Dr. Bates is a higher education administrator with a deep background in educational best practices for quality teaching and learning experiences in collegiate courses. She earned her PhD in Curriculum, Teaching and Educational Policy from Michigan State University. She also holds an MA in Curriculum and Instruction from Virginia Tech and a BA from The College of William & Mary in psychology. Prior to arriving at UWS, Dr. Bates served in various roles in higher education, including Dean of the College of Education, Associate Dean, Assistant Dean, Director of the online Masters of Arts in Teaching program, and tenured faculty. Her primary scholarly agenda includes work in mentoring and supervision of clinical experiences, with research publications and a book on supervision and mentoring. Dr. Bates is driven by her commitment to high quality, intellectual professional experiences for educators at all levels (PK-20), empowering them in their roles as educated professionals who are able to provide quality learning and assessment experiences for students.
What UWS core value (student-focus, best practices, curiosity, inclusiveness, professionalism, whole-person health) do you connect with the most and why?
It’s hard to pick as success in one requires investment in all of them, but at the moment I’m focused on best practices – ensuring that the graduate programs are living into their commitment for high-quality learning experiences that are based on professional best practices, but also instructional best practices for equitable online learning.
What cause is close to your heart?
I come out of a background in K-12 education and so remain committed to serving local educational interests as a parent, educator and advocate.
