Staff
Structure of the CFT
The CFT is staffed by a Director, one Associate Director, three Assistant Directors, an Educational Technologist, three Instructional Technologists, a Program Coordinator, Administrative Assistant, four Graduate Teaching Fellows, and ten Graduate Teaching Affiliates.
The Director, Assistant Directors, and Technologists work directly with faculty, departments, and programs, and the Graduate Teaching Fellows work directly with graduate students.
Members of the Vanderbilt teaching community may identify their CFT liaison by viewing this chart.
Who Are We?
DirectorDerek Bruff is director of the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching and a principal senior lecturer in the Vanderbilt Department of Mathematics. As director, he oversees the Center’s programming and offerings for faculty and graduate students, helping them develop foundational teaching skills and explore new ideas in teaching and learning. He also consults regularly with campus leaders about pedagogical issues, seeking to foster a university culture that supports effective teaching. His research interests include educational technology, visual thinking, and social pedagogies, and he teaches courses on cryptography, linear algebra, and statistics. Learn more about Derek’s work, including his 2009 book Teaching with Classroom Response Systems: Creating Active Learning Environments, on his blog, Agile Learning. |
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Associate Director
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Assistant DirectorsJoe Bandy has been Assistant Director of the Center for Teaching since 2010. As a PHD in Sociology, he works as liaison to Vanderbilt’s social science departments and programs in the schools of Arts and Science, Peabody College of Education and Human Development, and the Owen Graduate School of Management. He has supported curricular, instructional, and organizational development at Vanderbilt in consultations, workshops, and programs such as the Junior Faculty Teaching Fellows and the Certificate in College Teaching. More recently, he has facilitated professional and organizational development through learning communities on environmental education (including The Cumberland Project), community engagement/service learning, and issues of difference and power in the classroom. He teaches in the Department of Sociology and the Program in American Studies on issues related to social movements, environmental justice, class structure, and economic development. His most recent research addresses inclusive excellence in teaching and the assessment of community engagement. To learn more about Joe’s research and teaching please see his personal staff page. |
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![]() Heather N. Fedesco has been an Assistant Director of the Center for Teaching since 2018. She leads the CFT’s offerings for graduate students, including Teaching Assistant Orientation, the Certificate in College Teaching, and the Certificate in Humanities Teaching & Learning. She also supervises and mentors our team of Graduate Teaching Fellows, working with them to prepare Vanderbilt graduate students to be effective and intentional teachers both here on campus and in future faculty roles. Heather has a PhD in Interpersonal Communication from Purdue University and researches the ways in which features of the learning environment, especially instructor connectedness, can influence student motivation. |
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Educational TechnologistRhett McDaniel has worked in distance education and faculty development for nearly 20 years and has been the Educational Technologist at the Center for Teaching since 2009. In his role at the CFT, Rhett is involved with instructional technology initiatives in Vanderbilt schools and colleges, maintains CFT instructional technology resources, CFT website, and the center’s virtual resources. Rhett is available for group and individual workshops to help instructors identify, and become familiar with, appropriate technologies for teaching. Rhett holds a BS in Telecommunications and MS in Music Technology.
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Lead Instructional Technologist |
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Instructional Technologists |
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Program CoordinatorTracy Tveit has been the program coordinator for the Center for Teaching since August 2013. Tracy coordinates and does all logistical planning for the CFT major programs and events. She is responsible for the compilation of data indicating the CFT’s scope of reach, both on and off campus, and for the development of the analytical/assessment reports for the CFT’s services. Prior to coming to the CFT, Tracy was the Education Program Coordinator for the Cancer Biology Graduate Program at the Vanderbilt School of Medicine. Before Vanderbilt, Tracy served as a BSN, RN, specializing in adult and adolescent psychiatric medicine, in the Nashville and the Chicago area. |
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Administrative Assistant |
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Graduate Teaching Fellows |
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Graduate Teaching Affiliates |
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Certificate in College Teaching Session Facilitators
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