About UIndy's Faculty Academy
Your partner in teaching excellence, professional growth, and innovation.Our vision
To facilitate institutional distinction by providing opportunities for our faculty to become excellent facilitators of learning.
Our Mission
The Faculty Academy for Excellence and Innovation is UIndy’s campus-wide professional development center. We connect faculty with each other, their professional responsibilities, and the University’s mission. Our initiatives support teaching, scholarship, and service–helping faculty thrive as teachers, scholars, and mentors while fostering student engagement, retention, and lifelong learning.
Values
We embrace a culture built on:
- Shared commitment: Collaboration and community in teaching and learning
- Evidence-informed practice: Drawing on research and best practices
- Innovation: Creative approaches to teaching, scholarship, and faculty growth
Our Commitments
Teaching Excellence & Faculty Growth
We support faculty as teachers, mentors, and scholars by offering opportunities to deepen pedagogical practice, strengthen classroom strategies, and foster professional growth across all career stages.
Innovation & Learning Design
We collaborate with faculty to design high-quality courses and learning experiences that integrate technology, promote engagement, and meet the needs of diverse learners.
Student Success & Engagement
We partner with faculty, departments, and programs to connect instructional practice with student learning outcomes–contributing to engagement, retention, and lifelong learning.
Our Team
Amanda Miller focuses on active teaching strategies, supporting the success of underrepresented students, and advancing new models of assessing faculty development. She has presented nationally on project-based learning and published scholarship on faculty development assessment in Assessment Update.
Areas of Expertise:
- Active and project-based teaching strategies
- Faculty development assessment and evaluation
- Supporting underrepresented student success
- Scholarship and leadership in sociology and higher education
Dr. James Willis
Assistant Professor of Practice
Philosophy & Religion
Co-Director, Faculty Academy
317-788-5771
willisj@uindy.edu
James Willis supports the Faculty Academy through faculty development, educational technology integration, and interdisciplinary scholarship. His background spans religious studies, philosophy, and educational research, with published work in journals such as Educause Review and Educational Technology Research & Development. He has been instrumental in helping faculty adopt Brightspace and develop effective teaching strategies across online and in-person modalities.
Areas of Expertise:
- Brightspace implementation and faculty support
- Teaching strategies for online, hybrid, and in-person learning
- Educational research (qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods)
- Credentialing systems and digital badges
- Interdisciplinary scholarship in religion and education
Dr. Sarah Wareham
Assistant Professor
School of Education
Co-Director, Faculty Academy
Sarah Wareham brings expertise in special education, inclusive curriculum, and faculty development. She focuses on emotional and behavioral disorders, autism spectrum disorder, and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Since 2020, she has been a Faculty Extender and Senior Faculty Academy Fellow, supporting colleagues in building accessible and engaging courses both online and in the classroom.
Areas of Expertise:
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Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
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Inclusive curriculum and instructional design
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Emotional and behavioral disorders
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Autism spectrum disorder and special education
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Brightspace course design and faculty support
Serdar Oguz joined the University of Indianapolis in 2009, bringing extensive experience in implementing and administering learning technologies. With nearly three decades of experience in higher education technology, he specializes in learning management systems, enterprise integrations, and secure learning infrastructure.
With experience as a PeopleSoft Systems Analyst and Learning Management System (LMS) Administrator, he uses his knowledge to maintain a robust, secure, and reliable learning environment for the university community. He plays a central role in integrating numerous third-party tools into UIndy’s Brightspace LMS, ensuring a technically sound, durable, and user-friendly platform for teaching and learning.
While at Butler University, he implemented and administered the Blackboard LMS, building deep expertise in learning technologies that he later brought to UIndy. Upon arriving at UIndy in 2009, he led UIndy’s Sakai “ACE” LMS implementation and was instrumental in UIndy’s 2020 LMS transition and integration to Brightspace.
Throughout his tenure at UIndy, he has spearheaded the integration and administration of multiple enterprise systems and technologies, including Blackboard, Sakai, Brightspace, Ellucian ILP, and a wide range of third-party eProducts.
Areas of Expertise:
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Brightspace: Learning Management System (LMS) administration and optimization
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Ellucian: Intelligent Learning Platform (ILP) data synchronization
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System Integrations: Banner and third-party eProducts with Brightspace
Marsha Wilson Wood brings extensive experience in curriculum design, instructional technology, and faculty support across higher education and healthcare education. She has taught in both online and classroom settings since 1999 and has also served as a program director, instructional designer, and faculty mentor.
Areas of Expertise:
- Instructional design and course development
- Online course development and adult learning
- Faculty support and classroom teaching strategies
- Curriculum leadership in health sciences and secondary education
- Exploring artificial intelligence in teaching and learning
Becky Fee supports the Faculty Academy through project coordination, faculty development initiatives, and community engagement. She holds an MS in Gerontology from the University of Indianapolis and previously served as training supervisor for Indiana Workforce Development. In addition, she is a Dementia Friends Champion and coordinates UIndy’s dementia-friendly Memory Café programs
Areas of Expertise:
- Project coordination and faculty development support
- Training program design and delivery
- Gerontology and community-based education
- Dementia care education and Memory Café programming
Impact at a glance (2024-25)
Through faculty development, course design, and innovation, the Faculty Academy partnered with colleagues across campus to strengthen teaching, support scholarship, and advance student success.
FA Impact Report 2024-25-
100 Faculty participated in QM professional development
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12 Workshops engaging faculty across disciplines
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8 AI faculty Extenders exploring new frontiers in teaching