Special Ed associate professor named Governor’s Teaching Fellow

Special Education Professor Dr. Rob Sumowski is one of 12 faculty members from across the state selected as a 2022-’23 Governor’s Teaching Fellow.

Former Georgia Governor Zell Miller started the yearlong symposium in 1995 to provide state education faculty with opportunities to learn important teaching skills, like the use of emerging technologies.

More than 600 fellows in 80 different state disciplines, professions and teaching areas have participated in the last 27 years.

“I’m honored, partly because the program was begun by Governor Zell Miller, a staunch advocate for public education and a man I met as a young teacher,” Sumowski said. “I’m also honored because everywhere I look on this campus, there are faculty who are so good at what they do that it makes my head spin. The idea that I might be considered as even approaching the high bar set by my colleagues humbles me.”

Sumowski will attend a series of meetings at the Louise McBee Institute of Higher Education at the University of Georgia (UGA). Fellows spend three days a month in master classes learning how to become more effective instructors from experts like Georgia College & State University’s Cynthia Alby, professor of secondary education in the Lounsbury College of Education.

The symposium is “a chance to pause and reflect on improving our delivery of instruction,” Sumowski said, “but it’s also intense, and it moves quickly.”

Dr. Steve Elliott-Gower, associate professor of political science, suggested his colleague complete an application for the highly-competitive program. GCSU President Cathy Cox wrote a letter of support for Sumowski. He also credits the university’s Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL) for playing a pivotal role in forming faculty for prestigious awards and fellowships.

Sumowski got his undergraduate degrees in psychology and music at Mercer University. He got a master’s in behavior disorders from Georgia College in 1993 and an educational specialist degree in administration and supervision in 1999.

His Ed.D. in educational leadership is from UGA. Prior to coming to Georgia College, he spent 21 years in public schools as a special education teacher, assistant principal, behavior specialist and district-level director of student safety.

Sumowski started teaching undergraduates and graduates at Georgia College in 2011. Currently, he’s the presiding officer-elect in the University Senate and on the faculty council for the University System of Georgia. Sumowski’s also co-director of GC THRIVE, a new two-year certificate program for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to attend Georgia, takes classes and develop work skills.

Sumowski received the 2021 Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC) Dunn Award for service to his students beyond the classroom.

He applied for the Governor’s Teaching Fellow program because he’s always rethinking his approach to “everything.”

“I am realizing there are a hundred different ways to deliver academic content, and a lot of them are more effective than what I have been doing and thought was successful,” Sumowski said. “I am reminded how much more there is to learn about our craft.”

As part of the program, each fellow identifies a key academic project to focus on. Sumowski chose to redesign a course called “EDEX 4334: Teachers as Leaders” that senior special education majors take prior to graduation.

“The goal of this redesign is to proactively address some of the real-world challenges our graduates are about to confront, such as managing colleagues vertically (administration) and horizontally (peer educators) and supervising paraprofessionals, while dealing with time management, workload and stress,” he said.

According to research, many K-12 teachers leave the field within their first three years.

“That’s not okay. We can do better,” Sumowski said. “I hope the benefits of redesigning this course will directly impact teacher retention and reduce attrition among our program’s graduates during the first years of their teaching careers.”