Spring Teaching Conference & Teaching Excellence Awards 2025
Teaching, Learning, and Well-being at UNM
Please register by March 25 to help us plan for refreshments and supplies.
Wednesday, April 9 th
8:30 am to 3:30 pm: In-Person Conference Day, Student Union Building (SUB Level 3)
4:00 pm to 6:00 pm: Teaching Excellence Awards in Ballroom C (SUB Level 2)
Thursday, April 10 th
9:30 am to 4:45 pm: Virtual Conference Day via Zoom
Wednesday, April 9 th, SUB Level 3
8:30 am: Registration Check-In (Lobby)
9:00 – 9:15 am: Welcoming Remarks (Lobo A/B)
9:30 – 10:30 am: Concurrent Sessions
The Caring Classroom: Supporting Students and Ourselves Through Challenges
Presenters: Eric Jackson, Lecturer II, Department of Psychology and Nicole Capehart, Lecturer, Anderson School of Management
Description: This panel will explore the intersection of care, community, and resilience in teaching. Panelists will share insights on navigating student setbacks with empathy, fostering inclusive environments, and maintaining authenticity as educators. Attendees will gain practical tips for balancing professional expectations with compassionate teaching practices..
Room: Fiesta A/B
Centering Collective Well-being in Curricular Transformation
Presenters: Native American Studies Team: Lloyd Lee, Professor & Chair; Wendy Greyeyes, Associate Professor; Maia Rodriguez, Assistant Professor; Myla Vicente Carpio, Associate Professor and Graduate Faculty Director; Kyle Harvey, Student and Graduate Services Coordinator; Leola Tsinnajinnie Paquin, Associate Professor, Presidential Teaching Fellow, 2024-2026
Description: Driven by faculty energies, rooted in the community, Native American Studies at UNM has grown exponentially in the last 20 years. Stemming from a minor degree, we have now developed into a nationally renowned full-fledged Arts and Sciences Department that offers bachelor’s, accelerated online program, master’s, and doctoral degree options. We have taken great measures to build a pedagogy of student well-being within each program. To sustain our efforts, we are now exploring deeper considerations for faculty success and wholistic well-being. We will share what has been fruitful in our transformation and what ideas for departmental self-care we have in the immediate future.
Room: Santa Ana A/B
What Tools do Chairs Need to Cultivate Well-being?
Presenters: Pamela Cheek, Vice Provost for Student Success; Christopher J. Lyons, Assistant Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs; Melissa Binder, Chair and Associate Professor, Department of Economics; Eva Chi, Professor and Regents' Lecturer, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, School of Engineering.
Description: This session is focused on the needs of chairs or aspiring chairs as individuals and as department leaders. Panelists will host an informal conversation with one another and the audience. The session will surface professional development opportunities for chairs, elevate resources and practices that are working well for current chairs, and introduce new approaches that may benefit chairs and departments.
Room: Acoma A/B
10:45 – 11:45 am: Concurrent Sessions
Kitchen Tables: Building and Sustaining a Community of GTAs
Presenters: Luis Sanchez Martinez, Health Exercise and Sport Sciences, College of Education & Human Sciences; billy von Raven, Art Department; Kenton Bueche, Art Department; Jaime Branaman, Speech and Hearing Sciences; McMarchal Hartzenberg, Health Exercise and Sport Sciences, College of Education & Human Sciences.
Description: This panel discussion explores strategies for building and sustaining a supportive community of Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) across disciplines. Through relational pedagogies, experiential learning, and reflective practices, participants will gain tools to enhance both student and instructor experiences. Key implications include fostering sustainable learning environments and strengthening interdisciplinary collaboration and community. Participants will engage in discussions and guided reflections on integrating community agreements, experiential activities, and metacognitive strategies into their teaching. Structured around interactive prompts, this session offers actionable takeaways for implementing relational, experiential, and reflective teaching methods that enhance GTA development and well-being.
Room: Fiesta A/B
Resources for Faculty Well-being
Presenters: Aria Ponciroli, LCSW, CEAP, Director, Employee Assistance Program at Counseling, Assistance & Referral Services (CARS); Julia Fulghum, Director, ADVANCE at UNM; JoEllen Ransom J.D., CO-OP®, Ombuds.
Description: In this session, we will share information about stressors on faculty wellbeing at UNM. We will identify resources available for supporting wellbeing, as well as when and how to access those resources effectively. We will provide approaches for developing greater comfort for faculty with using and recommending these resources well. This session will include conversation among presenters and participants.
Room: Santa Ana A/B
Fostering Student & Instructor Growth & Wellbeing: Journeys in Implementing Evidence-Based Teaching Practices from the Student Experience Project (SEP)
Presenters: Patrick Denne, Visiting Lecturer, Department of Mathematics & Statistics; Corinne Myers, Associate Professor, Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences; Francesca Cavallo, Associate Professor, Associate Chair, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Kimran E. Buckholz, Principal Lecturer, Department of Biology (moderator).
Description: Drawing on their own experiences as instructors, our team will share SEP-related transformative evidence-based practices that can be used in classrooms and departments to support instructor and student growth and wellbeing.
Room: Acoma A/B
12:00 to 1:00 PM: Keynote Lunch
Keynote Speaker: Leola Tsinnajinnie Paquin, Associate Professor, Native American Studies, Presidential Teaching Fellow (2024-2026)
Topic: Faculty Wellbeing as Pedagogy: Building a Sustainable Community of Practice
Location: Lobo A/B (SUB Level 3)
Afternoon Sessions
1:15 – 2:15 pm: Concurrent Sessions
Contextualizing the AMOW Study Abroad Program: Honoring Place, Language, and Ability Through Stories of Belonging.
Presenters: Faculty collaborators: Mia Sosa-Provencio, Associate Professor, Teacher Education Educational Leadership and Policy, College of Education & Human Sciences; Veronica Moore, Principal Lecturer III, Dept Educational Specialties, College of Education & Human Sciences; Monica Asencio Pimentel, Research Scientist 3, UNM Cradle to Career Policy Institute; and student collaborators: Sara Morales; Nolan Dominguez; Maleah Diaz; Ashante Adam; Brissa Garcia; Bertilla Jijo.
Description: Alongside faculty and students from the Abriendo Mundos/Opening Worlds (AMOW) Study Abroad Program in Spain commencing during summer 2025, we will engage a student-centered, embodied and arts-integrated classroom activity through a Chicana Feminist theoretical framework to explore our own and each other’s intergenerational narratives connecting us to language, identity, place, and belonging in New Mexico and far beyond. We will explore and weave these as the foundation for understanding how to transform and enrich classroom curriculum and the implications that these may have in collaboration with our Spain partners.
Room: Fiesta A/B
Wellness Movements: From Community Connections to Practices in the Academy
Presenters: Anthony Fleg, Associate Professor, Family and Community Medicine, UNM HSC Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and College of Population Health; Shawn Secatero, Associate Professor, Educational Leadership, College of Education and Human Sciences; Leila Zazueta, Counselor/Social Worker, Sr., Student Health and Counseling (SHAC), Leola Tsinnajinnie Paquin, Associate Professor, Native American Studies, Presidential Teaching Fellow (2024-2026).
Description: This session will explore spaces across UNM and our intersecting communities that have helped build wellness on campus and beyond. What were and are the visions for these movements? What can we learn from these models in practice? In what ways can institutions more deeply prioritize well-being and create better understandings of how it is embodied?
Location: Santa Ana A/B
Creating and Sustaining a Healthy Outlook on Curriculum Development and Pedagogical Change
Presenters: Biology Department Team: Cristina D. Takacs-Vesbach, Professor and Chair; Kelly Howe, Principal Lecturer, Biology Undergraduate Society (BUGS) Advisor; Kimran E. Buckholz, Principal Lecturer.
Description: We will tell the story of a department at a crossroads – should we be true to the needs of our students and faculty or maintain the status quo? When faced with overwhelming evidence that our curriculum was not working for most students because of all that it required and lacked, we chose to explore the situation with curiosity. This gave us the courage to completely overhaul our program with the goal of improving student outcomes and more satisfaction for faculty?
Location: Acoma A/B
2:30 – 3:30 pm: Concurrent Sessions
Supporting Lecturers' Professional Development and Thriving
Presenters: Nicholas Schwartz, Lecturer III, Medieval Studies; Cherry Singhal, Lecturer III, Anderson School of Management; Satya Witt, Principal Lecturer, Department of Biology; Colin Olson, Principal Lecturer III, Department of Sociology & Criminology (moderator).
Description: This session will feature a panel of lecturers from across the University, discussing key issues relevant to their roles. Topics will include, but are not limited to, the unique position of lecturers within their departments, strategies for building community among lecturers across departments and colleges, sharing experiences, and addressing challenges and opportunities related to lecturer holistic well-being.
Room: Fiesta A/B
Success, Well-being and Community Building Strategies in High Enrollment Courses
Presenters: Diana Habel-Rodriguez, Senior Lecturer III, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology; Deborah-Luffey, Lecturer II, Nutrition and Dietetics, College of Education & Human Sciences; Sushilla Knottenbelt, Interim Associate Dean for Student Success, College of Arts and Sciences and Principal Lecturer III, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology (moderator).
Description: The session will explore strategies that support wellness for both students and instructors in large enrollment classes. We will discuss care in the classroom, the role of course structure, flexibility and setting compassionate boundaries, providing appropriate referrals.
Room: Santa Ana A/B
Drafting Teaching and Learning Principles at UNM
Presenters: Faculty Senate Teaching Enhancement Committee & Center for Teaching Learning.
Description: Join the Faculty Senate Teaching Enhancement Committee and CTL for a hands-on co-creation session where we’ll gather your feedback and ideas on a draft of teaching and learning principles for UNM.
Room: Lobo A/B
4:00 to 6:00 pm
26 TH ANNUAL TEACHING AWARDS CEREMONY , hosted by the UNM Center for Teaching & Learning, Faculty Senate Teaching Enhancement Committee, College of Arts & Sciences, and the Honors College
Location: Ballroom C, Student Union Building, Level 2
*Refreshments will be provided
Thursday, April 10 th – Virtual Sessions Via Zoom
9:30 – 10:30 am: Concurrent Sessions
Supporting Student and Faculty Well-being in Online (and Beyond) Courses
Presenters: Mario Del Angel Guevara, Assistant Professor, Curanderismo Traditional Medicine Program, Department of Chicana & Chicano Studies; Tammy L. Thomas, Assistant Professor, Director of Undergraduate Programs; College of Population Health; Cristina Reiser, Undergraduate Director, Senior Lecturer III, Department of Economics (moderator).
Description: Join our interactive panel of experienced educators as they share insights and practical strategies for fostering the wellbeing of both students and faculty in the online classroom. Panelists come from various teaching contexts—large general education to smaller specialized courses. While they draw from their experience in online education, the session is designed for educators of all types—whether you teach in-person, online, or hybrid. Topics include building meaningful connections; creating authentic learning opportunities; balancing flexibility with accountability; ways to foster wellbeing, not just for students, but also for educators who face burnout, stress, and isolation, particularly in remote settings.
Zoom: Register/Join Session
Promoting Student and Newcomer Well-being Through Collective Care and Mutual Learning: A Community-Engaged Social Change Course
Presenters: Jessica Goodkind, Professor, Associate Chair, Department of Sociology & Criminology; Susana Echeverri Herrera, PhD Candidate, Department of Sociology & Criminology; Janet Ramirez, Project Coordinator & Community-Based Research Specialist, Refugee & Immigrant Wellbeing Project (and past student); Aida Revilla, PhD Student, Department of Sociology & Criminology.
Description: This interactive panel will share processes of self and collective care from the Refugee & Immigrant Wellbeing Project (RIWP), which involves a 2-semester community-engaged course that brings together refugees and immigrants with university undergraduate and graduate students to engage in social justice efforts through mutual learning and advocacy to mobilize resources and change inequitable policies and practices. Panelists include the faculty course developer, graduate student co-instructors, and students who completed the course. The panel will begin with an explanation of the course and how it is structured and implemented, share panelists’ experiences with and perspectives on self and collective care and mental health as integrated and experienced in the course, and end with audience questions/discussion.
Zoom: Register/Join Session
Pedagogies of Well-being, Love, and Joy in the Ethnic Studies Classroom
Presenters: Magdalena Vázquez-Dathe, Training & Development Consultant, Teaching Support, Center for Teaching and Learning; Emily Castillo, Postdoctoral Fellow, Race and Reconciliation Initiative, Texas Christian University and Alumn of UNM Department of Sociology (PhD Spring 2023), Lacey Hites, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Sociology & Criminology.
Description: This panel will explore the pedagogical approaches employed by Ethnic Studies (ES) teachers that include expressions of joy, love, and well-being within the ES classroom. Drawing on recent research conducted in the U.S. Southwest, panelists will share teachers’ instructional strategies that reflect the cultures, histories, and lived experiences of diverse communities, positioning teaching as an act of collective resistance, renewal, healing, and well-being. Through these practices, ES educators cultivate a form of 'Joy Capital' — creating relational spaces where students overcome fear, experience validation of their values and knowledge, and feel a deep sense of acceptance. In these environments, students’ voices are centered and affirmed as integral to the learning process.
Zoom: Register/Join Session
10:45 – 11:45 am: Concurrent Sessions
Supporting, Valuing and Empowering Part-time Instructors & Affiliated Faculty
Presenters: Marina Popova, Term Instructor, Department of Mathematics & Statistics; Joe Garcia, Adjunct Professor, Chicana and Chicano Studies; Elisabeth Stone, Part-Time Instructor, Women, Gender & Sexuality Program; Stephanie Telles, Adjunct Faculty, Department of Accounting, Anderson School of Management.
Description: This panel discussion explores the experiences of part-time instructors/affiliated faculty, illuminating their contributions to the academy, including student well-being and the vitality of the teaching and learning environment. Further, the discussion will explore the joys and challenges of PTIs and consider ways in which a supportive environment for their sense of belonging and wholistic well-being can be fostered.
Zoom: Register/Join Session
Student Wellbeing: How to be an Ally
Presenters: Heather Jaramillo, Director of Equal Opportunity, Compliance, Ethics & Equal Opportunity (CEEO) & Jose Lechuga, Campus Assessment Response Education (CARE) Program Manager, Dean of Students Office.
Description: Heather Jaramillo, Director of Equal Opportunity, and Sam Lechuga, CARE Program Manager, will present simple and accessible ways for instructors to refer and support students who may be experiencing difficult circumstances, while still maintaining professional and healthy boundaries in the student-teacher relationship. Instructors can expect to walk away from this session knowing where to refer students when they are in need; learning how and when to report certain types of behavior or disclosures; and engaging in 1-2 scenario-based discussions to apply what’s learned back into the academic environment.
Zoom: Register/Join Session
Partners in Progress: Strengthening Student Learning Through Faculty-Student Collaboration
Presenters: Stephanie Sánchez, Senior Program Manager, Student Learning Assistance and Interim Executive Director, Center for Teaching and Learning; Carolyn Hushman, Associate Dean for Research and Distance Education, Associate Professor, Educational Psychology, College of Education & Human Sciences; Lorraine Manavi, Principal Lecturer II, Department of Linguistics; Deborah Luffey, Lecturer II, Nutrition and Dietetics, College of Education & Human Sciences.
Description: The purpose of this session is to explore and share examples of instructor-student collaborations in two different classroom settings: 1) a course designed for active learning and supported by a peer learning facilitator and 2) a language course supported with an embedded language tutor. Panelists will discuss the benefits of these collaborations for instructors, learners, and peer educators as well as lessons learned for incorporating peer-to-peer support. This session will highlight how such collaborations impact the acquisition of personal, academic, and professional competencies for both peer educators and learners, and how they improve learning environments and outcomes.
Zoom: Register/Join Session
12:00 – 1:00 pm: Virtual Lunch Break
1:15 – 2:15 pm: Concurrent Sessions
Parenthood in Academia: What are the Pathways to Well-being and Thriving?
Presenters: Lisa Marchiondo, Associate Professor, Anderson School of Management; Lani Tsinnajinnie, Assistant Professor, School of Architecture + Planning; Shiv Desai, Associate Professor, Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy (TEELP), College of Education & Human Sciences; Vincent Werito, Associate Professor, Department of Language, Literacy, and Socio-cultural Studies, College of Education & Human Sciences; Leola Tsinnajinnie Paquin, Associate Professor, Native American Studies, Presidential Teaching Fellow (2024-2026).
Description: The academy can offer the blessing of professional consideration through flexible working hours yet also be a blanket of overwhelming pressure to meet rigid measures. What can UNM students, colleagues, and leaders learn from the parenting experiences of tenure-track faculty? Sharing the powerful intricacies of everyday life and structure can lead to a movement of true well-being for all. Faculty parenting knowledges widen the lens toward human empathy, creativity, diversity, respect, and a sense of Lobo family. Understanding and responding to the pathways that lead to holistic parent health allows for shared thriving in the classroom, excellence in research, and capacity for spirited service.
Zoom: Register/Join Session
Authentic Classroom Experiences: Implementing a Praxis of Well-being
Presenters: Eva Chi, Professor and Regents' Lecturer, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, School of Engineering; Sarah Llanque-White, Clinician Educator, Associate Professor, College of Nursing; Aretha Matt, Associate Professor, Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, UNM Gallup.
Description: This panel presentation includes faculty from Nursing, Chemical and Biological Engineering, and English as they explore how authentic classroom experiences promote student well-being. This interdisciplinary panel will discuss strategies for fostering engagement, resilience, and connection through real-world learning, reflective practices, and inclusive pedagogy. Panelists will share insights on creating meaningful learning environments supporting academic success and personal growth. Attendees will gain practical approaches to integrating well-being into their teaching across disciplines.
Zoom: Register/Join Session
Reflection, Data, Course Transformation Experiences: Learning Strategies’ Implementation with Feedback
Presenters: Angelica Boyle, Lecturer II, Undergraduate Program Coordinator, Health Education, Department of Health, Exercise & Sports Sciences; Shinsuke Eguchi, Professor, Communication & Journalism; Arunachalam Muthaiyan, Associate Professor, Mathematics, Physical and Natural Sciences Division, UNM Gallup.
Description: A panel of three participants from the “Educational Equity Mini-Fellowship” will share their most effective teaching strategies implemented in their courses. The session will cover the strategies to create an engaging and supportive learning community in the Biology for Health Sciences course, and the creation of authentic assessments and transparent design in an online Methods in Community Health Education course, and advancing equity-focused pedagogy, and developing a new interdisciplinary course on race, ethnicity, and gender, especially when the topic spans multiple departments. The information from this session can help promote a culture of care, compassion, and respect in any course.
Zoom: Register/Join Session
2:30 – 3:30 pm: Concurrent Sessions
Co-creating and Leading Supportive Collegial Communities for GTA Pedagogical Development
Presenters: Graduate Student Team: Oona Takano, Department of Biology; Galen Novello, Department of Mathematics & Statistics; Rachel Seddon, Department of Biology; Christian Lujan, Department of Mathematics & Statistics.
Description: Participants will gain an understanding of the benefits of and what it takes to build a successful GTA peer learning community. Participants will be able to articulate benefits of specific teaching practices in a community of practice (CoP) and apply lessons learned from building GTA communities of practice. We will discuss how collecting formative student feedback helped adapt teaching practices, how debriefing student feedback/other teaching practices helped build peer community, features of GTA learning community that contributed to its success, non-teaching benefits of CoP, how GTA community of practice exists within community at large (e.g., department), and benefits GTA leaders gain from CoP.
Zoom: Register/Join Session
Healthy Teaching/Mentoring/Advising Teams & Pedagogical Learning Partnerships
Presenters: Armando Bustamante, Director of Enrollment Management and Student Success, UNM Valencia; Beth Elkin, Manager of Academic Advisement, College of Fine Arts; Kyle Harvey, Student and Graduate Services Coordinator, Native American Studies.
Description: This session focuses on holistic mentoring and advising practices informed by well-being concerns.
Zoom: Register/Join Session
Drafting Teaching and Learning Principles at UNM
Presenters: Faculty Senate Teaching Enhancement Committee & Center for Teaching Learning.
Description: Join the Faculty Senate Teaching Enhancement Committee and CTL for a hands-on co-creation session where we’ll gather your feedback and ideas on a draft of teaching and learning principles for UNM.
Zoom: Register/Join Session
3:45 – 4:45 pm:
TEA with TEA Winners: A Fireside Chat with Teaching Excellence Awardees
Panelists: Teaching Excellence Award (TEA) Winners
Description: Join this session in which Teaching Excellence Award Winners share highly impactful teaching practices that support their students’ success and well-being as well as their own well-being and vitality as instructors. Additionally, they will share some insights about their journey to submitting an excellent portfolio for the Teaching Excellence Awards.
Zoom: Register/Join Session
Please register by March 25 to help us plan for refreshments and supplies.
