CTL Staff

Carol returns to New England after living in Virginia for over 25 years to join the Colby academic community as the founding Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning. Originally from New Hampshire, Carol left to study Biology at the University of Rochester.  She then went on for a Ph.D. in Biology at the University of Virginia. After a research postdoc at the Northwestern School of Medicine in Chicago, she returned to Virginia to follow her passion for teaching. 

For the past 19 years, Carol has enjoyed a fulfilling faculty career in the Biology Department at James Madison University where she taught introductory Biology to majors and non-majors, developed a new core curriculum, integrated a writing curriculum into the first semester lab course and studied salamander tail development. Carol also discovered a new passion while at JMU – faculty and educational development. 

Carol’s work directing the Center for Faculty Innovation offered her a new perspective on the role of faculty in the academy.  She worked side by side with faculty from all disciplines to help them enhance the academic culture at JMU and reach career milestones. Carol is eager to work collaboratively with the faculty and students at Colby to enhance the academic culture through the work of the CTL.  She is also happy to be back “home” and yes she knows that it will get cold here!

Select Teaching and Learning publications:

Jordan joined the team in Colby’s Center for Teaching and Learning in fall of 2020, after having served as a Visiting Research Fellow in the CTL during the 2018-2019 school year. Originally from Michigan, Jordan studied Psychology and English at Albion College, then went on to earn his Ph.D. in Social Psychology at the University at Buffalo (SUNY). After graduate school, Jordan taught for 3 years at Widener University, then for 6 years at Sewanee: The University of the South, where he was awarded tenure in their psychology department.

For the past 10 years, Jordan has engaged in numerous service and scholarly engagements that have allowed him to take a deep dive into understanding teaching and learning. Through his involvement in the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, he has led initiatives associated with early career faculty development, and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Chief among them was overseeing 4 years of tremendous growth as the Director of the Annual Conference on Teaching.

These service and scholarly engagements have all swirled around the core feature of Jordan’s professional identity: a lifelong dedication to teaching in the liberal arts. His teaching has been recognized with early career awards from the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, as well as the American Psychological Association. And his scholarly work on pedagogy and educational development has been published in the Journal of Faculty Development, College Teaching, To Improve the Academy, Teaching of Psychology (where he formerly served as a Consulting Editor), and Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology (where he currently serves as a Consulting Editor).

Kathy works with the CTL on course design institutes, mid-semester course analyses, and other programs for faculty and students to enhance communication strategies and skills. She also teaches a course in Public Speaking and provides leadership for the Schmaltz Family Effective Communication Initiative. Previously an assistant and then associate professor of English at The Citadel, Kathy also spent 6 years teaching academic communication and literary analysis at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden. Her work on teaching and learning has appeared in the Journal of Academic Ethics, ABO: The Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts 1640-1830, Configurations, and English Journal.

Abby works directly with the LAs during the hiring process and in the Community of Practice sessions throughout the semester. She also attends the Pedagogical Partners meetings with each LA/faculty pair and creates materials for the Teaching and Learning at Colby Fellowship program.