Dr. Phyllis Ingham, Clinical Laboratory Technology Program Director at West Georgia Technical College, was recently selected as a Governor’s Teaching Fellow for the 2016-17 academic year.

The Governor’s Teaching Fellows Program was established in 1995 by Georgia Governor Zell Miller to provide the state’s higher education faculty with expanded opportunities for developing important teaching skills. Governor Miller’s vision was that the program would bring postsecondary instructors from around the state together to share ideas and solutions, particularly in the area of emerging technologies and instructional tools in the classroom.

Fourteen educators were selected from institutions of higher education from across the state following a highly competitive application and selection process.

Dr. Ingham is the first West Georgia Tech instructor to be selected to the Governor’s Teaching Fellows Program. She is the only representative from the Technical College System of Georgia for the upcoming academic year and is just the fifth educator from a technical college to be selected in the program’s history.

“We are so proud of Dr. Ingham for her selection as a Governor’s Teaching Fellow,” said West Georgia Technical College President Steve. G. Daniel. “This is an incredible opportunity for her, and a wonderful testament to the highly qualified faculty we have at this institution. Dr. Ingham is an example of these phenomenal educators and I know this experience will benefit her future students at West Georgia Technical College.”

Dr. Ingham will participate in the academic year symposia program, which consists of three-day symposia held six times throughout the academic year.

According to Dr. Libby Morris, Director of the Institute of Higher Education at the University of Georgia, the primary objective of the Governor’s Teaching Fellows program is to improve the quality of instruction at Georgia’s colleges and universities by moving college faculty members to the leading edge of instructional practice.

“Upon completion of the program, the Fellows often take on leadership roles in renewing curricular and pedagogical approaches on their own campuses. Many serve as role models and mentors for the improvement of teaching and learning in their discipline and beyond,” Dr. Morris stated.

Dr. Morris added that to date the program has welcomed 533 participants from more than 90 different disciplines, professions and teaching areas.

“Fellows have come from 61 institutions statewide, large and small, public and private, everywhere from the northern mountains to the Florida state line and between the Atlantic coast and the Alabama border,” Dr. Morris said.

Dr. Ingham said that she is thrilled to have the opportunity to represent West Georgia Technical College and the Technical College System of Georgia.

“I can’t wait to come back and share some of the information that I learn with the faculty at WGTC,” Ingham said. “This is a great opportunity for me to discuss some of the challenges that we have, especially in the area of technology in the classroom. I’ll be able to bring back ideas on student engagement, learning styles, student assessment and resource development, just to name a few. It’s a unique program that brings educators together from all over the state in an effort to work together to produce students that are ready to go to work when they graduate.”