Chrissy Cruz M.Ed., Ed.S.

Faculty Instructional Specialist

Karen L. Smith Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning

Leadership Studies Instructor, LEAD Scholars Academy

University of Central Florida

chrissy.cruz@ucf.edu

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Hello, my name is Chrissy Cruz, and I am a Faculty Instructional Specialist at the Karen L. Smith Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning and an Adjunct Professor of Leadership Studies at the University of Central Florida. I graduated from the University of Florida with a Master of Education and Specialist in Education. Prior to my current role at the Faculty Center, I was a Manager and Adjunct Professor at Global UCF, in the career services division, preparing culturally and linguistically diverse international students to excel professionally within the United States higher education system. I have a background in instructional design and educational technology from the UF School of Teaching and Learning, a Quality Matters certification in higher education course design and assessment, and I am an Adobe Certified Creative Educator.

 

At the University of Central Florida's Karen L. Smith Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning, I teach faculty development workshops and lead Teaching and Learning programs on implementing effective teaching strategies, curriculum and course design, inclusive classroom management techniques, teaching with technology, and facilitating faculty interdisciplinary learning communities. I currently teach IDS6513 Preparing Tomorrow’s Faculty within the UCF College of Graduate Studies, a UCF graduate course on effective teaching at the university level. In this course, I educate students on teaching pedagogies, effective teaching methods, course design, student learning and motivation, assessment, classroom management, and career development.

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I have been teaching college success, leadership, career, and professional development courses at the college level for ten years. At the UCF LEAD Scholars Academy, I teach LDR 2001 Foundations of Leadership, LDR 2002 Intermediate Leadership, and LDR 3950 Leadership Capstone to students enrolled in the UCF Leadership Studies minor, certificate, and LEAD Scholars Academy. I was previously an Instructor at UMass Boston, the University of Florida, and Santa Fe College where I designed and delivered face-to-face, hybrid, mixed-mode, and online courses across a variety of academic disciplines. 

 

I am extremely passionate about supporting faculty in fostering creativity and digital literacy within their students and I am a huge advocate for E-Portfolio development as a cumulative representation of student academic and professional success. I am glad to work with faculty to support our students with the development of E-Portfolios as they pursue employment, internships, university scholarships,  graduate school admission, and extracurricular opportunities.