Amy Goodburn, senior associate vice chancellor and dean of undergraduate education, has been named as one of five Russell Edgerton Innovation Fellows by the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Higher Education in recognition for her contributions to improving undergraduate education and student success.
The Gardner Institute is a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing institutional responsibility for improving outcomes associated with teaching, learning, retention, and completion. Through its efforts, the institute strives to advance higher education’s larger goal of achieving equity.
The fellowship, previously known as the Edge Award for Innovation in Undergraduate Education, is named after Russell Edgerton, an expert on undergraduate education whose leadership in the past 30 years has influenced many common practices in higher education today including learning communities, first-year experiences, peer review of teaching, and assessment of student learning.
The cohort of 2024-27 fellows will spend the next three-years in collaboration and mentorship with the Gardner Institute; participating in its annual symposium and engaging with its alumni and community networks.
“I can’t think of anyone who is more deserving of this recognition and opportunity,” said Katherine Ankerson, executive vice chancellor. “Amy’s innovative ideas have moved this campus forward in increasing opportunities for all students to succeed. She has had a profound effect on teaching, learning, and student success over the past three decades, and we are grateful she calls UNL home.”
A first-generation student who attended college with the assistance of Pell grants and federal work study, Goodburn has experienced firsthand the power of social mobility through higher education and works to provide the same opportunity for students at Nebraska.
In a conversation with John Gardner, executive chair and co-founder of the institute, Goodburn said she views innovation as the integration of ideas, perspectives, and systems in new ways to solve problems and enhance students’ experiences. She believes there is always space to innovate regardless of one’s role in higher education.
Goodburn sees innovation through the lens of faculty as closely tied to curriculum development and the opportunity for students to apply their learning to real world context. As professor of English within the College of Arts and Sciences, she spent twelve years as co-facilitator of the Peer Review of Teaching Project, a professional development program that enables faculty to observe and provide feedback on each other's teaching practices, allowing them to identify areas for improvement, share best practices, and enhance their teaching skills. She co-authored two books during that experience: "College Classroom: A Model for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and Making Teaching" and "Learning Visible: Peer Review and Course Portfolios."
As an administrator within the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor, Goodburn looks at innovation in a more conceptual and organizational manner, providing opportunities for faculty and staff to collaborate in ways to improve campus culture and student experiences. Among her many notable initiatives over the past two decades are:
- Founding and co-chairing First Generation Nebraska, which connects first-generation students with faculty and staff who share similar academic experiences with the goal of making campus more first-generation friendly.
- Leading the implementation of MyPLAN, a custom online degree planner that allowed students to work one-on-one with their advisors to stay on their academic path toward graduation. MyPLAN was so successful, the university system is investing in Stellic, a next-generation degree management tool, to boost retention and degree completion even further.
- Creating networks, like the Academic Solutions Council and Retention Leaders Council, that enable faculty and staff to work together to identify policies and practices that can be improved or eliminated to better enhance student success.
- Working closely with Institutional Effectiveness and Analytics to create data and learning analytic tools that allow faculty and staff to better understand student performance at the college, department, and instructor level, which can inform enhancements and best practices in teaching and support services.
Most recently, Goodburn’s work has focused on the creation of a validating campus ecology, in collaboration with the Pullias Center for Higher Education, to support undergraduates' persistence, degree completion, and career development, particularly for students who have been historically underserved. This work is the basis for the university’s Quality Initiative: Building a UNL Culture Where Every Person Matters. A key component of the initiative focuses on the impact of UNL’s Academic Navigators, who work proactively and holistically to support students who are experiencing barriers to success.
“At the end of my career, I hope to be able to say that I helped to fulfill the promise of all our students by transforming our campus culture to center their needs and experiences in our academic systems, policies, and practices, and that it made a difference to help provide the conditions for others to lead,” Goodburn said. “My goal is to empower the people I work with to take action when they see opportunities to improve our campus, and really just to be involved in this ongoing work together.”
