Skip to main content

UW-Stevens Point faculty selected as Wisconsin Teaching Fellows and Scholars

May 6, 2022
Stevens Point campus at night with the cupola lit purple.
Old Main's cupola lit up purple.

Three University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point faculty members are among the 2022–2023 Wisconsin Teaching Fellows and Scholars.

UW System announced this week that Assistant Professor James Berry, English; Associate Professor Jess Bowers, social work; and Assistant Professor Saemyi Park, political science, will participate in the program. It offers faculty and teaching academic staff across the System the opportunity to collaborate and work on research focused on improving student learning through a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) project.

This year’s program participants come from all the System’s 13 universities except for UW-Madison. Wisconsin Teaching Fellows and Scholars must demonstrate excellent teaching skills and have a curiosity about student learning to be nominated by provosts. The yearlong program begins in late May and will culminate with a research presentation at the annual Spring Conference on Teaching and Learning in Madison.

“Selection into this program demonstrates the committment of these faculty members to student success,” said Interim Provost Marty Loy. “The program models effective teaching and learning and enhances the careers of our faculty through professional development. The result is our students experience new, equity-minded approaches to learning, problem solving and critical thinking.”

The Wisconsin Teaching Fellows and Scholars program is directed by two faculty leaders, Valerie Barske, a history professor at UW-Stevens Point, and Heather Pelzel, a biology professor at UW-Whitewater.

It is one of three signature programs offered by the UW System’s Office of Professional and Instructional Development (OPID). OPID supports UW System’s 13 Centers for Teaching and Learning in fostering a culture of teaching and learning excellence in Wisconsin. Together they offer professional development programs that ensure student learning in face-to-face, online, and blended learning environments.

The 2022–2023 Wisconsin Teaching Fellows and Scholars also include:

  • Sarita Mizin, UW-Eau Claire, feminist theory, medical humanities, 19th Century literature
  • Kaia Simon, UW-Eau Claire, literacy, multilingual writers, feminisms, rhetoric and composition
  • Clifton Ganyard, UW-Green Bay, humanistic studies
  • Michelle McQuade Dewhirst, UW-Green Bay, music
  • Valerie Krage, UW-La Crosse, early childhood education
  • Kristina LaPlant, UW-La Crosse, American political behavior
  • Taylor Cole Miller, UW-La Crosse, media studies
  • Kim Omachinski, UW-Milwaukee, intercultural/cross-cultural communication
  • Jessica Brandt, UW Oshkosh, science biology
  • Beth Johnson, UW Oshkosh, science geology
  • Rebeccah MacKinnon, UW-Parkside, mathematics
  • Catherine Mossman, UW-Parkside, biology
  • Shannon Prince, UW-Parkside, education
  • Douglas Selent, UW-Platteville, software engineering
  • Irfan UI-Haq, UW-Platteville, mathematics
  • Rebecca Haley, UW-River Falls, chemistry 
  • Chris Hergenrader, UW-River Falls, companion animal science
  • Ann Oberding, UW-Stout, art education
  • Kim Zagorski, UW-Stout, political science/international studies
  • Cherie Dakota, UW-Superior, social work
  • Amanda Zbacnik, UW-Superior, special education
  • Ken Brosky, UW-Whitewater, English
  • Narendra Regmi, UW-Whitewater, macroeconomics, international trade, economic growth