Master Teacher Program

Who We Are

Launched in 2008 to meet strategic goals in strengthening teaching programs
Guiding principle: “Teaching is Job One”
Part of the Southeastern Veterinary Educator Consortium (SEVEC)

Mission: Provide the resources, programs & leadership that support the highest quality of professionalism & instruction within the various educational missions of the college.

Participation: Built around voluntary & committed participation of core members, with individual sessions open to all faculty & staff. Modeled as a community of practice with the approach of a teaching academy. Goal: Ongoing professional development toward mastery, as opposed to recognition or exclusion. Participants point to the program as particularly useful in improving their teaching methods, materials or communication; their ability to assess students; and the learning environment in their classroom.The program has been highlighted in recruitment of new faculty members and is gaining attention as a model for other institutions.

November 2015: Master Teacher Program awarded the UT Gamma Sigma Delta chapter’s Team Award for its outstanding contribution to teaching in agriculture and related disciplines.

Links of Interest for Teaching Communities of Practice & Academies
Creating Exams and Question Writing
- Contains quick guides to effective test construction, exam blueprints, writing multiple choice questions, ExamSoft, and exam question item analysis
Spectrum of Care Education Model (AAVMC)
Veterinary Educational Researcher’s Handbook (open-access)
- Series of short chapters focused on everything from the initial idea to dissemination of findings
AAVMC Use of Animals in Veterinary Education Handbook (guidance on alternatives)
MTP Fundamentals of Classroom Teaching Certificate (self-paced, online)
- Participants gain skills and resources to carry out basic instruction in a veterinary classroom setting, including developing learning outcomes, effective lectures, and appropriate written assessments.
- UT-Affiliated: Completed via Canvas; contact mmcginn2@utk.edu for more information.
- Non-UT-Affiliated: Completed via Canvas Catalog

Spring 2025 Schedule (Thursday, 8:00–9:30 am, B224-Tickle Seminar Rm.)

Date	Topic	Speaker(s)
Jan. 23	Veterinary Mentorship: From Good to Great	Dr. Addie Reinhard, Founder & CEO, MentorVet
Feb. 20	Mind Matters: Cognitive Science Strategies that Enhance Learning	Dr. Sarah Schmid, Small Animal Clinical Sciences, UTCVM
Mar. 20	TBD
Apr. 17	TBD
May 15	TBD

Education Funding Opportunities

For additional information, visit: UT CITE Grants.

Focus: Work with the UT Office of Information Technology on course redesign, instructional technologies, and research strategies to improve student learning outcomes. ($1,000 to $5,000)

For additional information, visit: UT Faculty Fellow Program.

Focus: Advancing exemplary teaching and enriching the experience of students by implementing projects that enhance their department’s use of instructional technologies.

For additional information, visit: UT Faculty First Grant.

Focus: Instructional development for effective uses of technology in teaching. Long-term partnership between a faculty member and OIT to develop digital instructional materials or to reshape an entire course.

For additional information, visit: UT Teaching Support Awards Program.

Focus: Providing funding to instructional faculty members, graduate student teachers, and staff members to help them enhance the learning experience for students that take their courses. Supporting participation in teaching-focused professional development opportunities such as conferences and related educational experiences. Enriching and expanding the use of effective teaching strategies across the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. $500 to $5,000 each. preference will be given to new projects. Funding is for a 2-year period

For additional information, visit: IAMSE Educational Scholarship and Curriculum Innovation Grants.

Focus: Projects designed to (1) systematically collect and analyze data related to medical education, which may employ a variety of methods, but seek to produce generalizable information for dissemination, or (2) designed for the general enrichment of teaching and learning that go beyond normal expectations of a faculty member, including but not limited to advances in pedagogy, technology, content development, or professional development. Limited to IAMSE members.

For additional information, visit: Ford Foundation.

Focus: Reducing poverty and injustice; promoting democratic values; and advancing human knowledge, creativity and achievement.

For additional information, visit: NIH R25.

For additional information, visit: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

For additional information, visit: SEVEC Veterinary Education Research