Provost Honors Baylor University Faculty as 2021-2022 Baylor Fellows

WACO, Texas (Sept. 15, 2021) – Ten Baylor University faculty members have been selected by Provost Nancy Brickhouse, Ph.D., to serve as 2021-2022 Baylor Fellows for their excellence in teaching and desire to transform student thinking through innovation.

The 2021-2022 Baylor Fellows are:

• Holly Collins, Ph.D., associate professor of French, College of Arts & Sciences and Senior Baylor Fellow
• Sandi Cooper, Ph.D., professor of curriculum and instruction, School of Education
• Isabelle Demers, D.M.A., associate professor of keyboard studies, School of Music
• Shelby Garner, Ph.D., associate professor of nursing, Louise Herrington School of Nursing
• Leigh Greathouse, Ph.D., associate professor of human sciences and design, Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences
• Brianna Lemmons, Ph.D., assistant professor of social work, Diana R. Garland School of Social Work
• Jason MacGregor, Ph.D., associate professor of accounting, Hankamer School of Business
• Coretta Pittman, Ph.D., associate professor of English, College of Arts & Sciences
• Michael Scullin, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology and neuroscience, College of Arts & Sciences
• Davide Zori, Ph.D., associate professor of anthropology in the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core, Honors College

Baylor’s Academy for Teaching and Learning (ATL) began the fellowship program in 2011, which recognizes outstanding teachers across the disciplines and provides them the opportunity to implement new teaching approaches. Selected faculty members receive an award of $1,845 in honor of the year of Baylor’s founding and the title of “Baylor Fellow.” This year’s theme is “Engaging Undergraduates in Scholarly Work.”

“The Baylor Fellows will explore ways to integrate their teaching and their scholarly work into the lives of students to promote mentorship and foster transformational undergraduate education, one of the four pillars of Illuminate, Baylor’s strategic plan,” said J. Wesley Null, Ph.D., vice provost for undergraduate education and institutional effectiveness.

Baylor faculty facilitate transformational education through the integration of scholarship and teaching in several ways, including student participation in research, internships, study-abroad experiences and discipline-specific mission experiences. These engaged learning activities are interdisciplinary and research-driven, and combine curricular and co-curricular experiences that attract students.

“Baylor Fellows will create learning environments, opportunities and activities related to their scholarly research to engage students in the transformative experiences that distinguish a Baylor education,” said Lenore Wright, Ph.D., ATL director and associate professor in the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core of the Honors College.

Baylor Fellows are free to choose how to implement the theme in their teaching. Each Fellow identifies one course as an “incubator” or “lab” classroom, then develops activities and assignments to address the theme. In accord with the best practices of evidence-based scholarship, the Fellows also develop means to assess their projects.

A secondary program goal is to provide a forum in which Baylor Fellows can share ideas, collaborate and forge interdisciplinary networks. Cohort discussions are held monthly alongside conversational events open to the University.

All full-time faculty members, regardless of rank, are eligible to serve as Baylor Fellows. Nominations are solicited from the deans of the colleges and schools, from former Baylor Fellows and from the ATL’s advisory council. The nominations are presented to the provost’s office for selection of the Fellows.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 90 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.