The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology will welcome Erika Kustra, Ph.D., for a special two-week visit starting July 11.

Kustra is the director of teaching and learning development at the Centre for Teaching and Learning at the University of Windsor, Canada. In addition to working with the staff at CTLT, she will facilitate an intensive, three-day instructional skills workshop for a select group Illinois State faculty members.

Kustra has been an educational developer for nearly 20 years, actively supporting and enhancing quality teaching and learning within and across the post-secondary sector. She completed her post-doctoral work in physiological psychology.

Kustra has taught university-level small and large classes (6 to over 300 students) using a variety of active learning methods including discussions, inquiry, problem-based learning, labs and demonstrations. In terms of professional development for university teachers, she has facilitated over 60 invited workshops nationally and internationally. She has also co-authored handbooks and guides on topics ranging from leading effective discussion, program-level learning outcome assessment to educational development portfolios. Recently, she led a multi-institutional project to examine teaching culture and educational development programs.  Kustra has been part of university- and national-level award-winning teams for exemplary collaboration in university teaching, and she was the recipient of the University of Windsor’s Excellence in Leadership Award.

Kustra’s brief visit to Illinois State reciprocates a much longer stay by CTLT Director Claire Lamonica at the University of Windsor. Lamonica and Kustra worked together when the former served as a Visiting Fellow at Windsor’s Centre for Teaching and Learning in the fall of 2015.