Linda Slakey

University of Massachusetts-Amherst

Dr. Linda Slakey is a graduate of Siena Heights College (B.S. in Chemistry), and the University of Michigan (Ph.D. in Biochemistry.)  She was appointed to the faculty of the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1973.  She was Head of the Department of Biochemistry from 1986 until 1991, and Dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (NSM) from 1993 until 2000.  From 2000 through 2006, she was Dean of Commonwealth College, the honors college of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.  As Dean of NSM and of Commonwealth College she was active in supporting teaching and learning initiatives throughout the University, with particular attention to engaging undergraduate students in research, to faculty development activities that promote the transition from lecturing to more engaged pedagogies, and to the support of research on how students learn.  From 2006 through 2011 she was Director of the Division of Undergraduate Education at the National Science Foundation.  In that context she came to view the challenge of bringing about good pedagogy as national and cultural in scope, and was also afforded the opportunity to come to know many of the people working on this agenda.  At present she has a consulting practice in Washington, DC, with appointments as Senior Advisor at both AAU and AAC&U, focused on bringing about a shift in the culture of undergraduate teaching from one in which lecture is an acceptable norm toward one characterized by personal and institutional expectations of more student-centered teaching practices.

Project Leader, Workshop Participant, Website Contributor

Project Leader

Accelerating Systemic Change Network part of Accelerating Systemic Change Network
The Accelerating Systemic Change Network (ASCN) is a network of individuals and institutions, formed with the goal of more quickly advancing STEM education programs. Our unique approach is to bring together those who are researching systemic change at higher education institutions, with those who are making systemic change happen at their individual institutions. By closing the loop between researchers and change agents, we aim to accelerate change at program and institution levels, and to improve STEM education nationally.

Website Content Contributions

Other Contributions (3)

Pooling Knowledge for Rapid Response: Covid-19 Prompted a Network of Research Universities to Share Best Practices for Assessing Student Learning Online part of Accelerating Systemic Change Network:Events:Meetings and Conferences:Transforming Institutions Conference 2021:Program:Presentations:Session VII
The sudden and wholesale shift in March 2020 away from brick-and-mortar classrooms and toward hybrid and online teaching due to the pandemic was experienced by most faculty as a crisis moment. For many faculty ...

My Interest in ASCN: Linda Slakey part of Accelerating Systemic Change Network:Member Profiles
AAU, AACU/PKAL, APLU, BVA Consultant Prior Organizational Change Work As a Dean I supported groups doing DBER, and reformed the college curriculum committee from one that rubber stamped course proposals to a group ...

My Interest in ASCN: Linda Slakey part of Accelerating Systemic Change Network:Events:Meetings and Conferences:Workshop: July 2016:Participant Profiles
AAU, AACU/PKAL, APLU, BVA Consultant Prior Organizational Change Work As a Dean I supported groups doing DBER, and reformed the college curriculum committee from one that rubber stamped course proposals to a group ...