Salinas and Brown Among Most Outstanding Educators in UT System August 29, 2012

Dr. Cinthia Salinas and Dr. Keffrelyn Brown have been honored with the highest teaching accolade given by the University of Texas System, the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award.

Brown and Salinas were selected from faculty on all 15 UT System campuses to be recognized as extraordinary educators.

Salinas is an associate professor in the College of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction and is a member of the social studies program in that area. Her research and teaching focus in social studies education is on historical thinking in bilingual and ESL classroom settings as well as broader understandings of citizenship and an examination of migrant education. She also is interested in how social studies teachers navigate the instructional process and deal with curriculum in an era of high stakes testing.

Brown is an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction’s Cultural Studies in Education area. She also has a courtesy appointment in the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies and is an affiliate faculty member in the John L. Warfield Center for African Diaspora Studies. Brown’s scholarship focuses on sociocultural knowledge of teaching, multicultural teacher education, and curriculum theory and education discourses related to African American students.

“Teaching undergraduates is at the very heart of what we do at The University of Texas at Austin, and these faculty members have shown themselves to be experts in that endeavor,” said President Bill Powers. “They inspire our students and train them to think critically about the world they will inherit. And in doing so, they have a greater positive effect on the future than any of us can calculate.”

Award winners were honored Aug. 22, receiving monetary awards of $25,000. The cash awards are considered among the nation's largest for rewarding higher education faculty members who exhibit outstanding classroom performance and innovation in undergraduate instruction.

Established in 2008, the Regents' Outstanding Teaching Awards program salutes educators who demonstrate a clear commitment to teaching and sustained ability to deliver excellence to the undergraduate learning experience.

A panel of students, peer faculty members and external reviewers evaluates the award nominees' teaching performance over three years. Faculty members are considered through a rigorous process based on a range of activities and criteria that include expertise, curricula quality, innovative course development and student learning outcomes.

“The UT System and the Board of Regents believe educating young minds is paramount for the future of this great state and nation,” said UT System Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa. “These awards honor those educators who have produced proven results and have had a great impact on our students.”

—Kay Randall, University Communications, 512-232-3910