Drs. Leslie Bayers and Brandi Stanton have agreed to serve as St. Mary’s inaugural Teaching and Learning Coordinators. In this role they will work with a steering committee and the Associate Dean of Faculty to plan current teaching and learning activities such as the Teaching Excellence Workshops, New Faculty Orientation, Mutual Mentoring groups, and Teaching and Learning Lunches. They will also lead the New Faculty Seminar and will research and develop new teaching and learning initiatives for the College. Finally, they will develop mechanisms for distribution of funds for internal teaching and learning programs and grants.
The College received a large gift in the fall of 2012, and it was decided to designate those funds to support teaching and learning initiatives on campus. This choice is in response to one of the areas identified as less satisfactory to faculty in the COACHE survey conducted last year.
Brandi and Leslie are outstanding teachers and have demonstrated expertise and commitment to faculty development around teaching and learning. Together, they bring significant energy and innovative spirit to the task of supporting our teaching and learning initiatives.