The 2024 CLAS Faculty Governance Elections are scheduled to run from 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 24, to midnight on Wednesday, May 1. Please contact Lisa Gray with any questions or problems concerning the faculty elections.
The CLAS Undergraduate Educational Policy and Curriculum Committee meets weekly during the academic year to advise the College on policies and procedures relating to the College’s educational mission, curriculum, and teaching. Committee duties detailed in the CLAS Manual of Procedure, Article VII. The Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and Curriculum chairs the Committee. View the current membership of the Committee.
The Undergraduate Educational Policy and Curriculum Committee has three member seats to fill this year. All members will be elected from the faculty At Large. Voting faculty may vote for candidates in all three electoral groups and may cast votes for one, two or three candidates.
At Large candidates (click on name to see statement)
- Megan Gogerty
- Trevor Harvey
- Bruce Nottingham-Spencer
- Julianna Pacheco
- Jennifer Sterling
- Sanvesh Srivastava
- Dana Thomann
- James Wo
- Rachel Young
At Large CANDIDATE STATEMENTS
Megan Gogerty
Assoc. Professor of Instruction
Dept. of Theatre Arts
MFA Playwriting, Univ. of Texas at Austin
Joined UI faculty in 2008
I have three goals I want to work towards on the UEPCC. First, I want to continue to make college accessible for first-generation students and students from underrepresented populations by giving students a clear path through the curriculum, with ample and accessible supportive measures. Secondly, I want to support faculty in their efforts to adopt modern, equitable approaches to teaching and learning, including, where appropriate, “ungrading” measures and encouraging universal design principles. Finally, I want to promote more writing throughout the curriculum by approaching writing as a vehicle for thinking and processing.
In my role as a professor of playwriting, comedy studies, and dramatic literature, I have taught a wide variety of undergraduate students across a multitude of learning environments: large lectures and smaller discussion-based courses, first-year seminars and advanced electives, traditional literature courses and more experiential performance-based courses. This range of classroom experiences has taught me the value of having clear outcomes balanced with a flexibility of approaches. I was honored with a CLAS Collegiate Teaching Award in 2019, and I have also been named a First Year Student Champion (2018), A Champion for Student Success (2021), and recognized in the Senior Survey (2023) as a professor who made a positive difference in students’ lives.
As the Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Department of Theatre Arts, I have co-chaired our department’s curriculum committee and overhauled our learning outcome assessment strategy to be more data driven and useful. I have also been a strong advocate for honors education; during my time as DUS, I have significantly grown the number of our students graduating with honors in the major. One of my proudest achievements, however, remains this: I was once an undergraduate student at the University of Iowa. I went through the orientation process; I fulfilled the general education requirements; and I learned how to be hunt down periodicals in the Main Library. Our institution is enormous, both in scale and in reputation. Students travel from all over the nation and the world to study here. We owe it to them to be as rigorous, humane, and accessible as we can. I am proud to contribute to our educational mission.
Trevor Harvey
Associate Professor of Instruction, ethnomusicology
School of Music
PhD Musicology/Ethnomusicology
Joined UI: 2011
I am committed to supporting undergraduate education policy and curricula that encourage diversity of experience, perspective, engagement, and representation. I believe that careful consideration of these principles can help provide an inclusive and significant learning process for our students. In over 12 years of teaching and service at Iowa, I have contributed to diverse and inclusive undergraduate educational experiences in a variety of ways, including course and curricular development, study abroad engagements, individual mentoring, and committee service.
I teach a variety of undergraduate courses, from large lectures with TA-supported discussion sections to Research-Focused First-Year Seminars for honors students. Within my academic unit (the School of Music), my courses provide diverse learning opportunities, inviting students to engage with global perspectives, marginalized experiences, local communities and culture-bearers, and multiple methodologies and practices. In 2012, I co-led a study abroad course in South India and continue to work with the Study Abroad office in developing international educational experiences. Over the past decade I have collaborated with and mentored undergraduate research fellows with support from the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR, previously ICRU), in addition to supporting several other undergraduate research projects and Honors theses.
In collaboration with several colleagues, I served on the School of Music's Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Working Group and continue to serve on the departmental committee that was formed from that working group. I have also served on the School of Music Undergraduate Curriculum Committee and currently serve on the CLAS Scholarship Committee and the CLAS Instructional Track Faculty Policy Committee. In 2021, I was nominated for the International Engagement Teaching Award and was a recipient of the 2024 Hubbard-Walder Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Bruce Nottingham-Spencer
Associate Professor of Instruction, Department of German
PhD, University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, 2000
Joined UI faculty in 2000
There are three areas of particular importance to me as prospective member of UEPCC: (1) the quality of teaching in the General Education program, (2) the culture around teaching and learning in CLAS, and (3) promotion of our most unique learning opportunities to a broader set of students. General Education courses offered by CLAS are meant to be a foundational element of undergraduate degrees. Whether our undergraduate students view General Education courses as truly foundational or as an obstacle to their degree rests on the quality of those courses. I see maintaining high quality and clear standards in the General Education program as the most important role of UEPCC. Related to that, CLAS has developed a much stronger culture around teaching and learning in recent years, and UEPCC has an important role in maintaining and further strengthening that culture. I would also like to see us encouraging a broader set of students to pursue opportunities outside of traditional classroom settings (e.g. study abroad, internships, research opportunities, and service learning). Many talented first generation, former military, underrepresented minority, and non-traditional students don’t consider these opportunities because they don’t recognize the value of these opportunities, are unaware of funding sources, or because they just don’t see themselves as the type of person who could do those sorts of things. This is an area in which proper encouragement and guidance can have a tremendous impact on student learning and success.
Relevant Experience:
I teach a variety of courses in the German program including introductory to advanced German language courses and some general education courses taught in English. I have also taught the graduate seminar on language teaching for all new teaching assistants in DWLLC departments. I also supervise the Elementary German program, including placement advising and training of teaching assistants.
I have been involved in a variety of teaching related service activities including the German Department Curriculum Committee (2013-present), the DWLLC World Languages General Education Assessment Committee (2018-2019), and the DWLLC World Language Task Force (2021-2022) that evaluated proposed changes to the World Languages General Education requirement. I served for two terms on the University of Iowa Council on Teaching (2016-2022) including two years as Chair (2020-2022) and two terms on the Non-Resident Classification Review Committee (2018-2024) including two years as Chair (2022-2024). I am a Safe Zone Project Ally (2013-present) and a member of the 1stGen@Iowa Mentor Network (2023-present). I have served the Iowa Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of German (AATG) as Chapter Testing Chair (2008-2018), Chapter Vice-President (2019-2021), and Chapter President (2021-2023) and I have regular contact with Iowa high school teachers through my involvement with the Iowa AATG and the Iowa World Language Association.
I have also served on CLAS Faculty Assembly (2018-2021, 2022-present), University of Iowa Faculty Senate (2023-2026), the Faculty Senate Ad hoc Committee on Lecturers Affairs (2014-2017), a variety of hiring, promotion, and review committees for Instructional Track faculty in the DWLLC (2015, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022. 2023), and the CLAS ITF Policy Committee (2024).
Julianna Pacheco
Professor
Department of Political Science
PhD Political Science (focus: American Politics) Pennsylvania State University-2010
Joined UI (tenure-track): 2012
Since receiving tenure, I have devoted a majority of my teaching portfolio to developing courses for the online political science major. The Political Science Department has a long history of providing distance education courses and started offering an online major in political science in Fall 2016. With support and resources from Iowa’s Distance and Online Education program, I developed three online courses: Introduction to Political Behavior (POLI 1200: 0EXW), Politics of Aging (POLI 3519: 0EXW), and Introduction to American Politics (POLI 1100: 0EXW). These courses consistently enroll well and provide options for students with offerings at both the introductory and advanced levels. Course materials are openly shared with the department so that other faculty members and graduate students can continue to offer these courses.
I’ve also participated in the Learning Design Collaboratory from 2017-2018 and the Community of Practice in 2017. These experiences played a pivotal role in adapting the Introduction to Political Behavior course for online learning. I served as the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) in 2017. During my time as DUS, I emphasized course planning to reduce confusion over degree requirements and planned several career workshops for majors.
Across all my courses, I emphasize the intellectual contributions provided by scholars from underrepresented groups and strive to feature studies across diverse subjects. Many readings are focused on describing, explaining, and remedying political inequalities across race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status, which are core topics of my own research. I discuss how the “rules of the game,” such as electoral laws, can either exacerbate or minimize political inequalities as well as the role of our federalist system, which results in vastly different policies across the states. Understanding and empathizing with differing viewpoints is a core outcome in many of my courses.
With the support of a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The OVPR’s DEI Teams Award, I have spent a significant amount of time this past year engaging students in community research. I currently co-lead a team of 12 undergraduate researchers; the undergraduate research team is called Students Advancing Latino Unity and Democracy (SALUD). In addition to attending team meetings, students attend Community Advisory Board (CAB) meetings and present their interim research findings to the CAB. Students are trained in research ethics, both through the required Certification in Human Subjects Protections (CITI) as well as additional ethical considerations that emerge when conducting community-engaged research with marginalized populations who may experience poverty, insecure immigration status, language exclusion and other vulnerabilities.
With my varied experiences, I hope to further advance ideas about how to (1) assess and improve holistic student success (e.g., using metrics that go beyond the number of majors and enrollees) and (2) encourage undergraduate research that involves community engagement.
Jennifer Sterling
Associate Professor of Instruction, American Studies
Ph.D. University of Maryland
Joined UI faculty in 2016
Excellence in teaching and learning is one of the five areas prioritized in the University of Iowa’s strategic plan. As the committee responsible for recommending policies and procedures related to the educational mission, curriculum, and teaching of the University’s largest College, being elected to the UEPCC would be an opportunity to be part of working towards this goal – especially as it relates to enhancing support and structures for curriculum development and innovation, clearing institutional barriers to student progress to degree, and providing equitable access to high-impact and other distinctive educational opportunities. As instructional track faculty, I am personally and professionally committed to students and their learning, and dedicated to pursuing and supporting teaching excellence.
Relevant experience:
I am currently serving my second year on the General Education Curriculum Committee (GECC), which is overseen by UEPCC. During my time on the committee, we have reviewed proposals for new General Education courses, evaluated General Education areas, and have engaged in conversations about the structure and reception of the General Education program. I have also served in a leadership role for the Assessing Assessment for Equity and Student Motivation Faculty Learning Community (FLC) and have been an active member of the Cognitive Support for Student Learning FLC for the past three years. My involvement with the FLCs has allowed me to learn from and contribute to conversations about innovative approaches to teaching and learning, and to support related culture and policy shifts on campus.
My own ongoing curricular evolution has more recently included community-engaged learning and Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). I have been awarded an Experiential Education Course Grant to develop and implement a community-engaged capstone and have organized and presented on teaching-focused panels at my professional conferences the past two years. I have experience teaching a wide variety of classes in our Sport Media and Culture major (from large-lecture introductory general education courses to 30-40 student seminars) on a variety of topics (from the history of U.S. sport to contemporary sporting inequities and from sport and globalization to sport and technology). I am also TILE-enabled and Design4Online certified, and integrate active-learning and universal design approaches in my classes to enhance equitable learning opportunities.
I have been frequently recognized by graduating seniors as a faculty member who made a positive difference in their lives, and I envision an election to UEPCC as a way to continue to make a positive difference for undergraduate students, strengthen support for the teaching efforts of faculty colleagues, and maintain progress towards excellence in teaching and learning.
Sanvesh Srivastava
Associate Professor
Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science
Ph.D. in Statistics
Assistant Professor (tenure track): 2015 -- 2022 Associate Professor (with tenure): 2022 -- Present
I am presenting my candidacy for the Undergraduate Educational Policy and Curriculum Committee (UEPCC), motivated by my commitment to elevate the data literacy of our students. As an academic advisor and mentor, I have guided numerous students in data science and statistics, imparting the skills necessary to navigate the complexities of their educational, research, and professional endeavors. I have taught various data science courses, and my machine learning and statistics research further strengthen my expertise in data-related matters. Through a role in the UEPCC, I aim to ensure the balanced integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into our academic framework, training students in the benefits and pitfalls of using AI tools.
I hope to accomplish the following goals during my candidacy:
1. **AI Policy and Curriculum Enhancement:** My research and teaching experience in machine learning and statistics enables me to make informed decisions about developing educational policies and curriculum development on integrating AI tools in our teaching and research. I have used AI tools in my teaching, allowing me to appreciate and communicate their potential advantages and risks. My involvement in the UEPCC ensures that our educational policies and curriculum reflect AI's latest research and practice.
2. **Data Literacy Enhancement:** The growing influence of AI tools and (mis)information demands that we train students about using data in decision-making. This entails general education course offerings that balance social and mathematical sciences training. I will pursue avenues for curriculum development that enhance data literacy and account for the social impacts of data-related policies, preparing our students to face and address challenges posed by AI tools and (mis)information.
**Relevant Experience**
I have been the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) for Data Science and Statistics since 2022. As the DUS, I have extensive experience advising and mentoring students at different academic stages. I have participated in developing my department's bachelor's and master's programs in data science, including program policy, curriculum development, and planning its growth. As a UEPCC member, I will be able to offer a view that bridges the gap between the latest AI developments and their educational impacts, which is essential for a forward-looking curriculum.
Dana Dean Thomann
MFA, Iowa State University
Joined UI faculty in 2016
Associate Professor of Instruction in Rhetoric
I am deeply humbled to be a candidate for the UEPCC. Let me explain why I would be honored to serve in this capacity.
In August of 2001—as a recently turned 19-year-old—I steered my car north, away from my family farm’s sleepy gravel road. I was accustomed to turning south toward my rural high school in Riverside, Iowa. The high school was so rural that graduating classes barely reached forty students. The community’s rituals were so familiar, the motions of them disappeared into reflex.
In fall 2001, though, I left that world behind. I became a 15-mile commuter. I was a low-income, first-generation college student. Making the new turn toward my first year at the University of Iowa, the presence of my traveling companions—anxiety, loneliness, and imposture phenomenon—seemed to suck the oxygen from the car’s interior. As I tried to breathe deeply, the future felt unknown, opaque. Reaching campus, I felt adrift.
Each August, since being hired as a lecturer in the Department of Rhetoric in 2016, I reflect on that feeling as I watch hopeful undergraduates trudge across campus. The scene creates empathy and a deeply personal, caring nature about the experience students will have during their postsecondary educational journeys. It is the reason I strive for sustained success and excellence as an educator. It is the reason I long to serve on UEPCC.
That insecure 19-year-old is always with me. I am always trying to do better by her—all in an attempt to alleviate student anxiety and help students achieve academic gains. I firmly believe UEPCC plays a fundamental role in this capacity.
As such, if elected, I would seek to underscore:
- equity and retention to graduation for all student populations
- universal design strategies and the integration of research-based cognitive strategies
- transparency in teaching and learning—especially linking course content to students’ future aspirations
- best practices for writing across the curriculum
- retaining and rewarding excellent instructors
- an appreciation for sustainable instructor (including graduate instructors) and student workloads, as well as mental health resources
- listening and responding to the needs and desires of students
Relevant Experience:
Upon graduation from the University of Iowa, I made my home in South Dakota. Teaching middle school language arts, I completed a two-year commitment with Teach For America on the Rosebud Reservation. In 2007, I returned to the University of Iowa, employed by the (then named) Center for Diversity & Enrichment’s Upward Bound TRiO program as a Coordinator of Academic Services and, later, directed the Project. I secured grants to continue the program on the University of Iowa’s campus. Working in some of the University of Iowa’s local “feeder” high schools—Columbus Junction, Davenport, Muscatine, and West Liberty—gave me a deep respect for the communities and families from which our students come. I have worked in almost every level of education: middle school, high school, and college.
Planning the Upward Bound summer program helped me better understand the university landscape. From housing and dining, financial aid, academic advising, student health, the student counseling center, orientation, and the registrar, my appreciation for the interconnectivity of the university and the student experience grew—as well as the significant role faculty play in that experience. I attended graduate school in 2013 at Iowa State University, hoping to earn that significant faculty role that the terminal degree in Creative Writing & Environment might afford me.
I was overjoyed to earn a faculty position with the University of Iowa’s Department of Rhetoric in 2016. It was a homecoming in every sense of the word. As a Rhetoric faculty member, I feel strongly that there should be a representative on UEPCC who teaches a required general education course. Most first-year students—no matter their majors—take Rhetoric. We are all teachers of writing and composition; finding ways to support one another to best serve our students is incumbent upon the “Writing University.” Rhetoric’s UEPCC representative, Cinda Coggins Mosher, will rotate off the committee in May 2024.
I also appreciate the role our graduate teaching instructors serve in undergraduate education. Even with a teaching background, I felt underprepared to teach during my graduate program. As such, I developed Success in Rhetoric (2017–2023) to embed undergraduates who successfully completed Rhetoric in Rhetoric classrooms to serve as mentors. I have also had the pleasure of preparing graduate teaching instructors for the classroom through Rhetoric’s professional development program (PDP) from 2017–2021, serving as chair during the COVID-19 pandemic in fall 2020.
As a first-generation student myself, I am passionate about educational equity. As such, I partnered with the University of Iowa’s Academic Support & Retention when the GEAR-UP cohort entered the university in 2020. I enjoy serving on the First-Generation Task Force. I love growing my teaching skills alongside a faculty learning community dedicated to using evidence-based cognitive science (Learning@Iowa) to equitably increase learning outcomes.
I currently serve on the CLAS Rhetoric Department Review Committee and the CLAS Instructional Track Faculty Policy Committee.
Thank you for your consideration!
Relevant Honors & Awards
2024: Pomerantz Center Career Impact Award
2021 – 2023 & 2016 – 2019: Champion for Student Success Recognition
2020 – 2023 & 2018: University of Iowa Senior Exit Survey Recognition
2020 & 2023: Student Supervisor of the Year Award Nominee
2022: Teaching in Higher Education Conference Award
2021: Honors Teaching Award
2020: Outstanding First-Generation Student Advocacy Award
James Wo
Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Criminology
PhD Criminology, Law and Society
Joined UI Faculty in 2017
Candidate Statement for UEPCC:
Serving on the Faculty Assembly currently and having dedicated the past two years to the College's Science and Technology Fees Committee, I actively engaged or supported initiatives aimed at promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion, enhancing student services, improving pedagogy, and fostering a positive school climate. Through my involvement in these committees, I gained invaluable insights into the diverse needs and challenges facing our student body and worked collaboratively to develop and support initiatives that address these needs effectively. Additionally, I have advised several undergraduate honors theses, providing me with firsthand experience in guiding student research and fostering academic excellence.
As a member of the UEPCC, I have three main goals that I would work towards:
Firstly, I am deeply committed to addressing the immediate needs of our students, particularly in the wake of the pandemic. By increasing the number and quality of services for students who require academic and mental health support, we can not only assist students in their current situations but also tackle retention issues that have emerged within our college. Specifically, I am interested in improving the system by which instructors and students address absences in the classroom, ensuring fairness, consistency, and support for all parties involved.
Secondly, I am dedicated to integrating global perspectives into our curriculum. Through initiatives such as study abroad programs, multicultural courses, and partnerships with universities and organizations worldwide, we can provide students with invaluable opportunities to broaden their cultural horizons and develop essential skills for navigating an interconnected world. One outcome of this integration could be the creation of internships or job opportunities that offer students real-world experience in global contexts, further enhancing their educational and career prospects.
Lastly, I am committed to making access to technology more equitable for students and infrastructure, including classrooms. By providing equitable access to digital resources, online learning platforms, and virtual tools, we can ensure that all students have the necessary tools to succeed in their academic pursuits. Moreover, I will advocate for the enhancement of classroom infrastructure to support technology integration, creating dynamic and interactive learning environments that cater to the diverse needs and preferences of our student body.
In summary, my commitment to student support, global engagement, and technological innovation drives my aspirations for the UEPCC. I am confident that my experience, passion, and dedication to advancing undergraduate education will enable me to make meaningful contributions to the work of the committee and to the continued success of our college.
Rachel Young
Associate Professor
School of Journalism and Mass Communication
PhD Journalism (focus: Health Communication), MPH
Joined Iowa: 2013
Undergraduate education has been the main focus of my time at Iowa, and I would value the opportunity to serve as part of the UEPCC. I’m the current Director of Undergraduate Studies for the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and also a faculty fellow in the Office of Community Engagement. As a UEPCC member, I could bring expertise relevant to (1) improving access to quality experiential learning opportunities, including community-engaged courses; (2) supporting departments in assessing curricular outcomes to better understand student learning and experiences; and (3) encouraging innovation in undergraduate pedagogy, including inclusive teaching practices. As DUS, I’ve overseen major curricular changes that led to the development of professional tracks, and also worked closely with journalism staff on student inclusion and belonging through support services, events, and outside-the-classroom opportunities. My past collegiate service experience has also prepared me to support UEPCC in developing and assessing policy.
Relevant Experience:
Experiential learning improves students’ connection to their coursework and to the community, particularly for underrepresented and first-generation students. Because experiential learning brings practical experience to the classroom, it also provides equitable professional opportunities for undergraduate students. As a journalism professor, I’ve taught community-engaged courses across levels, including developing an engaged course to fulfill the diversity and inclusion Gen Ed requirement. I’ve helped develop new capstone opportunities that involve team-based experiential learning for senior journalism majors. I’ve also worked on training materials for engaged teaching and the community-engaged course designation through my involvement with the Office of Community Engagement.
I’ve been impressed by Iowa’s holistic approach to learning assessment, and I’d also hope to provide support to departments in developing assessment practices that improve their understanding of student learning and belonging. As Director of Undergraduate Studies, I’ve developed new learning goals for the journalism department to bring us in line with expectations for accreditation. I’m also developing a new assessment plan that incorporates quantitative and reflective measures to help us understand whether we’re meeting our aims to prepare students for media jobs after graduation, including assessment of both professional skills and the critical thinking and social awareness that are crucial to a liberal arts education.
I’ve benefitted greatly from the professional development opportunities offered by the Center for Teaching and other campus groups. I’ve also organized teaching workshops for journalism faculty on topics including incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion across the curriculum; inclusive teaching; and support for students experiencing mental health issues. I have received several awards for teaching, primarily for my work with undergraduates: the CLAS Collegiate Teaching Award, the University of Iowa’s Hubbard-Walder Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the national Scripps-Howard Journalism Teacher of the Year Award. I’ve also served in several collegiate and university service roles, including as a charter member of the CLAS Standing Committee on Diversity Equity and Inclusion, a one-year term on the CLAS Executive Committee, and as a co-director of a Faculty Learning Committee on Community-Engaged Teaching.