iMPACT

Tamara Mitchell

The College of Science welcomes alumna Tamara Mitchell (’07) to a key new position, Associate Director of Learning Experience Design. She brings to the position a unique set of skills and experiences in teaching/pedagogy, career services, instructional design, project management and industry engagement.

Mitchell joined the College in late July after working for OSU’s Professional and Continuing Education (PACE) team, where she partnered with subject matter experts to develop over 20 courses, including a statewide recycling training module and an OSU human resources training program for 8,000 employees.

Mitchell will be working primarily with the Integrated Professional Development (IPD) team, including Director Chris Larson and Chelsea Wolk, to advance new pedagogies that blend traditional and online strategies. Their goal is to ensure all science majors gain the professional skills and social fluency necessary to be career-ready and poised to enter the workforce or graduate school. Students begin immediately with first-year experience classes and continue through graduation.

Mitchell graduated from Oregon State in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies before earning an M.S. in English at Morehead State University in Kentucky and an M.S.Ed. in Information Technology with an emphasis in instructional design at Western Oregon University. Prior and concurrently to working for PACE, since 2013 she has worked at Arkansas State University – Mountain Home to establish career programming and services. She also worked as a career advisor at the OSU College of Business from 2014-2017.

A young professional active in her field, Mitchell has already achieved national recognition for her work and expertise. She is a Quality Matters course reviewer and has been hired as a consultant by other universities and colleges to review their course materials. She has presented at six conferences on instructional design and course development in the last year alone and, in a recent Instructional Design competition at the Online Learning Consortium conference, she was ranked in the top four developers for an online course using adult learning theory and Universal Design for Learning principles.

“I am thrilled to join the IPD team and the College of Science,” says Mitchell. “I look forward to working with administrators, faculty and students to create innovative programs that combine the best of traditional and online approaches to make sure our science students gain the professional skills and awareness they need for lifelong success. Chris and team have done some great work and I’m excited to help them scale and take it to the next level.”

“It’s exciting to welcome someone as skilled and energetic as Tamara to the team,” said Chris Larson, director of the College’s nascent Integrated Professional Development program. She is a proven strategist and doer. I am confident that together with our faculty and staff, Tamara will be able to create innovative online and in-person programs to help all of our students succeed in their careers and beyond.”

Tamara is located in Kidder 114 Kidder in the Science Success Center.