Provost Fellows Program

Provost Fellows Program

The purpose of the Provost Fellows program is to provide leadership experiences and opportunities to ETSU faculty and staff interested in learning more about the services and responsibilities of The Office of the Provost. Fellows will work toward completion of a project identified as a critical need in the Provost’s Office. Fellows will also receive individual leadership coaching and professional development opportunities to build upon their existing strengths and grow professionally.

Structure:

• Fellowship constitutes a multi-year commitment.
• During that time will devote a percentage of their workload to the Provost’s Office.
• The Provost’s Office will provide tools, professional development, support, and leadership experiences.
• A stipend will be negotiated with the candidate upon appointment.

Current Provost Fellows

Aruna Kilaru

Dr. Aruna Kilaru is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at East Tennessee State University and serves as Faculty Fellow for Interdisciplinary Innovation in the Biosciences in the Office of the Provost. A plant biochemist by training, her research focuses on plant lipid metabolism, metabolic engineering, and the development of sustainable biological systems to address challenges related to food security, climate resilience, and the bioeconomy.

As part of her Faculty Fellow role, Dr. Kilaru works to advance interdisciplinary bioscience initiatives across the university. Her responsibilities include leading efforts to develop a university-wide center for synthetic biology and bioengineering, facilitating interdisciplinary research and educational grant proposals, and helping create new curriculum and training opportunities in emerging bioscience and biomanufacturing fields. She also collaborates with the ETSU Research Corporation and external partners to strengthen industry engagement and expand research opportunities for ETSU students and faculty.

Through this fellowship, Dr. Kilaru aims to foster cross-disciplinary collaboration, support workforce development in the biosciences, and position ETSU as a regional hub for innovation in synthetic biology, sustainable agriculture, and the growing bioeconomy.

Matthew Palmatier

Matt Palmatier is Associate Professor of Psychology at East Tennessee State University and serves in the Office of the Provost as Faculty Fellow for General Education and Director of Assessment for the General Education Advisory Council (GEAC). His work brings together faculty leadership, curriculum design, and assessment strategy in support of institutional improvement and student learning.

Dr. Palmatier co-chaired the Compass Core Implementation team and served in a leadership role in the ETSU General Education Redesign Task Force. In his role as Faculty Fellow and Director of Assessment, he has continued the implementation of ETSU’s redesigned general education curriculum. He has directed university-wide assessment and reporting processes tied to accreditation expectations, developed systems for evidence collection and faculty support, and guided the review and recertification of all general education courses in the Compass Core. His ongoing duties include development of focus areas within general education and other structures intended to make the curriculum more coherent, meaningful, and sustainable for students and faculty.

This fellowship complements Dr. Palmatier's work with faculty, staff, and administrators to align learning outcomes, assessment practices, and program requirements with institutional goals at ETSU. As Associate Chair for Curriculum in the Department of Psychology, he has led curriculum revision efforts for undergraduate programs and the development of a new Psychology course in Information Literacy - Science and Pseudoscience: Anti-Influencing for Grown-Ups. He is also leading the development of a forthcoming interdisciplinary major in Neuroscience at ETSU. Across these roles, his work focuses on building collaborative systems that support effective teaching, curriculum innovation, continuous improvement, and student success.

Ashley Sergiadis

Ashley Sergiadis is the Digital Scholarship Librarian and Associate Professor in the Charles C. Sherrod Library and serves as a Provost Fellow for Watermark Faculty Success in the Office of the Provost. Throughout her career, she has been dedicated to advocating for and supporting faculty.

In her role as Provost Fellow, she manages Watermark Faculty Success, the university’s system for faculty activity reporting and evaluation, including annual evaluations, midpoint reviews, and tenure and promotion processes. She collaborates with partners across the institution to implement these workflows and to support the collection, analysis, and reporting of faculty data.

This fellowship complements her work as a librarian, where she leads Digital Scholarship Services. In this capacity, she oversees the institutional repository (Digital Commons @ ETSU), the ETSU Research Portal, and Open and Affordable Course Materials Initiatives.

Jessie Wang

Jessie Wang serves as Assistant Dean of Student Success and Access in the Clemmer College of Education and Human Development and as Provost Fellow for Student Academic Success at East Tennessee State University. Her work advances institution-wide strategies to improve student retention, progression, and degree completion, with a focus on strengthening the undergraduate academic experience.

As Provost Fellow, she established and leads the Student Academic Success Work Group, convening faculty, staff, and university leaders to identify barriers to student academic success and implement data-informed solutions. She also coordinates a network of student success leads across ETSU’s undergraduate colleges, advancing shared strategy and collaboration across the colleges. Her work enhances coordination between Academic Affairs and Student Life and Enrollment, supporting an integrated and effective approach to student success.

Jessie earned her master’s degree in Higher Education from Harvard University and is completing her doctorate in Higher Education Leadership and Policy at Vanderbilt University, with an anticipated graduation in May 2027.

• Past Provost Fellows

  

  Steph Frye-Clark, 2022 Fellow

  Dr. Steph Frye-Clark is the Assistant Professor of Tuba & Euphonium and Brass Area Head in the Department of Music.  Prior to coming to ETSU in 2013 they received their Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  Dr. Frye-Clark’s expertise is in tuba performance and pedagogy and is an active educator, soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral performer across the country.  Their current research and performance focuses on queer composers, both in commissioning and performing new works and gaining a better understanding of the queer composer experience in our society.  Dr. Frye-Clark is passionate about empowering underrepresented composers, musicians, and students, and hopes to extend that to a broader cross section of campus.  They are currently on the International Tuba & Euphonium Association Board and in Fall 2021 will be joining the Faculty Senate and the College of Arts & Science Equity and Inclusion Council.

  

  Trena M. Paulus, 2022 Fellow

  Trena M. Paulus, Ph.D. is a professor in the Research Division of Family Medicine, Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities in the Honors College and Affiliate Faculty with the Applied Social Research Laboratory. Prior to her arrival at ETSU in 2019, Dr. Paulus was a Professor of Qualitative Research Methods at the University of Georgia (2014-2019), and Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville (2003-2014). Her scholarship focuses on innovation in research methodologies, especially as they intersect with new technologies. She is co-author of Doing Qualitative Research in a Digital World (Sage, 2022), Looking for Insight Transformation and Learning in Online Talk (Routledge, 2019) and Digital Tools for Qualitative Research (Sage, 2014). Dr. Paulus is also a certified professional trainer for ATLAS.ti qualitative data analysis software.