Biography
As an Associate Director of Instructional Support, Liz’s CETL portfolio includes all of the core services of the Center along with specific activities to:
- Serve as department liaison for social sciences and applied sciences departments.
- Coordinate assessment activities of CETL and its services, including managing systems for event registration and evaluation.
- Collaborate with offices and centers across the University of Mississippi on projects related to effective teaching, disability awareness, and faculty support.
With her background in teaching writing and political science, Liz is particularly interested in collecting and sharing evidence of the impact of effective teaching. She has substantial experience in designing, deploying, and analyzing complex data analysis projects, using both quantitative and qualitative methods.
Liz is passionate about advancing equitable and accessible education in open-access institutions. She spent more than a decade teaching in community college settings before joining the University of Mississippi. As a first-generation college student herself, Liz understands the transformational power of higher education to improve the quality of life within a community. Among the topics she writes and speaks about frequently are instructor presence, understanding disability in the context of education, and creating supportive classroom community.
Currently, Liz serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief for To Improve the Academy, the peer-reviewed journal of the POD Network. She also serves as a Contributing Editor to College Teaching, the Chair of the POD Disability and Accessibility Special Interest Group (SIG), and a leader in the POD Disability Affinity Group. Liz has completed 500 hours of yoga teacher training; her Advanced YTT-300 studies emphasized trauma-informed and accessible yoga practices and teaching (2016-2021). She also has completed certifications in life coaching (Courageous Living Coaching Certification, 2018), the Enneagram Applications program (Enneagram Atlanta, 2023), and Tara Mohr’s Playing Big Facilitator Training (2017-2018). Finally, she completed the ACUE microcredential course in Fostering a Culture of Belonging (2023) and the Center for Courage & Renewal’s Taking It Home to Others and Courage & Renewal Practicum programs (2022-2023).
"Faculty Coaching to Build Authentic Relationships," in Transformative Coaching for Faculty and Staff in Higher Education, edited by Karen Gonzalez Rice, Susan Hrach, Kathryn E. Linder, and Katherine S. Maynard, published by Routledge in September 2025.
"Coaching Neurodivergent Clients on Campus," in Transformative Coaching for Faculty and Staff in Higher Education, edited by Karen Gonzalez Rice, Susan Hrach, Kathryn E. Linder, and Katherine S. Maynard, published by Routledge in September 2025.
The Present Professor: Authenticity and Transformational Teaching, published in the Unviersity of Oklahoma Press's Teaching, Engaging, and Thriving in Higher Education series, edited by Jim Lang and M ichelle Miller. Published December 2024.
“Neurodivergence Welcome Here.” 2024. Journal for Research & Practice in College Teaching, 8(2).
“How Identities Impact Our Pedagogical Practices.” Teachers Going Gradeless blog, invited post. Available online at https://www.teachersgoinggradeless.com/blog/how-identities-impact.
“Civic Engagement Meets Service Learning: Improving Wikipedia’s Coverage of State Government Officials.” PS: Political Science & Politics, 55(2): 445-449. Available online at https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/ps-political-science-and-politics/article/civic-engagement-meets-service-learning-improving-wikipedias-coverage-of-state-government-officials/440DA95BC17AAD2C3E3B05496E4AE290.
Magna Publications. 2022. “Transforming Classroom Culture.” Best of the 2021 Teaching Professor Conference. Available online at https://www.magnapubs.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/free-report-Best-of-TPC-2021-opt.pdf.
Heterodox Academy: The Blog. 2021. “Teaching Students to Engage with Opposing Viewpoints.” Available online at https://heterodoxacademy.org/blog/teaching-students-to-engage-with-opposing-viewpoints/. Published 7 April 2021.
Magna Publications. 2021. “Stop Blaming Students! Why We Must Teach Students, Not Content.” Best of the 2020 Teaching Professor Conference. Available online at https://www.magnapubs.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Best-of-TPC-2020.pdf.
Recent Presentations/Workshops
- University of Mississippi Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning:
- When and Why Do Students Read for Class?, Fall 2025
- Understanding Mental Health from a Learning Perspective, Fall 2025
- Understanding and Supporting Executive Function, Spring 2025
- Making the First Day Count—Setting the Stage for an Engaged Class, Fall 2024
- Understanding the ADA and Its Impact on Teaching, Fall 2024
- How to Bring Down the Temperature When It Comes to Politics (In Classrooms), Fall 2024
- Introduction to SoTL: Where teaching & research meet, Spring 2024,
- Supporting Neurodivergent Students with Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia, and Dyspraxia, Spring 2024
- Supporting Students’ Mental Health, Spring 2024
- Place as Text Experiential Workshop, Spring 2024
- What Instructors Need to Know When Working with Neurodivergent Students, Fall 2023
- Working with Neurodivergent Students and Colleagues, Fall 2023
Supporting Neurodivergent Students & Colleagues, Accessibility Summer Camp, 2024.
Co-Creating Learning Outcomes as a Student-Centered Practice, AAC&U General Education, Pedagogy, and Assessment (GEPA) conference, Providence, Rhode Island, April 2024 (with Chris Creighton).
Talks in the Hard Conversations series, organized by the Student Support Services unit Chattanooga State Community College, Spring 2022:
- Burnout: Experiences with & strategies for overcoming
- Developing self-confidence and self-trust
- Sharing stories in stressful times (organized by honors students)
- What does it mean to be an “anti-racist”?
Facilitated the honors program book club on Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent, by Isabel Wilkerson. Open to all students, faculty, and staff of the College. Academic year 2021-2022.
“How to keep your sanity during …. interesting political times,” presented as part of the Chattanooga State Chautauqua series, November 2021.
“Decolonizing Your Syllabus,” presented at the ATD Teaching & Learning Summit with colleagues from across the country, May 2021.
“How to Boost Student Learning & Motivation with Ungrading,” presented to College faculty and staff, April 2021.
Civics 101 workshops (sessions on federal government, state government, and local government), geared to members of the broader community, offered as donations-only workshops, February 2020-January 2021.
Led a statewide book club for faculty/staff on Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People, Fall 2020.
Presented on “Building Impact (and Success) in Your Classroom: Teach Students, Not Content,” at statewide summer institute, June 2020 and January 2021.
Co-organized international summer 2020 antiracism book club as part of a higher ed collective; met biweekly and discussed Beverly Daniel Tatum's seminal book on racism. Our small group extended this through late January with a group reading of Ibram X. Kendi/Jason Reynolds's YA book on the history of racism, Stamped from the Beginning, Summer 2020.
Recent Conference Presentations
Advancing Inclusivity While Mitigating Burnout. 2022. a panel discussion with John Kane and Rebecca Mushtare of SUNY-Oswego, Michelle Miller of Northern Arizona University, and Kelvin Thompson of the University of Central Florida. Online Learning Consortium Accelerate 2022 Conference, Orlando, Fla.
** Note: This discussion was released as episode #268 on the podcast Tea for Teaching,
21 December 2022.
Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Course Design. October 2022. Teaching Professor Online Conference.
What Now? How to Keep Your Career Fresh and Energizing. October 2022. Teaching Professor Online Conference.
Transforming Classroom Culture. 2021. Teaching Professor Conference, New Orleans, LA / virtual conference.
Peer Mentoring with Online Learning Champions. 2021. Teaching Professor Conference, New Orleans, LA.
Stop Blaming Students! Why We Must Teach Students, Not Content. 2020. Teaching Professor Conference, virtual.
All Politics is Local: Teaching Civic Engagement in American Politics 2018. Southern Political Science Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA. (Coauthored with Andrew Steinfeldt, Lamar State College – Orange (TX)).
Selected Invited Talks
Authenticity and Presence in Turbulent Times, keynote address for the Sara Varnum Institute (for adjunct community college instructors), Chemeketa Community College, Salem, Oregon, October 2025.
Authenticity and Presence in Turbulent Times, keynote address for the Association for College & University Biology Educators (ACUBE) conference, hosted by Lone Star College, Houston, Texas, October 2025.
Presence Under Pressure: How leaders can foster meaningful teaching in general education, keynote address for the Association for General & Liberal Studies (AGLS) annual constitute, Louisville, Kentucky, October 2025.
Teaching in Challenging Times: Sustaining Ourselves Through Presence and Authenticity, keynote address for the Virginia Tech Summer Institute for Undergraduate Education, May 2025.
Authenticity and Presence as Wellbeing Practices, keynote address for the Teaching & Learning Summit at Bowling Green State University, May 2025.
Authenticity, Presence, and Trust: A Toolkit for Psychological Safety & Learning, keynote address for the Connecting, Collaborating, and Celebrating the Art of Teaching Conference, hosted by Tompkins Cortland Community College in Ithaca, NY, April 2025.
Every Bryant Role is an Accessibility Role, keynote address at Bryant University, Providence, Rhode Island, March 2025.
Neuroinclusive Work Cultures & Practices, keynote address at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, January 2025.
Contagious Engagement, Southwest Tennessee Community College Winter Re-Charge event, January 2024.
Making the First Day Count: Setting the Stage for an Engaged Class, SUNY-Plattsburgh (virtual), 22 August 2023.
Dispelling Myths about Autism in Adults. 2023. Monteagle Sunday School Assembly (southern Chautauqua), TN, 29 June 2023.
Facing the Future: Educators Discuss Teaching in the Era of ChatGPT. 2023. Magna Online Seminars with Flower Darby and Jeremy Caplan, 14 March 2023.
Effective Listening & Communication. 2022-2023. Chattanooga Women’s Leadership Institute Game ChangeHer leadership development program, workshop with participants, 7 October 2022/6 October 2023.
Rethinking Assumptions in Effective Teaching. 2022. Volunteer State Community College 2022 Summer Institute, invited virtual presentation to faculty, 12 July 2022.
Ungrading: How to Assess Student Work Without Grades. 2022. Southwest Tennessee Community College 20th Annual Summer Institute, invited virtual presentation to faculty from across the state, 17 May 2022.
Transforming Classroom Culture. 2021-2022.
Northern Oklahoma College, 24 February 2022.
Teaching Professor Conference, New Orleans, LA / virtual conference. June 2021.
Courses Taught
- WRIT 101 First-Year Writing I
- MATH 115 Elementary Statistics
- IMC 404 Research in Integrated Marketing & Communications
Education
B.A. Journalism, George Washington University (1999)
M.A. Library Science, Texas Woman's University (2005)
Ph.D. Political Science, The University of Texas at Dallas (2014)
M.A. Journalism, University of Arkansas (2002)
M.A. Political Science, Vanderbilt University (2011)