For Your Health
For Your Health

News from the University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences

Congratulations to the TLAS Teaching Academy inaugural class of 2020-21

The Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship (TLAS) unit in Education Resources is pleased to announce the graduation of the inaugural TLAS Teaching Academy cohort of SMHS faculty. The Teaching Academy is a joint faculty development program of the SMHS Office of Education & Faculty Affairs (OEFA) and TLAS.

The academy is designed to address a persistent challenge faced by educator scholars, especially those new to academia.

“Faculty have deep expertise in their initial fields of study but often know less about teaching and education scholarship,” said Dr. Richard Van Eck, associate dean for Teaching and Learning, “yet we expect them become expert teachers and to conduct scholarship on their teaching through self-directed professional development. This program provides resources, guidance, and structure for achieving those goals.”

This year’s class is comprised of 10 faculty from seven different SMHS programs:

  • Rebecca Bakke, M.A, Instructor and Clinical Education Coordinator, Department of Medical Laboratory Science
  • Kelly Dornbier, O.T.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Occupational Therapy (Casper, Wyo.)
  • Mohamed Elhamadany, D.P.T., Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Therapy
  • Amanda Haage, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Sciences
  • Nicole Harris, Ed.D., Assistant Professor and Site Coordinator, Department of Occupational Therapy (Casper, Wyo.)
  • Emily Henneman, D.P.T., Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Therapy
  • Jimmy J. Morin, M.S., Instructor and Assistant Athletic Trainer, Department of Sports Medicine
  • Melanie Nadeau, Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Assistant Director, Public Health Program in the Department of Population Health
  • Mindy Staveteig, M.M.S., Assistant Professor and Director of Clinical Education, Department of Physician Assistant Studies
  • Makoto Tsuchiya, M.S., Assistant Professor, Department of Sports Medicine

Over the past year, these dedicated individuals have participated in a series of faculty development activities from TLAS and the OEFA, completed a variety of tasks that built on and extended those activities to their own teaching, and documented their competency in a portfolio of work.

“The quality of the work in these portfolios is remarkable,” said Dr. Adrienne Salentiny, instructional designer, “especially considering the professional and personal challenges brought on by the pandemic.”

“I greatly appreciate the opportunity to participate in the academy and will encourage others to apply in the future. I certainly learned some valuable tools and enjoyed the relationships formed with other faculty,” added Staveteig.

In recognition of their continued efforts to learn and improve, each graduate will receive monetary support toward the cost of a professional development opportunity (e.g., books, journal subscriptions, workshops, conferences). They will also receive the TLAS Educator Scholar Level 1 Badge (a digital credential).

“We are fortunate to have faculty who are so dedicated to their students and scholarship that they are willing to take on the significant extra effort required to complete this program,” said Dr. Ken Ruit, associate dean for Education and Faculty Affairs.

This was the TLAS Teaching Academy’s pilot year, and Drs. Van Eck and Salentiny will use the feedback collected throughout the year to revise the program for future cohorts. Watch your email and For Your Health for the recruitment announcement for the second cohort for 2022. Direct questions about this program to Adrienne.Salentiny@UND.edu.