The Graduate Student Teaching Award honors graduate student excellence in instruction.
Jeremy Locke
Finding the perfect balance between laid-back and serious has made Jeremy Locke quite popular with UT’s undergraduates. Students rave about his humor, patience, and dedication in their evaluations. One said of him, “He’s one of the most laid-back teachers I’ve ever had, but he still really cares that his students learn and succeed. I’d recommend him to everyone.” Locke is also well known for his ability to infuse fresh material in his courses to engage students in new and fun ways. One such course is his English 102 section: Inquiry into Horror. Locke’s students explore the horror genre through short stories and books. Students recall this course long after they leave. Locke has said, “Something’s gone right if you remember English 102 vividly.”
Brittany Pollard
Brittany Pollard, an instructor in educational psychology and counseling, is always happy to venture outside her normal line of responsibility to help others. She has served as graduate teaching assistant for a number of courses. Perhaps the most notable is the Grief Outreach Initiative, which she’s worked on for the past two years. She has helped to build and coordinate a program that places grief mentors in K–12 schools. She matches UT student mentors with schools and teaches the mentors. She also coordinates services with school professionals and parents, and provides regular supervision to student mentors. Her nominator said, “Brittany has essentially built this course and supporting mentorship relationships from scratch, and the program has flourished under her leadership.”
Nancy Scott
Students know when an instructor cares, and Nancy Scott makes no secret of her dedication to her students. Since 2012, Scott has taught several sections of courses connected to her discipline of management, such as Leadership Skills and Organizational Behavior, but she never hesitated to branch out to teach the capstone strategy class or Introduction to Business Management. Scott is a master at bringing abstract ideas to life through hands-on activities and real-world applications. Her nominator said, “Nancy was good even in the beginning. Now she must be considered awesome.”