Center for Educational Excellence

The Center for Educational Excellence strives to develop and support faculty scholars in the areas of teaching and learning, faculty scholar development, community engagement and service-learning, and applied and experiential learning to provide transformational academic experiences for students. The CEE celebrates faculty excellence and supports faculty with center-wide initiatives such as New Faculty Academy, Educational Excellence Week, ACUE training, Faculty Development Grants, and more! 
 

The Instructional Development and Course Design pillar seeks to promote research-based teaching practices by: 

  • providing professional development programming for faculty, including the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL) program 
  • creating and supporting quality faculty development initiatives 
  • providing access to a team of instructional designers who are well versed in academic technology and teaching practices
  • developing and conducting workshops and individualized online courses to support and improve teaching by modeling evidence-based teaching practices 

The Community Engagement and Service-Learning (CESL) pillar supports community-based teaching and learning by:  

  • providing professional development programing for faculty, including the Engaged Scholars Academy 
  • managing institutional support for the use of GivePulse to match, track, and assess the community engagement of our students, faculty, and staff
  • facilitating the Community Engagement Cup challenge
  • leading Service-Learning Day 
  • celebrating the community engagement initiatives of our faculty, staff, and students
The Faculty Scholar Development pillar supports faculty by:
  • providing professional development programming for faculty, including the Faculty Scholarship Cohort program and trainings 
  • managing institutional support for Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) and JBI SUMARI
  • offering the Impact Challenge to enhance scholarship profiles 
  • leading learning communities including an introduction to systematic reviews
  • celebrating faculty scholarship 
  • assisting in the development of long-term scholarship agendas for early-career faculty

The Applied and Experiential Learning pillar supports faculty and staff in facilitating applied and experiential learning opportunities for students by: 

  • providing oversight for the Applied Learning Experience (ALE) program 
  • facilitating study abroad, study away, and National Student Exchange (NSE)

Dr. Lesley Leach
Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Development
leach@tarleton.edu

Dr. Jim Gentry
Director of Instructional Development and Course Design
gentry@tarleton.edu

Dr. Sharon Bowers
Director of Community Service and Service-Learning
bowers@tarleton.edu

Ms. Soncee Heard
Coordinator of Applied Learning Initiatives
heard@tarleton.edu

Dr. Amber Harris Bozer
Director of Faculty Scholar Development
bozer@tarleton.edu

Ms. Larrissa Rodriguez
Administrative Coordinator
lrodriguez@tarleton.edu