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Advisory Council on Instructional Excellence

The Advisory Council on Instructional Excellence (ACIE) advises the provost on the means to encourage instructional development and teaching excellence at the University of Pittsburgh. It realizes these goals through the sponsorship of special programming and the disposition of grants to faculty members seeking funding for curricular- and technology-driven proposals to advance instructional development and teaching excellence.

Provost James V. Maher established the Council in 1998 and chaired the Council during the 1998–99 academic year. The interim chair is John Radzilowicz, director of Pedagogy, Practice, & Assessment at the University Center for Teaching and Learning.

2025-2026 Meeting Dates

Check back for updates.

Committee Information

ACIE Membership

2025-2026 ACIE Committee Members

Interim Chair

Ex Officio

  • Bonnie Falcione, Department of Pharmacy and Therapeutics, School of Pharmacy
    • Also: Co-Chair, Senate Educational Policies Committee
  • Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal, Learning Research and Development Center
     

Faculty

  • Taryn Bayles, Department of Engineering: Chemical & Petroleum, Swanson School of Engineering, pending appointment
  • James Coons, Pharmacy & Therapeutics, School of Pharmacy, pending appointment
  • Jessica Ghilani, Communications, University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, pending appointment
  • Kayla Heffernan, University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, Mathematics
  • Zsuzsa Horvath, Department of Dental Public Health, School of Dental Medicine
  • Bridget Keown, Gender Studies Women Studies, Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences
  • Olga Klimova, Slavic Languages and Literature, Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, pending appointment
  • Jeremy Martinson, Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, School of Public Health
  • Michael Meyer, Department of English, Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, pending appointment
  • Marie Norman, Center for Research on Health Care, School of Medicine
  • Liann Tsoukas, Department of History, Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, pending appointment

Staff Liaisons

  • Amy Tuttle, Office of the Provost
  • Joy Hart, University Center for Teaching and Learning.
2019 Recommendations Report

2019 Recommendations from Provost’s Advisory Council on Instructional Excellence and Subsequent Activities: An Update for the Senate Educational Policies Committee

ACIE Meeting Minutes

Approved minutes of the ACIE meetings are available from 1998 through the current year. For earlier, archived ACIE meeting minutes, please contact ACIE staff liaisons Amy Tuttle or Joy Hart.

Approved Minutes from 2024-2025

Approved Minutes from 2023-2024

Awards Program

The Innovation in Education Awards support faculty proposals which aim to reinvent traditional classroom instruction.