The University System of Georgia has named the Engineering Education Transformations Institute (EETI) in the UGA College of Engineering the winner of its 2020 Regents’ Teaching Excellence Award for Department or Program. The award showcases an outstanding department or program — selected from among all 28 institutions within the university system — that promotes, supports and recognizes excellence in teaching and service to students.
“The University congratulates the Engineering Education Transformations Institute on this high-level recognition,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “Its members’ commitment to student learning and success in engineering is inspiring, and their innovative work has the potential to benefit students and faculty across all STEM disciplines at UGA and beyond.”
The University System of Georgia will honor EETI at its annual Board of Regents’ Scholarship Gala later this month.
The Engineering Education Transformations Institute is comprised of faculty, staff, researchers and students from three schools and 15 degree programs in the College of Engineering. It seeks to transform engineering education by building social capital and shared capacity around the scholarship of teaching and learning in engineering.
Through research, education forums, teaching and learning communities, and support for project development and travel, EETI is creating a community that is passionate about improving the educational experience of engineering students. The institute offers Georgia’s only doctoral program in engineering education, and it encourages undergraduate students to work alongside faculty on nationally funded engineering education projects.
The USG Regents’ Teaching Excellence Award is one of several honors EETI has earned for its pioneering work in the past year. The institute won best overall paper at the 2019 Australasian Association for Engineering Education Conference. Also in 2019, the Faculty Development Division at the American Society of Engineering Education annual conference awarded EETI its Best Paper Award for the description of the institute’s vision and impact on institutional change. The institute also received a $1M National Science Foundation Education and Human Resources core award to increase capacity in STEM education research methods.
“The Engineering Education Transformations Institute has emerged as a powerful voice in efforts to strengthen our teaching and enhance our students’ educational experience,” said Donald Leo, dean of the College of Engineering. “This recognition from the Board of Regents is well deserved and I’m certain EETI’s work will continue to have a positive impact on engineering education, not only at UGA but also at our peer institutions around the world.”