Biography
Melissa joined the Center for Teaching Excellence in June of 2023. As the Assistant Director of Learning Technology Initiatives, Melissa supports the Center by managing institutionally supported learning technologies at UVA, which includes tool identification, adoption, and assessment. Melissa is passionate about collaborating and coordinating with Schools and academic support units to ensure that learning technologies meet the varied pedagogical needs of instructors across many disciplines and adhere to university standards for pedagogy, accessibility, privacy, integration, and security.
Melissa was born and raised in Charlottesville, VA. Melissa received a bachelor's in business administration from Christopher Newport University. Upon graduating, Melissa pursued a career in education through an alternative teaching program in Arizona.
Melissa lived 11 years in Yuma, AZ working for the Yuma Union High School District as a teacher, a director, and an assistant principal. While working in public education, Melissa received two master's degrees, one in Educational Technology and the other in Educational Leadership, from Arizona State University and Grand Canyon University, respectively. As the director of educational technology, Melissa battled the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and supported the transition for her district of over 12,000 students from in-person to completely online. Melissa has worked with Canvas and a variety of learning technologies since 2014. Melissa presented at the state and national level about her work around using Canvas and co-authored an article through the Association of Career and Technical Education publication, Techniques, titled "Cooking with Canvas."
