Staff

Structure of the CFT

The CFT is composed of a senior staff and educational technologists who work directly with faculty, departments, and programs, as well as Graduate Teaching Fellows who work directly with graduate students.

Members of the Vanderbilt teaching community may identify their CFT liaison by viewing this chart.

Who Are We?

Director

Jennifer Ogg Wilson is the Director of the Office of Education Design and Development. As a Vanderbilt alumna with a Ph.D. and M.A. in Political Science, she is thrilled to be back on campus. A seasoned learning facilitator, she has created and led over 300 educational development workshops and programs for university faculty and staff. Her areas of expertise center around active learning, metacognition, student engagement and belonging, teaching innovation, and educational research. Her two most recent research projects explore the effects of personality on active learning and learning gains experienced by students taught through virtual reality. Prior to joining the OEDD in February of 2024, she was the Director of Teaching Programs at the University of Louisville. She also served for six years an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Tennessee Tech University, where she was the 2016 recipient of the Outstanding Teaching Award in General Education. Jennifer holds B.A.s in French and International Studies from the University of Tennessee, which support her favorite hobby of travel. Her other interests outside of higher education include downhill skiing, scuba diving, and cheering on the Kansas City Chiefs.

Associate Directors

Joe Bandy has been supporting teaching and learning via the Center for Teaching since 2010 and is Associate Director.  Given his long tenure at Vanderbilt, Joe has worked as a liaison to many schools and departments, but his primary liaison areas include social science and humanities departments and programs in the schools of Arts and Science, as well as the Owen Graduate School of Management.  Joe has supported curricular, instructional, and organizational development at Vanderbilt in consultations, workshops, and programs such as the Junior Faculty Teaching Fellows, the Certificate in College Teaching, and the Open Classroom.  More recently, he has organized professional and organizational development through learning communities on environmental education (including The Cumberland Project), community engagement/service learning (including the Community Engagement Seminar), and critical and inclusive pedagogies (organizing the CFT’s work on Teaching, Difference, and Power).  With a PhD in Sociology and grounded in a long teaching career spanning UC Santa Barbara, Bowdoin College, and now Vanderbilt, he teaches in the Department of Sociology, the Program in American Studies, and the Program on Climate and Environmental Studies on issues related to social movements, environmental justice, class structure, and economic development. His most recent research addresses inclusive excellence in teaching and models of equitable and inclusive assessment in higher education.  To learn more about Joe’s research and teaching career, please see his personal staff page.

Brian DeLevie is a digital artist, designer, author, and former Associate Professor of Design at the University of Colorado Denver. During his twenty-year tenure at the university, he served as the Co-Founder and Director of The Comcast Center for Media and Technology and the Center for Arts as Systemic Change, Chair of the Department of Visual Arts, and Head of the Digital Design program.

Brian’s body of creative and artistic works investigates themes of technology, memory, history, and Holocaust issues and has been exhibited and screened widely nationally and internationally and led to a Fulbright Fellowship to study the influences of Film, Television, and the Internet on German culture. With a Masters of Fine Arts in Electronic Arts and an Ed.D in Leadership for Educational Equity in Higher Education, Brian has researched, presented, and published numerous papers investigating the confluence of design, innovation, culture change, and experiential educational practices in higher education.

Assistant Director

Ransford Pinto is the Assistant Director for Graduate Programs. He is also a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations. He leads the CFT’s offerings for graduate students and mentors a team of Graduate Teaching Fellows. Ransford earned a PhD in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis and a master’s degree in Public Affairs from the University of Missouri-Columbia. His research focuses on the intersection of race and gender in educational leadership; educational leadership preparation in a global context; and educational equity, diversity, access, and success in the P-20 system. His most recent study examines the educational and career pathways of Black Women in Senior Leadership Positions in U.S 4-year public Universities.

Instructional Consultant

Boni Yraguen started with the CFT in August of 2023. Originally from Oregon, Boni is an alumna of the University of South Alabama in Mechanical Engineering. She holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, specializing in Thermal Fluid Sciences, specifically Diesel Combustion. Boni’s academic pursuits also encompass the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and Engineering Education. Her research delves into designing engineering assessments for higher-order critical thinking, integrating technical-reflection in the engineering classroom, fostering STEM faculty development, and graduate education. Boni has experience in teaching and developing both undergraduate and graduate lecture and lab courses. While her interests are diverse, her passion lies in teaching and engaging with students. During her leisure time, you can spot Boni embarking on road trips with her hairless cats (Fig and Oliver), practicing kickboxing, or mastering a new craft, presently quilting. At the CFT, Boni’s primary role will be to assist with our programs for graduate instructors, but she will support many of our faculty programs and services as well.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Laura Carter-Stone joined the Center for Teaching in 2023. An alumna of Grinnell College and the University of Kentucky, she received her PhD in Teaching, Learning, and Diversity with a specialization in Language, Literacy, and Culture across the street at Peabody College, Vanderbilt. After teaching in K-12 schools, she developed a commitment to equitable and culturally sustaining teaching. Among other topics, her research explores what teachers might learn from dramatic improvisers to design more engaging and cooperative educational environments. Having taught a variety of undergraduate and Masters-level courses, she is passionate about helping higher educators create humanizing learning communities. In her free time, you can find Laura reading, hosting Netflix teleparties, hiking, and enjoying the local improv scene at Third Coast Comedy Club.

Administrative Coordinator

Juliet Traub has been with the Center for Teaching since October 2014. She provides financial and logistical support for the Center for Teaching, which includes scheduling teaching consultations and meetings, managing the center’s budget, tracking participation within courses, and assisting with the planning and implementation of CFT events and programs. Juliet holds a B.A. in Spanish from Middle Tennessee State University. She previously worked at World View, a program at the University of North Carolina, where she served as program manager.  Prior to that, Juliet served as an administrative assistant in Vanderbilt’s Cancer Biology department.

Certificate in College Teaching Session Facilitators

Yvonne Chen (Sociology)

Rachel Underwood (Sociology)

Sarah Williams (Earth and Environmental Science)