Roy Summerford, 334/844-9999

GROCCIA NAMED HEAD OF NEW AU TEACHING DEVELOPMENT CENTER

AUBURN -- James Edward Groccia, an authority on college teaching and faculty development, has been appointed director of the Biggio Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning at Auburn University.

Groccia, former assistant dean of the graduate school and director of the Program for Excellence in Teaching at the University of Missouri, took over Auburn's new program on Aug. 11, said Linda Glaze, AU assistant provost for academic affairs.

Since AU President William F. Walker announced the creation of the Biggio Center in May 2002 with a $10 million endowment from the estate of insurance executive Alvin A. Biggio, the university has been assembling resources and establishing an organizational structure for a center that will help faculty enhance their instructional skills.

The final stage -- last spring -- was a nationwide search for a director. Groccia's national reputation for leading Missouri's program bodes well for the Auburn program, Glaze said.

"Dr. Groccia has knowledge and experience with all aspects of development for faculty, staff and graduate teaching students," she said. "At the University of Missouri-Columbia, he coordinated a very successful program, and he is one of the leaders in professional development, evidenced by his scholarship and participation in national conferences on teaching and learning."

Director of the Missouri program since 1995, Groccia was also coordinator of that university's New Faculty Teaching Scholars and Preparing Future Faculty programs and member of the graduate faculty of UM's Program for Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis.

At Worchester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, he served from 1992-95 as director of the Center for Curricular Innovation and Educational Development and from 1984-92 as director of the Counseling and Student Development Center.

Groccia holds a doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of Tennessee, where he was associate director of the Office of Student Development Services and director of the University Counseling Center.

He is the author of The College Success Book: A Whole-Student Approach to Academic Excellence and co-editor, with Judith Miller, of Enhancing Productivity: Administrative, Instructional, and Technological Strategies.

aug03:AU-groccia

CONTACT: Glaze, 334/844-5779.