We are pleased to announce that Dr. Catherine (Cassie) Thomas, currently serving as the Associate Director of Undergraduate Transition Seminars within OUE’s Office of Experiential and Engaged Learning (E2L), will be taking on an additional leadership role as the Interim Director of Academic Transition and Learning Communities. As Interim Director, Cassie will serve as primary point of contact for all academic and institutional matters related to undergraduate learning communities, oversee and supervise the Ignite program and its staff, and serve as a member of the OUE directors/leadership team.
Cassie has led the Undergraduate Transition Seminar courses (GT 1000 and GT 2000) at Tech for the last two years. She has been instrumental in providing leadership and direction for the overall transition of our first-year and transfer students. Her work includes revising Canvas template courses for both transition seminars incorporating elements focusing on the 8 dimensions of wellness and sense of belonging; developing sustained professional development for the instructional team around inclusive teaching; establishing the Reading Circles program to build instructor community; introducing Curriculum and Assessment and Awards and Recognition committees for greater shared governance; and launching the Seminar Scholars program to increase opportunities for instructors’ and Team Leaders’ professional learning and engagement. Her commitment to ensuring the successful transition of our students and their prompt involvement with high-impact practices and experiential learning has been evident throughout her time at Tech. During her interim capacity, she will continue to lead our transition seminars and remain part of the Office of Experiential and Engaged Learning team.
Prior to joining Georgia Tech, she served for seven years as Associate Dean for Student Success Programs at Georgia Gwinnett College. While in this role, she revived and led the GGC 1000 First-Year Seminar program; collaborated with faculty and staff partners to build and offer focus area-themed learning communities; coordinated and delivered professional development trainings around integrative learning, inclusive teaching, and student success best practices with the Center for Teaching Excellence; coordinated and reported learning support course assessment and best practices with the Math and English departments; and supported and advocated for the Academic Enhancement Center as their supervisory representative in the student success dean’s office. Prior to GGC, she spent eleven years at the College of Charleston as a tenured faculty member and administrator.
She is a 2023 Georgia Association for Women in Higher Education (GAWHE) Leadership Program Fellow and graduate of Georgia Tech’s 2024 Inclusive Leaders Academy. In 2023, she published a co-edited volume (with Dr. Roze Hentschell), Transforming Leadership Pathways for Humanities Professionals in Higher Education (Purdue UP), and this year published “Delineating Comics: Shakespeare Illustrated and the Question of Narrative Production” in Shakespeare and Comics: Negotiating Cultural Value (Arden/Bloomsbury). Cassie holds a Ph.D. and Master's in English from Penn State University. She is passionate about providing equitable and inclusive access for all students to succeed in higher education and supporting faculty and staff development toward that goal.
Please join us in congratulating and thanking her for her continued dedication and leadership. We are confident that she will continue to drive excellence in academic transition and high-impact practices at Georgia Tech.