Board of Governors Chair in Teaching

The Board of Governors Chair in Teaching is a two-year position (with two-course relief per year). Candidates apply through the office of the Provost and Vice-President (Academic). As part of the application, candidates submit a teaching-related proposal for the duration of their term.

Teaching Chairs serve on the Teaching Centre Advisory Council, including as Chair of the Council for the second year of their two-year term, and work with the Teaching Centre Council on its projects. One Teaching Chair is awarded per year.

BOG Teaching Chair Guidelines
Guidelines

Deadline

The deadline for receipt of the completed electronic application package is Nov. 10 2023 at 4:30 pm to the Teaching Centre @ teachingcentre@uleth.ca.

*Please contact the Teaching Centre for a personalized Outlook file folder to upload the application package.

2024 Board of Governors Teaching Chair

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Wayne Lippa

Never one to shy away from a challenge, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry Instructor Wayne Lippa (BSc/BEd ’97) faces the daunting task of taking the fear and loathing out of a subject many find difficult to tackle. He does this by adopting a student-centred approach based on his experiences as a student and incorporating strategies whereby students learn the concepts of chemistry by doing chemistry.

Lippa majored in chemistry when he graduated with a combined degree from the University of Lethbridge in 1997. After a short stint as a math teacher at Medicine Hat’s Crescent Heights High School, he was back on the ULethbridge campus that fall as an academic assistant and has been at the University ever since.

2023 Board of Governors Teaching Chair

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Chris Mattatall - Faculty of Education

As Board of Governors Teaching Chair, he proposes to work closely with the Teaching Centre to facilitate the introduction of small teaching. Small teaching is a way of thinking about improving one’s practice by leveraging easy-to-implement teaching strategies that are supported by the Science of Learning and Development. By soliciting the help of instructors across the University, Mattatall looks to develop a video library of effective strategies demonstrated within the classroom or lab.

Current Teaching Chairs

As a professor of new media, Leanne Elias not only inspires students to think creatively in her graphic design courses, she also approaches her teaching creatively, always finding ways to challenge students and complement their knowledge. She encourages them to explore and experiment with new media tools while focusing on relevant ideas.

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Leanne Elias - Department of New Media

Elias ensures her students have opportunities to maximize their learning through extra-curricular activities related to the profession. Twice she has led student fundraising activities to enable attendance at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival. Focused on emerging creative technologies, the festival draws the best creative minds in the world.

In addition, she has co-facilitated several interdisciplinary workshops for the Faculty of Fine Arts and was instrumental in bringing a series of award-winning animations to Lethbridge. Elias has also been a champion for the importance of teaching development in the University community. In 2012-2013, she was awarded a Teaching Fellowship from the University’s Advancement for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. Elias has become a facilitator for the Instructional Skills Workshop, a course designed to enhance teaching effectiveness for both new and experienced educators.

Past Recipients