FCI has assembled a team of consultants with expertise in four key areas who will work closely with one another to support the Collaborative Course Design Teams, lead by Director Denise Galarza Sepúlveda, and under the guidance of the FCI Advisory Board.

Denise Galarza Sepúlveda

Director, Foundational Course Initiative

(734) 615-9281

1071 Palmer Commons • 100 Washtenaw Ave.

[email protected]

Dr. Denise Galarza Sepúlveda was a member of the faculty at Lafayette College for twelve years in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures where she also chaired the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program. She received her Masters from Purdue and her Ph.D. from Emory University. Throughout her career, she led various initiatives designed to promote transformative learning and has received awards for her teaching and course design. At Lafayette, she was awarded the Excellence in Diversity Education Award and the Woman of Distinction Award by the Association of Black Collegians “in recognition for the immeasurable hours dedicated to the continued success of marginalized groups on campus.” Her research focused on the forging of eighteenth-century proto-national identities during periods of economic and social instability and has appeared in the top journals in her field, including Revista de Estudios Hispánicos and Revista Iberoamericana. Prior to joining CRLT, Denise was the inaugural director of the office of Community-Engaged Academic Learning, where she built strong collaborations with faculty, students, and departments around high-impact learning opportunities for LSA undergraduates. As Director of the Foundational Course Initiative, she provides strategic leadership for this campus-wide presidential initiative, which aims to create a 21st-century model for teaching at scale in ways that are inclusive and innovative. A native of Puerto Rico, she volunteers as a teacher in En Nuestra Lengua, a Saturday Spanish school dedicated to promoting Spanish literacy, cultural enrichment, and the academic success of Latino children in Southeast Michigan.

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Andy Burkhardt

Instructional Technology Consultant, Foundational Course Initiative

(734) 764-3613

1071 Palmer Commons • 100 Washtenaw Ave.

[email protected]

Andy Burkhardt’s focus is to bring a human-centered perspective to technology in the design of learning experiences as an Instructional Consultant for the Foundational Course Initiative. Before joining CRLT, Andy consulted with, trained, and supported faculty and staff at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health in the use of educational technologies. Prior to joining the University of Michigan, he was the Assistant Director for Digital Strategy at the Champlain College Library in Burlington, VT where he managed library technologies and taught numerous inquiry-based information literacy sessions as part of the undergraduate Core Curriculum. He received his M.A. in Library and Information Studies from UW-Madison and his B.A. in Philosophy at St, John’s University in Collegeville, MN.

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Blair Beuche

Associate Director, Foundational Course Initiative

1071 Palmer Commons • 100 Washtenaw Ave.

[email protected]

Dr. Blair Beuche holds a B.S. from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and M.A. and Ph.D. in Education at the University of Michigan. With nearly 20 years of experience in education, Blair’s background spans teaching, educator development, educational research, and curriculum development. She began her career as a high school teacher in Baltimore and has since held positions in instructional coaching, consulting, teaching, research, program management, and school-based administration across the U.S. and the K-12 and higher education sectors. Blair’s professional and research interests focus on approaches to support communities, systems, and educational institutions to build equitable learning environments to enable all students to thrive-- now and in their future endeavors. At CRLT, Blair works on the Foundational Course Initiative as an Associate Director. Her areas of expertise include, pedagogical training and programming, qualitative assessment, student-centered pedagogies and assessment design, and large-course design.

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Mishelle Dimitrova

Administrative Assistant, Foundational Course Initiative

(734) 936-3837

1071 Palmer Commons • 100 Washtenaw Ave.

[email protected]

 

Mishelle Dimitrova earned her B.A. in Communications and Hispanic Studies with a certificate in Public Relations and is currently pursuing her M.A. in Education from the University of Michigan - Dearborn. Mishelle has over ten years of experience in higher education administration. In her role as administrative assistant for the Foundational Course Initiative, she is committed to enhancing the operational efficiency and organizational excellence of the team, has a passion for creating positive and inclusive work environments, and brings a wealth of skills in administration, budgetary support, and strategic communication. Additionally, she serves as a mentor through two different mentoring groups at U-M and is a member of the CRLT Player's Advisory Board.   

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Anthony King

Instructional Technology Consultant, Foundational Course Initiative

(734) 764-3616

1071 Palmer Commons • 100 Washtenaw Ave.

[email protected]

Anthony King earned his B.S. in Secondary Science and Math Education in 2003, and after spending time as a science and math teacher, he earned his Master's in Digital Media and Education in 2012, both from the University of Michigan. His research during graduate studies included curriculum and game development for teaching about the climate system and climate change’s impact on biodiversity, with scaffolded support around critical thinking, argumentation, and complex systems for students. Prior to joining CRLT, he worked as a network consultant for Network Services Group, LLC, and in the UM College of LSA as a Senior Instructional Consultant and member of the UM Teaching and Technology Collaborative committee and the Enriching Scholarship planning and keynote committees, and chaired the LSA Technology Services Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee as the DEI Advocate. Anthony’s past consultation has focussed on issues around the use of technology in large courses, including alternative assessment tools, in-class active learning assignments, and on and offline discussions, as well as evaluating and piloting scalable, equitable, and inclusive options for instructional tools, and general instructional technology training, support, and documentation. With the FCI team, Anthony consults and collaborates with large foundational course faculty and GSIs about their technology issues as part of the course redesign process.

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Elizabeth Mann Levesque

Assistant Director, Foundational Course Initiative

(734) 764-1248

1071 Palmer Commons • 100 Washtenaw Ave.

[email protected]

Dr. Elizabeth Mann Levesque earned her B.A. and Ph.D. in political science at the University of Michigan. After completing her undergraduate degree, Elizabeth taught middle school social studies in Miami, FL as a Teach for America corps member. She returned to Michigan for her graduate studies where she specialized in American politics and political institutions and engaged in research on early childhood education and K-12 education policy. Her dissertation on presidential policymaking at the state level was recognized with a Rackham ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award, and as a Graduate Student Instructor Elizabeth received a John W. Kingdon Teaching Award from the Department of Political Science. Subsequently, as a fellow at the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution, she studied a wide range of education policy issues, including civics education, employer and community college workforce development partnerships, and federal regulation related to the Every Student Succeeds Act. At CRLT, Elizabeth works on the Foundational Course Initiative as a student support and classroom climate consultant.

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Deborah Lichti

Instructional Consultant, Foundational Course Initiative

1071 Palmer Commons • 100 Washtenaw Ave.

[email protected]

Dr. Deborah Lichti earned her B.S. in Fisheries and Aquatic Science at Purdue University and her M.S. and Ph.D. at East Carolina University in Biological Sciences specializing in coastal ecology. While completing her doctoral studies, she redesigned the second-semester introductory biology laboratory, integrating authentic research experiences using citizen science. After joining the University of Delaware in the Interdisciplinary Science Learning Laboratories, she continued developing authentic learning experiences for students in her integrated biology and chemistry course. Debbie has also created pedagogical training programs for graduate assistants teaching lab courses and mentored both undergraduate and graduate students interested in teaching. Her areas of expertise include qualitative and quantitative assessment, STEM curriculum development, and graduate student training.

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Heather Rypkema

Head of Learning Analytics and Assistant Director, Foundational Course Initiative

(734) 764-7868

1071 Palmer Commons • 100 Washtenaw Ave.

[email protected]

Dr. Heather Rypkema is a founding member of the Foundational Course Initiative team and has served as an Assessment & Analytics specialist since 2018. She earned a B.A. in Chemistry and Physics, M.A. in Chemistry, and Ph.D. in Chemical Physics, all from Harvard University. After her postdoc at Stanford University, Heather held faculty appointments at the University of Louisville (Chemistry), Purdue University (Chemistry), and University of Michigan (CLASP). She has more than 20 years of experience as an instructor in higher education, having taught as an undergraduate, graduate student, postdoc, and faculty member. As part of her FCI portfolio, she has leveraged Learning Analytics to develop evaluative tools that inform course design and promote equitable teaching practices. Her analytics work incorporates course-specific surveys and data about student engagement with instructional technology platforms as well as Canvas data and the Learning Analytics Architecture database (LARC). In 2022, Heather took on the inaugural role of Head of Learning Analytics, in order to lead the Center’s growing efforts to provide analytics services to enhance teaching across the entire University.

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Megan Stowe

Instructional Consultant, Foundational Course Initiative

1071 Palmer Commons • 100 Washtenaw Ave.

[email protected]

Dr. Megan Stowe received her Ph.D. in English from the University of South Florida in 2022. Her research focuses on empathy and kinship as models for climate solutions in Black American, Indigenous, and Post-Colonial literatures. She holds a graduate certificate in Technical and Professional Communication, with an M.A. (Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature) from Florida Atlantic University and a B.A. in English from SUNY Stony Brook. She brings over 15 years of experience in education from K-12 to higher ed. Her most recent work includes program management for honors living-learning communities, academic advising for honors engineering and pre-health students, curricular design for English service courses, and teaching experiential learning courses on the intersections among literature and social justice. She is passionate about equity and justice in education and empowering students to thrive in their personal and professional goals.

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Ina Zaimi

Instructional Consultant, Foundational Course Initiative

1071 Palmer Commons • 100 Washtenaw Ave.

[email protected]

Dr. Ina Zaimi received her B.S. in Biomolecular Science and English, M.S. in Chemistry, and Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Michigan. Ina also received her secondary education certification in Chemistry and English from the State of Michigan. Humanizing chemistry incited her transition from teaching English, to teaching chemistry, to qualitatively researching the teaching and learning of chemistry. Her research explored organic chemistry students’ reasoning, from tasks designed and conducted in a research setting to activities and assignments designed and implemented in a classroom setting. Design does not (and should not) equate implementation, so her research explored how chemistry graduate student instructors implement instructional materials and facilitate organic chemistry students’ reasoning in the classroom. Therefore, her research combined the learning and teaching of organic chemistry and proposed how research can be transferred into instruction. Ina has been a Graduate Student Instructor for general chemistry, organic chemistry, and first-year writing, and she has received awards for her teaching. Furthermore, Ina has been a Graduate Student Instructional Coach in the Chemistry Department and a Graduate Student Instructional Consultant in the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching, and she has received awards for her leadership. Her positions have been framed by her commitments to teaching with subjectivity and empathy and training for equity-focused teaching.

 

To learn more about FCI or explore a possible redesign partnership, please complete this contact form. For general questions please contact [email protected].