Center for Excellence in Teaching
Maura Capps
Assistant Director of Faculty Development
Maura Capps
Assistant Director of Faculty Development
PhD–History, The University of Chicago
BA–English Literature & Environmental Studies, Bard College
In her role at CET, Maura supports the development, creation, and facilitation of faculty and future faculty teaching institutes and workshops, produces resources on a wide range of pedagogical topics, and engages in one-on-one consultations with faculty on teaching approaches and practices.
Maura earned her PhD at The University of Chicago in History with research and teaching fields in environmental history, history of science, and African studies. At Chicago, she taught a variety of courses in history and social science methodologies. During her time as a postdoctoral fellow at UW-Madison’s Institute for Research in the Humanities, she had joint teaching appointments in the Department of History and the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, where she taught interdisciplinary courses on imperial science, global migration, and food studies. Prior to joining the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Maura was the Director of Network Learning at Teach for America–California Capital Valley, where she worked with K-12 classroom educators, school leaders, and educational entrepreneurs to catalyze leadership in culturally-responsive pedagogy and educational equity in California public schools. She specializes in social science and humanities pedagogy with particular interests in equitable design and research and writing skills development.
Aidan Hoskinson
Assistant Director of STEM Faculty Development
Aidan Hoskinson
Assistant Director of STEM Faculty Development
PhD – Conservation biology, University of Minnesota
BA – Mathematics and Psychology, Grinnell College
Aidan joined CET as our STEM specialist in January 2025. Aidan brings sixteen years of experience teaching university science courses, primarily at the introductory level and in large-enrollment classrooms. Most recently, they led a departmental team responsible for transforming lower-division courses common to all biology majors. They bring experience in high-impact teaching practices such as active learning in large courses, collaborative learning, and inclusive teaching.
They earned their PhD in Conservation Biology from the University of Minnesota with a dissertation that modeled large-scale plant species diversity. As their interest shifted from plant ecosystems to classroom ecosystems, they sought training and experience from experts in biology education research. They developed specific research interests in how people learn biology and how people develop expertise in sciences. They specialize in developing workshops and teaching institutes for current and future faculty, and they support individual faculty seeking to strengthen their teaching.
Ingrid Steiner
Associate Director of Faculty Development
Ingrid Steiner
Associate Director of Faculty Development
EdD Educational Leadership, concentration in Educational Psychology, University of Southern California
MS Education, option in Online Teaching and Learning, California State University, East Bay
MA Humanities, specialization in Art History, California State University, Dominguez Hills
BA Business Economics and German Studies, Randolph-Macon Woman’s College
In her role as Associate Director of Faculty Development, Ingrid oversees the development, implementation, and facilitation of pedagogical programs, consultations, and resources. She also cultivates partnerships and communications across the university to engage the USC teaching community in CET’s offerings.
As an adjunct professor of art history and design history, she enjoys exploring the intersections of the humanities and pedagogy. Her particular interests in educational scholarship includes motivation, relevancy, ableism, and accessibility (abilities). Currently, Ingrid is excited to be working on her PhD research in Art History.
Ginger Clark
Director
Ginger Clark
Director
Associate Vice Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs
Professor of Clinical Education, Rossier School of Education
Marriage and Family Therapy Master’s Degree Program
Ellen Nagamine
Office Manager
Ellen Nagamine
Office Manager
B.S. Business Administration (Marketing and Economics), Cal State University Los Angeles
B.A. candidate (Graphic Design) – Art Center College of Design
Ellen Nagamine brings a unique skillset to her position as Office Manager of CET. Several years of experience in the entertainment industry (Disney, Warner Brothers, Paramount, and The Araca Group), her skills includes finance, administration, e-commerce, SAP, logistics, operations, analytics, and graphic design. Ellen’s most recent positions were: Finance Manager of The Araca Group, and Presentation Graphics Specialist for the Worldwide Theatrical Marketing Division at Paramount Pictures. As office manager, Ellen manages finance and administration, university awards projects, and supports the CET staff with various department initiatives.
In Memoriam
Bob Sweeney