Biggio Center strengthens faculty development and student learning with new associate directors

Published: September 21, 2020

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With the goal of supporting faculty professional development to improve student learning, the Biggio Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning has strengthened its leadership by appointing Shawndra Bowers and Lindsay Doukopoulos as associate directors, effective Aug. 1.

Supporting the Biggio Center’s goals of enhancing student learning by bridging the gap between online, virtual and traditional environments, Shawndra Bowers has been named the associate director of learning experience design. In this role, Bowers will provide leadership to a team of instructional designers and producers focused on designing, developing and producing high-quality instructional experiences.

Bowers joined Auburn Online in 2015 as a lead instructional designer following nearly two decades of teaching and instructional design experience at the college and K-12 levels. While at Auburn, Bowers has redesigned numerous general education courses and created new course offerings through the university’s dual enrollment program and its first three online undergraduate degree completion programs.

Most recently, Bowers is credited with developing an Online Teaching Showcase that provides faculty with ideas and examples of engaging and interactive content they can import directly into Canvas. This resource became especially crucial as the university shifted to online learning during the spring 2020 semester following the COVID-19 pandemic.

With an emphasis on strengthening the leadership for faculty professional development, Lindsay Doukopoulos has been named the associate director of educational development. Doukopoulos will lead faculty and graduate student pedagogy programs and oversee the unit’s Faculty Fellows program.

Doukopoulos joined the Biggio Center in 2016 as assistant director following 10 years of teaching at the college level. During that time, she has led flagship Biggio Center programs, including Summer Course (Re)Design, New Faculty Scholars, New Faculty Orientation and Preparing Future Faculty. In 2019, Doukopoulos established the Faculty Fellows program, an initiative committed to recruiting and developing Auburn faculty to extend the center’s capacity.

In addition to centralized programming, Doukopoulos has also served as the faculty development liaison for Auburn Global where she leads teaching and learning programs for international students. As assistant director, Doukopoulos increased support for faculty to engage in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, a specialized form of research that seeks to advance teaching practice in higher education by making systematic inquiry into student learning. With a research interest in the strategic role of faculty rewards and recognition, Doukopoulos began leading a digital badging initiative in 2018 that has awarded nearly 350 badges to faculty that certify evidence-based teaching and learning.

“The Biggio Center is at the forefront of pedagogical innovation and is constantly working to strengthen Auburn’s institutional culture for teaching and learning,” Asim Ali, executive director of the Biggio Center, said. “I am thrilled to have Shawndra’s and Lindsay’s experience and expertise as we broaden our support for Auburn faculty through transformations that unquestionably enhance student learning outcomes.”

Submitted by: Marisa Singh