SoE Faculty Members are among 2026-2027 Provost's Teaching Fellows Cohort
Associate Teaching Professor and ID3EA Program Director Katie Barillas, Associate Teaching Professor Philip Brown, and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Assistant Teaching Professor Minning Zhu have been selected by Rutgers' Institute for Teaching, Innovation, and Inclusive Pedagogy (TIIP) as members of the 2026-2027 Provost's Teaching Fellows Initiative Cohort.
During the coming academic year, the professors will be reimagining their coursework, exploring novel teaching methods, and collaborating with TIIP to advance their students' learning. As fellows, they will receive a $3,000 stipend to support their new course designs.
"Being selected as a Provost Teaching Fellow gives me the opportunity to dedicate focused time to innovating and redesigning the ID3EA course sequence with faculty who share similar goals," Barillas says.
"Our redesign focuses on strengthening the alignment across key components of our course, while also increasing formative feedback opportunities for our students," she explains. "These changes are intended to support learning more effectively and keep us aware of student progress throughout the course."
ID3EA program colleague Philip Brown sees the opportunity as a Provost Teaching Fellow as one that challenges pedagogical complacency. "You are never done designing your courses," he insists.
To that end, he will be working with Barillas on the redesign of ID3EA courses to benefit the ID3EA program as a whole through new ideas.
Zhu, Barillas, and Brown, along with other new fellows from across the university, will take part in a Course Design Institute, monthly gatherings, teaching observations, and more.
Barillas notes that Brown is looking forward to interacting with faculty and staff from different schools to gain new perspectives, while Barillas is anticipating the structured framework of the Course Design Institute and the opportunity to engage in check-ins throughout the year with students, faculty, and the TIIP.
Having dedicated time to focus on course design innovations—with hopes of ultimately enhancing student engagement and motivation—is a welcome benefit shared by all of the new Provost's Teaching Fellows.
