Maureen Reed appointed interim director of Learning and Teaching Office
Maureen Reed
I am pleased to announce the appointment of Maureen Reed as interim director of Ryerson's Learning and Teaching Office (LTO). Maureen's appointment is effective immediately through August 31, 2011 while the current director, Judy Britnell, is on sabbatical.
As you know, the LTO provides the structure and organization for enhancing our student-centred focus on active and experiential teaching methods. Learning and teaching excellence is one of the five core priorities of our Academic Plan, Shaping Our Future. In recent years, the LTO has led many new programs which support this priority and enhance Ryerson's reputation in this area, from new professional development programs for teaching assistants and curriculum development resources to the recent creation of faculty-based teaching chairs and an expansion of our awards program for learning and teaching excellence. We are very fortunate that Maureen has agreed to take on leadership of the LTO on an interim basis and continue the important work of the office.
Maureen is an associate professor in our Department of Psychology and joined Ryerson University in 2001. She is a dynamic individual who is very familiar with the goals and vision of the LTO, having been a longtime member of the Senate's Teaching and Learning Committee and serving for two years as the LTO's faculty associate for the Faculty of Arts.
Maureen also has a specific academic interest in higher education and methods to improve student success. She has conducted research in areas of learning and teaching and is the co-author of a textbook entitled The Post-secondary Learning Experience which introduces the rigours of higher education to undergraduate students. Maureen also studies the impact of vision losses on everyday activities and recently received funding from the Canadian National Institute for the Blind to study access to and success in higher education for students with visual impairment and blindness in Canada. She is currently writing papers on the outcomes of these studies. She has also published a series of articles examining the impact of student resourcefulness on academic success in students with and without disabilities. Maureen holds an MA and PhD in experimental psychology from York University.
I know that Maureen will embrace this interim role as director of the Learning and Teaching Office with the same passion and energy she brings to her teaching and study of higher education. Please join me in congratulating her on this appointment.
Christopher Evans
Vice-Provost, Academic