Our Staff

I support DU with:

• Leadership of the Office of Teaching and Learning
• Promoting excellence in teaching, learning, and assessment across DU
• Cultivating a strategic vision for the OTL

My Job: As Director of the Office of Teaching and Learning, I report to the Vice Provost of Faculty Affairs whose office promotes faculty success and well-being in four key areas: faculty development, teaching and learning, faculty relations, and faculty life cycles. As OTL director, I provide strategic guidance for the office and nurture the OTL team’s growth and success. A thriving OTL serves faculty as life-long learners which, ultimately, supports student achievement. Critical to my work is promoting initiatives that advance the university’s educational mission and dedication to inclusive excellence. I represent the OTL at all levels of the university through collaborative relationships and committee service (CFAB, ITAC, OTL Advisory board).

My Background: As a new member of the DU family, I am excited to join this vibrant and productive community of scholars.

I have a PhD in Educational Psychology, Learning and Instruction from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. I spent the last 13 years as a faculty member, earning full professor, in the psychology department at Adams State University, a Hispanic-serving Institution in rural southern Colorado. As an Educational Psychologist, my interests generally focus on the confluence of psychology and educational practice. This led to a part time administrative appointment which culminated in founding a Center for Teaching and Learning funded by a Title V grant.

My early research agenda focused on achievement motivation and goal orientation. Since, my interests have broadened to include replication, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, and gender and diversity, in particular the representation of women in the psychology curriculum. I have served as a Faculty Senator and a department chair and had a leadership role in a number of campus wide initiatives including Faculty Handbook policy reform, HLC reaffirmation of accreditation, and general education curriculum redesign. My service commitments have ranged from Faculty Senator, to President of the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, to Regional Vice president for Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology.

As an educator and researcher I am passionate about advancing inclusion and equity, open science practices, and interrogating the inclusivity of the psychology curriculum.  Now, as the OTL Director, I am enthusiastic about drawing from my identity as a scholar to support faculty growth and development full time.

When I’m not at work: I’m enjoying my husband and son, skiing, playing outside, or planning a trip. I am a lover but inconsistent practitioner of yoga and meditation and have been a yoga instructor since 2013.