Faculty and Staff
- Director, Dean Adams
- Instructional Designer, Shihua Brazill
- Instructional Designer, Ken Silvesteri
- Program Coordinator, Emily Smith
- Assistant Director - Research & Scholarship, Nika Stoop
- Faculty Associates
406-994-4555
[email protected]
Dean oversees and implements faculty development programs in coordination with other academic areas, including orientations, workshops, discussion groups, mentoring opportunities and several grant programs offered through the MSU provost’s office. He has been a faculty member inthe MSU College of Arts and Architecture's School of Art since 2010. From 2017 to 2019, he was associate dean of the college and in February was named acting dean. Adams is also the co-founder and co-director of the International Wild Clay Research Project, an interdisciplinary teaching, learning and research endeavor in the School of Art. In addition, Dean was the VP for Programming for Integrative Teaching International from 2011 to 2016. He has a Master of Fine Arts degree with an emphasis in ceramics and drawing from the University of Iowa, as well as a master’s degree from the University of Iowa and a bachelor’s degree from MSU.
Learn more about the International Wild Clay Research Project
Instructional Designer Ph.D. in Education
406-994-2406Shihua provides instructional support and mentoring to faculty through workshops on inclusive teaching strategies, emerging instructional technology tools, and online training programs. Additionally, she develops training for faculty to teach online and hybrid courses. She also works with faculty in groups or individually to provide feedback for course design using Universal Design for Learning principles and accessibility best practices. Dr. Brazill has published widely, including multicultural education, social justice, E-learning, instructional design, and graduate education.
Learn more about UDL & the Inclusive Pedogogy Workshop Series
Instructional Designer MS Ed Tech
Ken helps advance teaching and learning at MSU by providing instructional support to faculty through workshops on pedagogy and use of instructional technologies, one-on-one consultations, faculty learning communities, and online training courses. In addition, he coordinates programs to connect faculty to resources and each other such as grants to attend teaching-related conferences, teaching-related awards, and the Early Career Faculty Mentoring program.
Program Coordinator
406-994-4555
As a program coordinator for MSU, Emily fulfills a dual role by working for both the Center for Faculty of Excellence and the Undergraduate Scholars Program. At CFE, her work includes acting as a point of contact for faculty, planning events, developing online and in-person communications, and processing certifications.
Assistant Director - Research & Scholarship Ph.D.
Nika is the Assistant Director at Montana State University’s Center for Faculty Excellence. Nika earned a Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University and worked at MIT as a postdoc before transitioning to pharmaceutical communications where she translated scientific concepts for lay audiences. At MSU since 2015, she currently oversees the operations of the Center and leads the Early Career Faculty Success Program. She also provides consultations and organizes workshops to support faculty scholarly activities, including mentoring workshops. Her recent work and publications focus on supporting faculty development for women in STEM. As part of that work, she was the team lead for the leadership training course as part of the VAuLTS grant through Washington State University.
Learn more about
Center Associates
