Student Success

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Academic Culture in McCombs School of Business

Cohort: 2022
Fellow: Kristie J Loescher

MSB does not have a standardized way to define or measure rigor in the classroom beyond using class GPAs as a proxy measure. This focus on lower GPA = higher rigor has had the unintended consequence of creating a
culture of acceptance for low student performance, which disproportionately falls on underrepresented
minorties and first-generation students. This project focuses on standardizing the definition and measurement of rigor in the classroom in a manner that supports both faculty development/promotion and student diversity/inclusion.

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The “Social/Wellness Module:” Providing Space for Wellbeing and Social Learning for Incoming UT Students

Cohort: 2022
Fellow: Marina Alexandrova

My project addresses the lack of built-in social/wellness-oriented interactions in introductory courses for

Headshot of Stacy Sparks.

Stacy Sparks

Current Fellow
Chemistry
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College of Natural Sciences
Initiative Focus
Inclusive Teaching and Learning
Student Success

Stacy Sparks is a Professor of Instruction in the Chemistry Department and focuses much of her teaching on General Chemistry courses. She directs the Chemistry Learning Assistant Program, which provides an experiential learning experience for 80 undergraduate students each semester, building their teaching and leadership skills and preparing them to assist general chemistry and organic chemistry students in the classroom.

 

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Gwendolyn Stovall

Current Fellow
TIDES
|
College of Natural Sciences
Initiative Focus
Mentorship
Skill-Building
Student Success

For the last 10+ years, Gwen Stovall has worked as a biochemist and aptamer researcher in the CNS Freshman Research Initiative, where she leads a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) to identify aptamers, understand the underlying mechanisms and parameters of aptamer selections, and investigate aptamer specificity. As an educator, Gwen is committed to student empowerment and success, and seeks to improve student outcomes by mentoring, teaching, challenging, and engaging students.

Cathy Stacy

Alumni
Statistics and Data Sciences
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College of Natural Sciences
Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost
Initiative Focus
Student Success

Christopher Shank

Retired
Marine Science
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College of Natural Sciences
Initiative Focus
Skill-Building
Student Success

Michael Scott

Alumni
Computer Science
|
College of Natural Sciences
Initiative Focus
Student Success

Maura Borrego

Alumni
Mechanical Engineering
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Cockrell School of Engineering
Initiative Focus
Inclusive Teaching and Learning
Student Success
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Natalie Czimskey

Current Fellow
Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences
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Moody College of Communication
Initiative Focus
Student Success
Student Wellbeing

Natalie Czimskey, Ph.D., is a lecturer in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at The University of Texas where she earned all three of her degrees. She began teaching as a doctoral student in 2012 and continued teaching part time until completing her Ph.D. in 2019 when she joined the faculty full-time.  Her primary research area is adult neurogenic disorders with a special interest in traumatic brain injury, though her passion is teaching; she has taught 9 different courses in the past 2 years.

Headshot of Ruth Shear.

Ruth Shear

Current Fellow
Chemistry
|
College of Natural Sciences
Initiative Focus
Skill-Building
Student Success

Ruth Shear is a Professor of Practice in the Chemistry Department, and a Research Educator of the Urban Ecosystems research stream in the Freshman Research Initiative (FRI). After a PhD in Chemical Physics from Griffith University (Australia) and postdoctoral work at Stanford and Cornell, she started as a lecturer at UT Austin in 1996. After running the physical and analytical chemistry teaching labs for 10 years, she helped create FRI in 2006. She has been teaching Research Methods in various forms ever since.

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