tara Prestholdt, $1800, “The effects of EÑSO (El Niño Southern Oscillations) on marine bio diversity and abundance”

For more information, contact Highlander at x7162 or tas@up.edu.

 

Filed Under: 04-06-2020, 04-13-2020, Academics, Teaching & Scholarship Tagged With: Butine Awards, Committee on Teaching and Scholarship, Hannah Highlander

Faculty Development Day, May 7: Session Proposals Welcome

March 22, 2019

The Committee on Teaching and Scholarship is excited to announce this year’s Faculty Development Day theme, “Compassionate listening and responding: How to transform UP into a more diverse, supportive, and inclusive campus.” The morning keynote address and several late morning sessions will be centered around this theme. The remaining sessions, most of which will occur in the afternoon, are then open to a variety of topics, which may or may not relate to the overall theme.

The Committee on Teaching and Scholarship is now accepting proposals from faculty who would like to organize 45-minute sessions on a topic of their choice. Please send suggestions/requests to committee chair Hannah Highlander (tas@up.edu) no later than Friday, April 12. Please include a title and abstract, along with any other preferences or special needs. The committee will make every effort to accommodate requests.

Filed Under: 03-18-2019, 03-25-2019, 04-01-2019, Academics Tagged With: Committee on Teaching and Scholarship, Faculty Development Day, Hannah Highlander

Call For Proposals: Faculty Development Day

December 8, 2017

The Committee on Teaching and Scholarship welcomes proposals of themes for Faculty Development Day on May 8, 2018. The theme will be the morning’s focus of this special day. Interested faculty should submit a 1-2 page proposal identifying the keynote speaker and breakout panels for Session One of Faculty Development Day. Sessions later in the day will remain open for other distinct topics proposed by faculty across campus (these specialty sessions will be solicited in the spring).
If you are interested in putting forward a central theme for the keynote and Session One, please send your proposal to tas@up.edu by Groundhog Day, Friday, February 2, 2018. Contact Matthew Kuhn, chair, for more information at tas@up.edu.

Filed Under: 12-11-2017, Academics Tagged With: Committee on Teaching and Scholarship, Faculty Development Day, Matthew Kuhn

Nominate Now: 2017-2018 Teaching Award, Scholarship Award

December 1, 2017

The Committee on Teaching and Scholarship is accepting faculty nominations for the 2017-2018 Teaching Award and Scholarship Award.  These awards are an opportunity for the University community to recognize and celebrate two of its own for outstanding achievements in teaching and scholarship. The committee will accept nominations until noon on Friday, January 26. Nominations should be submitted on the Committee’ Moodle site.  Submission of supporting materials by nominees will be due by noon on Friday, March 16. Visit the Academic Senate resources pages for information regarding the nomination process, award criteria, and supporting materials that will be needed by the Committee.
Contact Matthew Kuhn, TAS chair, at tas@up.edu for more information.

Filed Under: 11-20-2017, 11-27-2017, 12-04-2017, Academics, Teaching & Scholarship Tagged With: Committee on Teaching and Scholarship, Matthew Kuhn

Teaching Award, Scholarship Award: Nominate Now

November 18, 2016

wootton-copyThe Committee on Teaching and Scholarship is accepting faculty nominations for the 2016-2017 Teaching Award and Scholarship Award, according to committee chair Aaron Wootton, mathematics. These awards are an opportunity for the University community to celebrate publicly two of its own for outstanding achievements in teaching and scholarship. The committee will accept nominations until noon on Friday, February 3, by e-mail to tas@up.edu. Submission of supporting materials by nominees will be due by noon on Friday, March 24. Visit the Academic Senate resources pages for information regarding the nomination process and materials that will be needed (password required). Contact Wootton at tas@up.edu for more information.

Filed Under: 11-21-2016, Academics Tagged With: Aaron Wootton, Committee on Teaching and Scholarship, Scholarship Award, Teaching Award

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Anita Gooding, social work, was selected as a 2020-2021 Field Research Scholar by the Transforming Field Education Landscape (TFEL) program at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. Scholars attend regular seminars and present their own research related to strengthening field education in social work.

Ösel Plante, development, has a debut collection of poetry titled Waveland set for publication by Black Lawrence Press in April 2021. Please use this link to learn more.

Aziz Inan, Shiley School of Engineering. recently shared some of his work on palindrome dates with the staff of Farmers’ Almanac which lead to an articled titled “2021: A Special Year For Palindrome Dates, Starting This Month!” See the article using this link.

Bob Butler, professor emeritus of environmental studies; Jenda Johnson, Earth Sciences Animated; and Nic Zentner, Central Washington University, published an animation titled “Ghost Forests: Evidence for a Giant Earthquake & Tsunami in the Pacific Northwest.” This animation explores how Native American oral history, geology of ghost forests in coastal Washington and Oregon, and written accounts of a tsunami that flooded Japanese Pacific Coast villages converge to document the most recent Cascadia subduction zone megathrust earthquake on January 26, 1700 at about 9 p.m. The Ghost Forest animation can be found on the IRIS website at: https://www.iris.edu/hq/inclass/animation/740 or on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xPbt8iiDRo&feature=youtu.be.

Steven Kolmes, environmental studies, wrote an editorial on “Sustainability and the Role of Higher Education” in Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, Vol. 62, , pp. 2-3. See the article at this link. He also contributed “On a ‘Just’ Transition, Environment” in Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, 63:1, 29-31, DOI: 10.1080/00139157.2021.1842715.. See the article using this link.

Amber Vermeesch, nursing, received an Opus Prize Foundation Grant Sabbatical Support, Opus Prize Foundation, $5,000, on November 12, 2020.

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UPbeat is a newsletter for University of Portland faculty and staff published through the marketing & communications office; submit information to Marc Covert, upbeat editor, at 8132 or upbeat@up.edu. Submission deadline is noon the Thursday prior to publication. Submissions may be edited for clarity, consistency, brevity, or style.

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