CIRTL Team

Dr. Janet C. Rutledge (she/her/hers)

  • Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate school
  • Dr. Janet Rutledge provides the administrative home and broad leadership for all UMBC CIRTL. She created the graduate student development unit that manages their diversity, retention, and completion activities. Their activities have been supported by external grants such as the NSF Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP), both phases of the CGS Ph.D. Completion Project, the CGS Doctoral Initiative on Minority Attrition and Completion, and the TIAA-CREF/CGS Enhancing Student Financial Education project. She is chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee of the GRE Board and is a CGS board member.

Dr. Jamie Gurganus (she/her/hers)

  • Director of CIRTL
  • Associate Director of STEM ED Research and Faculty in Engineering and Computing Education Program.
  • Dr. Jamie Gurganus has a dual appointment: the undergraduate program coordinator and a faculty member in the Mechanical Engineering Department at UMBC.  Her research is focused on solving problems relating to educating and developing engineers, teachers, and the community at all levels (k12, undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate). She seeks to identify best practices and develop assessment methods that assist faculty and teachers with student engagement, helping them navigate the various STEM pathways.These key areas include engineering identity and mindsets, first-year experiences in engineering, integrating service learning into the engineering classroom, implementing new instructional methodologies, and design optimization using additive manufacturing. Dr. Gurganus collaborates with several industry partners and consults throughout Maryland in STEM education initiatives. Through her role within the college, she oversees several initiatives, including the new PIVOTplus program and the Project Lead the Way Summer Training Institute. She is an endorsed trainer for Engineering in Elementary and serves as the operational partner for the FIRST LEGO League for the state of Maryland.In 2019, Dr. Gurganus received the Northern Maryland Technology Council Leader Award in STEM education. She has written curricula and published several works in engineering education, including a Statics workbook for undergraduate engineering students. She is a co-founder and the Director of Innovation Programs and Operations for the non-profit research group Advancing Engineering Excellence in P-12 Engineering Education. Dr. Gurganus teaches several first and second-year Mechanical Engineering classes and the Mechanical Engineering Senior Capstone design course for UMBC.

Dr. Robin Cresiski (she/her/hers)

  • Assistant Vice Provost for Graduate Student Development and Postdoctoral Affairs
  • Director, Maryland’s AGEP PROMISE Academy Alliance
  • The Graduate School at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC)

 

Dr. Cresiski’s CV

Dr. Anne Spence (she/her/hers)

  • Inaugural director
  • Dr. Anne Spence is on the faculty at Baylor University. While at UMBC, Dr. Spence assisted with the early development of CIRTL. She was a Professor of the Practice in Mechanical Engineering and Director of Engineering and Computing Education for the College of Engineering and Information Technology.

Steering Committee

The Steering Committee consists of representatives from across campus who contribute to the focus areas of our CIRTL Learning Community and facilitate the success of our activities.  Representatives come from academic administration, evaluation and assessment of diversity programs, faculty development and effective use of instructional technology, and faculty who have already demonstrated their commitment to excellence in undergraduate STEM education through their innovative activities.

Academic Administration:

  • Dr. William LaCourse, Dean, College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (CNMS), Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, founder of the Chemistry Discovery Center, PI of NIH STEM BUILD grant, co-PI of NSF Innovation Through Institutional Integration grant
  • Dr. Marie desJardins, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Engineering and Information Technology (COEIT), Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, CAREER awardee, Hrabowski Fund for Innovation awardee
  • Dr. John Stolle-McAllister, Associate Dean for Student & Curricular Affairs, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CAHSS), Associate Professor of Modern Languages, Linguistics and Intercultural Communication
  • Simon Stacey, Interim Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education

 Evaluation and Assessment of Diversity Programs:

  • Dr. Kenneth Maton, Professor, Department of Psychology, research on minority student achievement (ongoing evaluation and implementation assessment of the Meyerhoff Scholars Program)
  • Sundiata (Sunji) Jangha, Director, Math/Science Upward Bound Program, Co-Director, LSAMP Program, a Ph.D. student in Public Policy STEM evaluation track

Faculty Development and Effective Use of Instructional Technology:

  • Dr. Linda Hodges, Director, Faculty Development Center
  • Dr. John Fritz, Assistant Vice President, Instructional Technology and New Media
  • Dr. Sherri Braxton-Lieber, Director of Instructional Technology
  • Jack Suess, Vice President of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer, IMS Global Board chair, EDUCAUSE Board of Directors, NSTIC and IDESG Board of Directors

Faculty who have won Hrabowski Fund for Innovation Awards:

  • Dr. Phil Sokolove, Professor of Biological Sciences, research on STEM education
  • Dr. Brad Peercy, Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
  • Dr. Diane Alonzo, Senior Lecturer and Director, Shady Grove Program, Department of Psychology
  • Dr. Mariajose Castellanos, Lecturer, Undergraduate Program Director, Department of Chemical, Biochemical and Environmental Engineering
  • Dr. Jason Kestner, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics