Our Mission:
The mission of Georgia Gwinnett College’s Center for Teaching Excellence is to provide programming that promotes the design and implementation of creative learning environments. The CTE supports the implementation of effective instructional practices, facilitates an environment of instructional experimentation, and enhances the skills needed to engage students in the learning process. We provide a community forum for the exchange of ideas and innovative instructional practices that lead to high levels of student learning.
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Our Location:
We are located on the second floor of the beautiful (and LEEDS Gold certified) Daniel J. Kaufman Library & Learning Center (Building L) on the campus of Georgia Gwinnett College. The CTE suite is on the second floor directly across from the elevators.
Please be mindful that we are still in the midst of an ongoing pandemic; we ask that you wear a mask upon entering, in accordance with CDC guidelines. If you have any symptoms of illness, please contact us by phone or email (see below) to avoid infecting others in the library.
Scroll down for contact information for individual CTE staff.
Phone: 678.407.5100
Email: cte@ggc.edu
Sign up for the CTE listserv to receive weekly information on our upcoming events. Updates are sent out on Fridays during the Fall and Spring semesters.
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Social Media:
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Our Team:
Dr. Miranda (Mei) Zhang is the Associate Provost for Faculty at GGC, the Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence, and a Professor of Finance and Internationalization at Georgia Gwinnett College. Prior to her current appointment, Zhang held the rank of Professor of Finance and Economics in GGC’s School of Business (SBA). She has taught a variety of courses including Strategic Management (capstone), Operations Management, Financial Management I, Financial Management II, Financial Derivatives, International Finance and Economics, Investment Analysis, Principles of Macroeconomics and Principles of Microeconomics. She received GGC’s Outstanding Teaching Award in 2015 and subsequently received the University System of Georgia’s Teacher of the Year Award in 2016.
Besides teaching, Zhang has held a variety of leadership roles. She was elected by the SBA faculty to serve as a member of the school’s Promotion and Credentialing Review Committee and by the members of that committee to serve as chair (2012–2017). In 2017, she was elected as chair of GGC’s Promotion and Credentialing Standards Committee. Other leadership roles include: coordinator of the Division of Business Science in the SBA, SBA scheduling coordinator, and point of contact for the SBA’s Quantitative Analysis Discipline.
678.360.4270 (mobile)
mzhang@ggc.edu
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Associate Director for the Center for Teaching Excellence (vacant)
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Michael D. Smith is the Digital Learning Specialist for the Center for Teaching Excellence and the admin for the Teaching & Learning Community, Academic Commons, and CTE website. Michael is currently enrolled in UGA’s Ed.D. program in Learning, Leadership, and Organization Development, studying adult learning, leadership, organization development, change management, and action research. He also holds an M.Ed. in Learning, Design, and Technology (with an emphasis on Instructional Design and Development) from UGA.
Michael spent over twenty years working with information / academic technology and providing faculty support at Emory University before completing his master’s degree in 2014. He has worked at GGC since the spring of 2016.
Michael is an avid proponent of lifelong learning and is particularly interested in: blended / hybrid and online learning; engagement and motivation; the development of learning communities; mindfulness and mindful self-compassion; mindful leadership, servant leadership and transformational leadership; change management; organization development; wellness, well-being, and work-life balance; storytelling, imagination, and play in learning; gamification, game-based, and gameful learning; augmented reality; and virtual worlds and immersive 3D learning environments.
678.407.5560 (office)
470.531.0070 (softphone)
mdsmith@ggc.edu
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Melanie Fonseca is the Administrative Assistant III for the Associate Provost for Faculty, Dr. Zhang, and works in the Center for Teaching Excellence. Prior to working for the CTE, Melanie attended GGC from 2013 to 2019 where she received her Bachelor’s of English with a Concentration in Writing and Rhetoric.
Outside of GGC, Melanie enjoys reading, genealogy, creative writing, and listening to true crime podcasts.
678.407.5100 (front desk)
mfonseca@ggc.edu
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Faculty Fellows:
Dr. Karen Perell-Gerson is Chair of Studies and Professor of Exercise Science and the Faculty Fellow for Experiential Learning for the Center for Teaching Excellence.
Prior to coming to GGC, Dr. Perell-Gerson taught at California State University, Fullerton Kinesiology and Health Science Departments, UCLA Physiological Science Department and Mount St. Mary’s College Physical Therapy Department. She ran the Los Angeles VA (Veterans’ Affairs) Gait Laboratory.
Her teaching philosophy is to provide an applied learning environment in which students put into practice learned content. Her goal as an educator is to provide students with a comfortable environment so that they will actively participate in their learning and expand on the material she provides them for their career development through activities, group projects, and presentations. She strongly encourages students to actively participate in the research process. She has supervised several students who have published their work in professional publications. Perell-Gerson is a registered kinesiotherapist. She implemented fall prevention screening clinics in five VA Centers. She uses biomechanics to evaluate and treat abnormal movement patterns in people with chronic disease/pathology (e.g. diabetes, osteoarthritis, frail elderly).
She was the recipient of two Career Development Awards from the VA Rehabilitation Research & Development Office to study the use of the bicycle as a modality for gait deficits in individuals with diabetes. More recently, she has focused her research on motivators and barriers to exercise to reduce the risk of diabetes in minority populations. Her work has been published in the Journal of Rehabilitation Research & Development, Gait & Posture, Journal of Applied Biomechanics, Clinical Biomechanics, Journal of Gerontology, Clinical Kinesiology, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Perell-Gerson is very excited to join Georgia Gwinnett College. She has a great interest in exercise science and strongly believes that it will provide an excellent foundation for the students who are interested in medical fields, physical therapy, athletic training and coaching.
678.548.7283 (mobile)
kperellg@ggc.edu
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Dr. Susan Bussey is Chair of Studies and Associate Professor of English and the Faculty Fellow for Integrative Learning for the Center for Teaching Excellence.
Dr. Susan Bussey teaches composition and various courses in American literature. She takes special interest in students pursuing a future as secondary English teachers, serving as the primary advisor to education preparation students in language arts. Her current research involves teaching first-year composition in ways that help students envision writing in their career path.
sbussey@ggc.edu
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