Dr. Karen Chen, Associate Professor in UMBC’s Department of Information Systems, was appointed as a Senior Fellow for Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) by the University System of Maryland Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation for the 2026-2027 academic year. The fellowship bridges the gap between classroom practice and systematic inquiry.
Dr. Chen will lead the 2026-2027 SoTL Fellows cohort in providing expert guidance on refining research questions, selecting methodologies, and navigating the Institutional Review Board process. She will mentor USM faculty through the lifecycle of their research, from initial data collection to preparing manuscripts for peer-reviewed publication, helping them contribute significantly to the global conversation on evidence-based teaching.