The Teaching & Learning Advisory Council provides advice and counsel to the Associate Dean for Teaching & Academic Planning and Dean’s Leadership Team in pursuit of teaching excellence across L&S. In the College of Letters & Science we provide an education that is a solid foundation upon which our graduates build remarkable careers, become leaders in their communities, and live as informed and thoughtful citizens who positively impact the world. L&S is integral to the undergraduate education mission of UW-Madison, offering 65 majors, comprising 39 academic departments, and delivering 65% of all teaching at UW-Madison. Teaching excellence does not just happen. Excellence is the result of intentional actions by academic departments and individual instructors.
The council uses its collective expertise and varied perspectives to:
- assess the multifaceted challenges confronting instructors in the College
- outline practices that help L&S academic departments and individual instructors to value, prioritize, and actualize evidence-based and student-centered teaching
- identify and promote initiatives, development opportunities, and organizational structures to help the College advance its goals for equitable and student-centered teaching excellence
- actively engage with individuals, units, and academic departments across L&S to share information and cultivate a community that recognizes and celebrates outstanding teaching.
References & Resources
Members of the L&S Teaching and Learning Advisory Council
David Baum
Position title: Professor, Botany
Steve Catania
Position title: Associate Director of Career Education, SuccessWorks
Patti Coffey
Position title: Teaching Professor, Psychology
Sarah Edlund
Position title: Teaching Faculty III, Biology
Mel Freitag
Position title: Assistant Dean and Director for Inclusive Excellence and Organizational Equity, L&S Administration
Ralph Grunewald
Position title: Center for Law, Society & Justice Director and Associate Professor of English
Patricia Haberkorn
Position title: Graduate Student, German, Nordic, and Slavic+
Rania Huntington
Position title: Professor, Asian Languages & Cultures
Jonathan Klein
Position title: Director, Instructional Design Collaborative
Greg Konop
Position title: Associate Director for Media Design, Center for Teaching, Learning and Mentoring
Abby Letak
Position title: Assistant Teaching Professor, English
Melissa Lindsey
Position title: Director of Instructional Support, Mathematics
Sam Pazicni
Position title: Assistant Professor, Chemistry
Ellen Smith
Position title: Clinical Professor/Associate Director, School of Social Work
Yingshun Sun
Position title: Teaching Assistant, Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
KD Thompson
Position title: Professor, Religious Studies
Josh Weber
Position title: Course Coordinator, Physics
Łukasz Wodzyński
Position title: Assistant Professor, German, Nordic, Slavic +
Previous Academic Years
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2025-2026
- Mou Banerjee, History
- David Baum, Botany
- Derek Bean, Statistics
- Kathryn Ciancia, History
- Falina Enriquez, Anthropology
- Mel Freitag, L&S Administration
- Emily Hall, Writing Across the Curriculum/Writing Fellows
- Morgan Henson, Sociology
- Judy Houck, Gender & Women’s Studies
- Jonathan Klein, Instructional Design Collaborative
- Melissa Lindsey, Mathematics
- Lori Lopez, L&S Administration
- Shirin Malekpour, Teaching, Learning, and Academic Planning
- Rachel McClure, Astronomy
- Sam Pazicni, Chemistry
- Nathan Phelps, First-Year Interest Groups
- Lynne Prost, Teaching, Learning, and Academic Planning
- Jeanne Schueller, German, Nordic, Slavic+
- Ellen Smith, Social Work
- Jim Williams, Computer Science
- Cathy Yu, Teaching, Learning, and Academic Planning