Lisa Elfring

About Lisa Elfring

When I was training in genetics, molecular biology, and cell biology, my favorite aspects of the job were the teaching interactions I had with students, colleagues, and the public. My work at the University of Arizona has allowed me to indulge my dual passions for biology and teaching. With the support of amazing mentors and role models I have expanded my skills, connections, and influence as an educator and change-maker in biology education. I have taught biology to over students, from beginning undergraduates to graduate and professional students. In the past few years, when I engage with the educational or healthcare systems in our city, I am likely to encounter professionals who were my students, and that is incredibly rewarding.As Vice Provost for Instruction and Assessment, I co-lead the University Center for Assessment, Teaching, and Technology, a central support unit that promotes evidence-based and equitable approaches to teaching across disciplines, modalities, and locations. Leading this group of over 70 talented professionals has given me more big-picture skills and is both energizing and humbling.Being a non-tenure-track teaching faculty member at a research-intensive university presents some challenges, and I have been highly engaged with colleagues in promoting recognition of the important roles my teaching colleagues play in our institution through stable career pathways and professional-growth opportunities for teaching-focused faculty members. I am also passionate about using evidence to inform the way we teach and the way our institution recognizes and evaluates teaching. I have spearheaded a major shift in our end-of-course surveys and am excited to move toward a more holistic evaluation system for teaching. My collaborators and I are piloting efforts to use course-outcomes analytics data to inform equity-minded redesign of gateway courses. I am highly engaged as a Fellow with the Partnership for Life Sciences Education (PULSE), a national organization that aims to transform biology and STEM teaching. And despite my administrative responsibilities, I continue to teach biology, because helping students discover the inner workings of the cell and apply their understanding to the problems that interest them is the work that sustains me.

Experience

1. Pulse Fellow

   Partnership For Undergraduate Life Sciences Education

   Jan 2016 — Present · US

   As a PULSE Fellow, I promote transformation in STEM education by facilitating change in academic departments.

Education

• University of California, Santa Cruz

  PhD, Molecular, Cell, Developmental Biology

  1989 — 1994

• University of California, Santa Cruz

  Bachelor of Arts, Biology

  1983 — 1987