3 faculty members recognized for teaching excellence

Three faculty members in the College of Education were named Teaching Academy Fellows by the University of Georgia Teaching Academy, a forum that was established by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the American Association for Higher Education to discuss, celebrate and promote teaching excellence.

Each academic year, both tenure track and non-tenure track faculty are selected as Teaching Academy Fellows and are later split into teams of four or five to work closely with two award-winning senior Teaching Academy faculty mentors throughout the year.

This year, out of 24 Fellows selected across the university, three were recognized in the College of Education, including:

• Morgan Faison: An assistant professor in the department of educational theory and practice, Faison conducts research in elementary education; culturally responsive pedagogy; African-American teachers; equity in teacher education; teacher induction; and narrative inquiry methodology.
• Amanda Ferster: A limited-term assistant professor in the department of educational psychology and an assistant director at the Georgia Center for Assessment, Faison serves as a principal investigator for several large-scale projects and is focused on researching assessment development, explanatory response modeling and the intersection of assessment and cognition.
• Liz Saylor: A clinical assistant professor in the department of educational theory and practice, Saylor's areas of expertise include elementary education; gender; feminist theory; critical theory; teacher preparation; and women in history.

Created in 2011, the Teaching Academy Program gives Fellows an opportunity to reflect on their teaching and develop instructional skills early in their careers. The program also helps faculty build bridges across campus, mentor their peers, receive mentorship from senior faculty members and network with award-winning educators at UGA.

The Fellows Program specifically addresses the university's goal of fostering a community of scholars who are committed to teaching by working with a select group of early career faculty.