SPCS Faculty

Updates & General Information
Tell us your story. Update your online bio. Find out who sits on SPCS committees. And review the list of program chairs. If you need additional details, information, review details below.faculty appointments
active adjunct faculty members
average number of students in SPCS classes
The Spring Adjunct Faculty Meeting will be held remote via Zoom. All adjunct faculty members are encouraged to attend, even if not teaching during the spring semester. Service awards and promotions will be announced and presented.
- Thursday, January 6, 2022
- Via Zoom (link emailed Jan. 4)
- 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Effective Teaching Tools
Effective teaching is at the heart of the School, part of the fabric of the Richmond experience. The resources provided below offer tips and tools for faculty training and improvement, along with links to forms and resources needed to teach and administer classes effectively.
Resources for All Faculty
Improving Instruction
The Innovations in Teaching framework defines teaching innovations along 14 dimensions. SPCS gives an annual Innovations in Teaching Award to an adjunct faculty member who demonstrates innovative teaching practices. Nominations for the annual award are generally due in early December.
Our Online Resources for Teaching & Learning have been collected by a committee of adjunct and full-time faculty, spearheaded by Bob Spires and John Zinn. This event is updated as new tools and resources become known and available.
Continuity of Instruction
The University has collected tips, resources and techniques for ensuring that students are able to continue making progress toward their degrees regardless of circumstances. Recent experience with the coronavirus pandemic reveals the importance of making a plan to continue instruction. The following summarizes primary recommendations:
- Determine multimedia needs ahead of time and prepare fail-safes.
- Prepare for emergencies and hazards
- Review planning recommendations for emergencies
- Develop an instructional continuity plan in case of class cancellation.
Campus Emergencies
In the case of an active shooter: Run. Hide. Fight. University of Richmond Police recommend watching this video illustrating the value and effectiveness of this response to an active shooter on campus.
All campus emergency alerts are posted to alert.richmond.edu and sent by email to your Richmond account. Log in to BannerWeb to opt into emergency communication by phone and text to ensure speedy receipt of emergency communications.
Reminders
Faculty meetings are held early in the spring and fall semesters. SPCS Night and Commencement are held early in May.
You may wish to become a Safe Zone Ally to support LGBTQ members of the Richmond community.
If you are interested in additional employment opportunities at Richmond, visit SPCS job postings or the HR online jobs site.
Free and discounted professional development opportunities are available for all faculty; review the list on the Adjunct Resources page.
Faculty & Staff Accomplishments

Ann Hodges, SPCS paralegal studies program chair and law professor emerita, penned a guest column for The Capital Times of Madison, Wisconsin, focused on efforts of Wisconsin nurses to have their union representative recognized for collective bargaining by the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority (UWHCA).
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Tom Shields, SPCS associate dean and chair of graduate education, participated on the education panel of a policy symposium with current- and former-staffers of Congressman Bobby Scott, who represents the 3rd District of Virginia and is chair of the House of Representatives Education and Labor Committee.
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Bob Spires, associate professor of education, contributed to an Arise report by Monti Datta, associate professor of political science, titled “Trust and Liberation.” The report studies the relationship between trust and the prevalence of human trafficking globally, and it finds trust levels to be a reliable predictor of human trafficking & the cross-national variation of slavery.
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Kate Cassada, associate professor of education and chair of educational leadership & policy studies, has been elected to a second term as president of Virginia Professors of Educational Leadership (VPEL). VPEL is a statewide organization of university professors that prepare public school administrators and supervisors at the masters, educational specialist and doctoral levels.
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