As her department’s inaugural director of undergraduate studies, Lisa Miller is the primary architect of a vibrant program that has grown steadily since she took the reins in 2013.
Miller has built relationships with local and national companies to support the program, which includes six courses she developed. In one—the senior design course—industry partners sponsor the student projects through a process she created. She also created an advisory board where people from companies and the department discuss department priorities and opportunities.
An outstanding teacher, she sometimes surprises students with the depth of her interest in them.
"I typically teach three required courses. This repeated interaction gives me a unique opportunity to develop broadly applicable skills across the students' educational experience."
“She really cared about all of us and knew all of our goals,” says one former student.
Her successes also include developing a new model for undergraduate advising and creating and chairing a committee to oversee undergraduate education. She spearheaded her department’s efforts with the University’s Writing Enriched Curriculum program and crafted a framework for collaborative peer review of students’ group-written documents. In a crowning achievement, she led the drive to gain accreditation for her department’s fledgling undergraduate program.
“The work for passing this accreditation is considered daunting, even in well-established departments,” says a colleague. “There was no blueprint to build from, and the new processes to be documented were still being honed. She carried the lion’s share of the work.”
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