Twenty-five college faculty members selected as 2025 Ambassadors for high impact teaching and learning practices for student success

The Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) has selected 25 college educators from across the state to serve as HIP Ambassadors for 2025. They will share with their campus colleagues information about High Impact Practices (HIPs) – evidence-based teaching and student-experience activities that help students learn, advance and graduate.

Previous classes of HIP Ambassadors have included only faculty from the state’s community and technical colleges, but a new component of the program this year is the inclusion of HIP Pathway Ambassadors – faculty from universities that were part of the TBR system when the HIP program was launched 11 years ago. This new partnership will focus on how students who are on transfer pathways to the universities will have a seamless and enhanced HIP experience within our transfer programs.

HIPs at Tennessee’s public community and technical colleges include more intensive advising, industry and skills certifications, first-year seminars and experiences, global cultural awareness courses, honors education, learning communities, peer mentoring, service learning, student employment, study abroad, technology enhanced learning, undergraduate research, and work-based learning.

The integration of HIPs into the curricular and co-curricular work of colleges and universities helps students become more globally aware, solution-oriented and workforce-ready graduates. They increase student engagement and retention, across all socioeconomic and educational backgrounds.

Ambassadors have demonstrated experience with HIPs; attend orientation, training and forum sessions conducted by the TBR Office of Student Success, and commit to serve for a year, but may apply to be part of subsequent cohorts. They serve as a resource and point of contact for faculty on their own campuses and across the college system, lead convenings, share best practices, and advocate for HIPs. They work as part of TBR’s Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning, which provides professional development and other learning opportunities to help faculty, advisors and other educators serve their students more effectively.

“We are entering our 11th year of focusing on the scaling and implementation of High Impact Practices across the TBR system, which is recognized as a national leader in this important student-success work,” said Dr. Heidi Leming, TBR vice chancellor for student success and strategic partnerships. “I congratulate all the faculty members selected for the 2025 Ambassador cohort, and we welcome the faculty from the universities as the first HIP Pathway Ambassadors. Working together, they will all build stronger connections between our community and technical colleges and the four-year institutions.”

Members of the HIP Ambassador Class of 2025, listed by their HIP specialties, and their colleges are:

First-Year Seminars/Experience

• Jessica Rabb, Nashville State Community College
• T. Parish Akin, Southwest Tennessee Community College

Global/Cultural Awareness

• Stuart Lenig, Columbia State Community College
• Amber Sullivan, Volunteer State Community College
• Audie Black, Tennessee State University (HIP Pathways)

Honors Education

• Sharon Grigsby, Columbia State Community College
• Angie Wood, Chattanooga State Community College

Learning Communities

• Tabetha Garman, Northeast State Community College
• Iris Johnson Arnold, Tennessee State University (HIP Pathways)

Service Learning

• Jessica Mills, Walters State Community College
• Christine Rowland, Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) Jackson
• Deidra Rogers, East Tennessee State University (HIP Pathways)
• Jennifer Thayer, Austin Peay State University (HIP Pathways)

Study Abroad

• Emily Naff, Nashville State Community College
• Cynthia Elliott, Southwest Tennessee Community College
• Sergie Markov, Austin Peay State University (HIP Pathways)

Technology Enhanced Learning

• Brooks Ziegler, Pellissippi State Community College
• Maria Smith, TCAT Dickson
• Carrie McCleese, Tennessee State University (HIP Pathways)

Undergraduate Research

• Elvira Eivazova, Columbia State Community College
• Gracie Rossie, Walters State Community College
• Carol Swayze, Middle Tennessee State University (HIP Pathways)

Work-Based Learning

• Nicole Neely, TCAT Pulaski
• Jonathan Brigner, Chattanooga State Community College
• Karen Russell, Tennessee State University (HIP Pathways)

More information about the Ambassadors program is here.