Contact: Sarah Nicholas

Mississippi State University’s College of Arts and Sciences is launching an interdisciplinary initiative aimed at promoting outstanding teaching practices and collaboration within the largest academic college at the university.

Teaching Excellence and Motivating Success, or TEAMS, stems from universitywide directives to increase effective teaching practices, said Kelly Moser, MSU Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures associate professor. TEAMS leaders will engage in various activities, such as classroom observations, discussions on teaching and sharing resources to support faculty development.

“The importance of a great teacher cannot be underestimated. They inspire the next generation of leaders, innovators and changemakers.” said Moser, who chairs the new initiative and is the College of Arts and Sciences’ assistant dean intern for academic affairs. “Hundreds of thousands of studies have proven that teacher quality is the most critical factor in advancing student learning. TEAMS was created to enhance teaching skills, prioritize high-quality instruction and motivate both students and teachers.”

The 11 faculty members in the first TEAMS cohort were selected by the MSU Center for Teaching and Learning to participate in the Maroon Academy for Teaching Excellence, a four-course certificate series on best practices in teaching offered through the center. These selected leaders, also recognized as supportive colleagues and college-level teaching award winners, include:

—Katie Doughty, instructor II, Department of English

—Cody Fondren, instructor I, Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures

—Amy Fountain, instructor II, Department of Communication

—Abigail Good, instructor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics

—Evan Kaplan, assistant teaching professor, Department of Biological Sciences

—Matthew Kilpatrick, lecturer, Department of Mathematics and Statistics

—Bob Swanson, instructor, Department of Physics and Astronomy

—Emily Stinson, instructor II, Department of English

—Sean Stokes, assistant clinical professor, Department of Chemistry

—Angelle Tanner, associate professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy

—Benjamin Tkach, associate professor, Department of Political Science and Public Administration

A key component of TEAMS is the creation of two-minute teaching video clips designed to share best practices in an accessible format for faculty and graduate teaching assistants. The videos will be housed on the college website beginning this fall in a portal named CLASS: Collaborative Learning Across Arts and Sciences Series. They are intended to serve as a valuable resource beyond the MSU community.

TEAMS leaders commit to a one-year term, with the potential for longer service. Future cohorts will be selected through collaboration between current TEAMS leaders, department heads, college administration and the Center for Teaching and Learning.

For more details about MSU’s College of Arts and Sciences, visit www.cas.msstate.edu.