Meet the dedicated educators and leaders in CETL who help support and advance faculty
development at Kennesaw State University.
CETL Staff
The CETL staff forms the backbone of our operations, offering strategic leadership,
program coordination, and individualized support for faculty across the university.
This team includes specialists in teaching and learning, educational research, and
faculty engagement. Together, they design and implement initiatives that promote effective
pedagogy, inclusive practices, and scholarly teaching.
Faculty Fellows are experienced educators who collaborate with CETL to lead targeted
initiatives that enhance teaching and learning. These fellows bring disciplinary expertise
and innovative approaches to faculty development, mentoring, and curriculum design.
Their work helps bridge the gap between theory and practice, enriching the academic
environment for both faculty and students.
Affiliated Lead Mentors are faculty members who serve as peer leaders within their
colleges or departments. They provide mentorship, share best practices, and support
the professional development of their colleagues. These mentors play a key role in
fostering a supportive and collaborative teaching culture across the university.
The Faculty Development Committee serves as both a think tank and an oversight body for all faculty development programs at Kennesaw State University. Its purpose is to provide strategic guidance and ensure the relevance and effectiveness of CETL’s initiatives. The committee is composed of one elected faculty representative from each degree-granting college, along with the Executive Director of CETL serving in an ex officio capacity. Additional CETL staff may participate as non-voting members to support the committee’s work.
The committee meets at least once per semester, and members serve a two-year term,
contributing their insights and expertise to shape the future of faculty development
across the university.
Dr. Brown provides support to KSU faculty in the areas of education research and evaluation.
In her role, she strengthens KSU's educational research initiatives by facilitating
professional development opportunities for faculty members, collaborates with them
to draft compelling grant proposals, and broadens CETL's involvement in securing external
funding. Her responsibilities include collaborating with the faculty on assessment
planning, methodologies, analysis, and interpretation. She also plays a vital role
in developing and implementing educational grant proposal evaluation plans.
Dr. DiPietro oversees university wide faculty and graduate student development efforts,
both in pedagogy with Scholarly Teaching unit of CETL and beyond.
With their former Carnegie Mellon colleagues, Dr. DiPietro is a co-author of "How Learning Works: 7 Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching." The book was listed at #3 in a "Top 10 Books on Teaching" list on the Chronicle of Higher Education. Their scholarly interests include learning sciences, diversity and inclusion, the scholarship of teaching and learning, academic integrity, statistics education, the consultation process in faculty development, and teaching in times of tragedy. Dr. DiPietro was the 2015 recipient of the Bob Pierleoni Spirit of POD award, the highest honor bestowed in the field of educational development for professional achievement and legacy to the field.
Misty Grayer
Position: Senior Teaching and Learning Consultant, VITAL
Dr. Misty Grayer is a Senior Teaching and Learning Consultant for VITAL faculty at
CETL, where she is dedicated to supporting the scholarly teaching needs of KSU faculty,
particularly those who are visiting, instructors, teaching assistants, adjunct or
part-time, or limited-term. With over a decade of teaching experience, Misty has primarily
taught graduate and undergraduate students across various modalities in the discipline
of public administration.
Before joining CETL full-time, Misty served KSU students and faculty as an Assistant
Professor of Public Administration and Faculty Fellow for Learning-Centered Teaching.
Her career in higher education has been focused on supporting others through their
learning journeys, whether by aiding students pursuing public service careers or helping
faculty achieve their student success goals.
Currently, as a Senior Teaching and Learning Consultant, Misty provides personalized
services to those who teach at KSU, including consultations and course observations,
and she leads workshops, book chats, and the Teaching Academy for Part-Time Faculty.
Reflecting CETL's philosophy, Misty wholeheartedly believes that students can succeed
when those who teach them are also well-supported to succeed.
Outside of CETL, Misty's primary teaching interests include the intersection of public
law and public management, contemporary public issues, and collaborative decision-making.
Dr. Laura Howard is a Senior Teaching and Learning Consultant at the Center for Excellence
in Teaching and Learning (CETL), bringing over fifteen years of experience in both
in-person and online instruction. Before joining CETL full-time, she served as a faculty
member in the English Department at Kennesaw State University (KSU), where she coordinated
the graduate teaching assistant program for the Master of Arts in Professional Writing
(MAPW) and was a Faculty Fellow for Learning-Centered Teaching at CETL.
Laura’s educational development interests center on building meaningful relationships, applying evidence-based strategies to enhance teaching and learning across modalities, and fostering a culture of care that supports both faculty and student success. Her work has been featured in Faculty Focus and on the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast. As an active member of the POD Network, she has presented at multiple annual conferences on topics including learner engagement, relational pedagogy, and faculty well-being.
At CETL, Laura facilitates workshops on a wide range of topics, including those related to KSU’s “Nurturing Environments through Scholarly Teaching” (NEST) initiative. She also leads CETL’s Personalized Services program, which provides individualized teaching consultations, classroom observations,
and student focus groups. In addition to her role at CETL, Laura continues to teach
part-time in the English Department at KSU.
Hillary Steiner
Position: Associate Director for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and Professor of Educational
Psychology, Department of Psychological Science
Dr. Steiner provides support to colleges, departments, and individual faculty in the areas of the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and the science of learning. She chairs CETL's international SoTL Summit conference; facilitates the SoTL Manuscript Completion and Conference Presentation Funds programs; provides consulting services and workshops on all aspects of the SoTL research process; develops and maintains the internationally recognized Hopscotch 4-SoTL webtool; develops and maintains the SoTL and science of learning micro-credentials; maintains an active SoTL-related line of scholarship; and serves on national and international SoTL committees and editorial boards, including as Regional Vice President (USA) and Publications Committee Chair for ISSOTL. Hillary also maintains the nationally recognized directories of SoTL conferences and journals, online SoTL resource pages, and the KSU-SoTL listserv. Currently a Professor in the Department of Psychological Science, she has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in first-year studies, introductory psychology and educational psychology, in online, hybrid and face-to-face formats. She received the USG Board of Regents' SoTL Award in 2017.
Hillary's Areas of Focus at CETL:
The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)
Cognitive and social-cognitive perspectives on learning as applied to higher education
Interpretation of student course evaluation feedback
Christina Ujj, Ed.D., provides support for all operational aspects of CETL. This includes, large-scale logistics; reporting; strategic initiatives; compliance; website development; marketing and communication; and assists Dr. DiPietro regarding finances, strategic communications and program and event development.
Christina served as a part-time faculty member at KSU teaching KSU 1200 (First-Year
Seminar in Leadership) and at North Carolina State University teaching Topics in College
Student Development. She joined CETL after working with Housing and Residence Life
to create the residential curriculum for skills on-campus residents learned while
living at KSU.
Tris Utschig
Position: Director for Scholarly Teaching and Professor of Nuclear Engineering
Dr. Utschig is dedicated to providing CETL services specifically addressing the scholarly
teaching needs of KSU faculty. In this role he manages and contributes to the CETL
Team in creating institutes, workshops, webinars, and book chats; running faculty
learning communities; conducting classroom observations; and providing custom consulting
services to colleges, departments, and individual faculty to leverage the learning
sciences in bringing a scholarly approach to all aspects of the teaching and learning
process. Tris brings significant expertise and consultation experience across a variety
of teaching modalities regarding choosing pedagogical techniques, performing course
and learning activity design, assessing student learning outcomes, conducting research
in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), and with writing and implementing
externally funded educational research proposals. As Professor of Nuclear Engineering,
Tris also teaches courses for the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
Dr. Weaver brings twenty-five years of teaching experience at a variety of higher
ed institutions to her role as a Consultant in Teaching and Learning at Kennesaw State.
Grounded in her experience, her work with faculty is deeply energized by a range of
evidence-based practices that support developing and celebrating our teaching. She
is a columnist at the National Teaching and Learning Forum and has published about
pedagogy in Hybrid Pedagogy, Inside Higher Ed, The Chronicle's "ProfHacker," Recursive,
TechStyle, and the Pedagogue Podcast. She was the founding editor of Recursive Reviews:
Books About Teaching in Higher Ed. Considering herself a "metacognitive pedagogue",
her specialties include reflective and metacognitive praxis, alternative assessment,
community building, critical higher ed studies, and pedagogies of compassion, care,
and hope. Through leading workshops, book clubs, custom consultations, and other programming,
Dr. Weaver works to help faculty develop flourishing and sustainable teaching practices.
CETL Faculty Fellows
Meghan Bankhead
Position: CETL Faculty Fellow for Learning-Centered Teaching
Charles Parrott is the CETL Faculty Fellow for Faculty Mentoring and an Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre & Performance Studies. Dr. Parrott has won numerous awards for his teaching, mentorship of undergraduate research, and scholarship & creative activity. As a Faculty Fellow, Charles leverages his many years in the classroom and experience as a nationally recognized storytelling coach to help faculty through consultations, classroom observations, and workshops focused on telling academic stories across contexts. He also manages the Mutual Mentoring Groups CETL provides. When he is not mentoring faculty at KSU, he remains active in the Department of Theatre & Performance Studies and travels to universities around the country as a popular solo-performer.
Vanessa Slinger-Friedman
Position: CETL Faculty Fellow for Teaching Excellence in Sustainable Communities
Phone: (404) 245 3168 (cell) Email:vslinger@kennesaw.edu Location: 128 Willingham Hall
Vanessa Slinger-Friedman is a Professor of Geography at Kennesaw State University. She is a co-founder of the KSU Food Forest, an initiative that models and helps build sustainable agriculture systems that attempt to address social inequities and related health issues in low-income communities in Atlanta, while at the same time mitigating climate change. She coordinates OwlSwap, a sustainability textiles and apparels initiative at KSU, which includes two free campus closets and monthly campus clothing swaps. Vanessa’s regional specialty is Latin America and the Caribbean, where she does research related to the use of vetiver grass for soil erosion control and economic development. Her research interests include innovative pedagogy to teach about sustainability and geography. Vanessa is currently the CETL Faculty Fellow for Teaching Excellence in Sustainable Communities.
Dr. Callahan works with student leaders, faculty, staff, and administrators to ensure
that CSM structures, policies, and practices align with our goal of creating an inclusive
learning environment that fosters success for the diversity of students whom we serve.
Professor Sheikholharam has a multidisciplinary background in architecture, religious
studies, and philosophy. He holds a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a terminal degree in Architecture from the University
of Miami. He has also served as a fellow at the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke
University. Building on his diverse scholarly and cultural identity, Professor Sheikholharam's
work cuts through key themes in the Humanities and design disciplines, including representations
of minority identities in public spaces, cultural productions in the Global South,
and the intersections of social and ecological justice.
Radwa Sultan
Position: Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology
