UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — After two decades of dedication to teaching excellence at Penn State, Angela Linse will retire in December as associate dean for teaching and executive director of the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence, Penn State’s University-wide teaching center. An interim leader for the Schreyer Institute will be named in the coming weeks and will serve until a national search can be completed.
Under Linse’s leadership, the Schreyer Institute has become a nationally recognized and highly respected center for teaching and learning. It is widely known for its high-quality programming and instructional consulting.
“We have worked very hard to broaden the Schreyer Institute’s impact and build relationships across the University,” Linse said. “I will miss this important work but know I leave behind an amazing group of people committed to the Schreyer Institute’s mission.”
A legacy of growth and development at Penn State
Some of the most important changes at the Schreyer Institute under Linse’s leadership include:
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The implementation of Schreyer Institute Liaisons for every academic unit at Penn State, as well as many administrative units. Schreyer Liaisons provide every unit at each campus with a personal contact. They reach thousands of Penn State faculty every year and are highly respected in the Penn State teaching and learning community and known for their expertise in the field of faculty and educational development.
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The creation of a successful Graduate Student and Postdoc Teaching program, including Graduate Student Instructional Consultants and expanded programming. Many of the Schreyer Institute’s former graduate student consultants work for and contribute to centers for teaching and learning at schools across the U.S.
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The Schreyer Institute was one of the first teaching centers in the country to offer support for program learning outcomes assessment (LOA). The institute led these efforts at Penn State from 2008 to 2015, after which the responsibility moved to the Office of Planning, Assessment and Institutional Research. Linse has continued serving on the University Committee on Assessment of Learning since then.
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The Schreyer Institute began organizing Teaching Communities at Penn State. Teaching Communities (also known as Faculty Learning Communities) are designed and led by faculty, but each has a Schreyer Institute faculty consultant as a liaison.
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In 2009, Linse initiated the creation of a central, public source of information about Penn State’s previous student feedback instrument, the Student Rating of Teaching Excellence (SRTE). This increased transparency and consistency and helped dispel misinformation about the SRTE. She would later lead the transition from paper-based to online administration of student ratings. Colleagues said she has answered thousands of administrator and faculty questions about teaching assessments over the years.
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In 2017, the University Faculty Senate Committee on Faculty Affairs commissioned Linse to write a report about appropriate use of SRTE data based on her publication on the same topic.
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In 2018, Angela hired Laura Cruz to develop the Teaching and Learning Scholarship (TLS) program. Cruz is internationally renowned for her work in the scholarship of teaching and learning and discipline-based education research. Since 2019, the TLS program has supported more than 600 Penn State faculty, staff, graduate students and student co-researchers, including submission of more than 200 Institutional Review Board protocols and collection of 20,000 student consent forms. TLS scholars have produced more than 350 research publications and countless conference presentations.
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In 2020, Linse collaborated with the Graduate School and six colleges to join the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL). The CIRTL Network is a consortium of 43 universities dedicated to preparing future faculty to teach. She has served as the administrative lead for Penn State CIRTL since 2021, during which Penn State CIRTL awarded 264 teaching certificates. Linse recently secured commitments from 11 colleges to continue Penn State CIRTL for another five years under the Schreyer Institute’s leadership.
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In spring 2023, the Faculty Senate approved the implementation of a new Faculty Teaching Assessment Framework and the SRTE was updated to the Student Educational Experience Questionnaire (SEEQ). SITE helped lead efforts to support this transition, and Linse ensured that there was a central source of information and resources about the framework that provides support and guidance for faculty, staff and administrators. She was one of the first members of the Joint Standing Committee on Teaching Effectiveness.
“We are extremely grateful for Angela’s contributions and service to Penn State — she has been a champion for teaching and learning at Penn State,” said Kathy Bieschke, senior vice provost and interim dean of Undergraduate Education. She has positioned the institute well for the future, as the work of the Schreyer Institute has never been more important as we help Penn State transform teaching and learning for the future.”
Leadership beyond the Schreyer Institute
In addition to leading the Schreyer Institute, Linse oversaw the Pollock Testing Center through June 2026; it was nearing completion when she arrived at Penn State in 2006. Under her leadership, eTesting became critical for faculty and academic units, and the number of exams administered has significantly increased. It now operates at maximum capacity and administers nearly 200,000 exams per year. Earlier this year, the Testing Center became a separate standalone alone unit within Undergraduate Education.
Beyond Penn State, Linse is a national leader in the field of educational development. She has served in numerous leadership roles for the world’s largest professional society for educational developers, the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education (POD Network). She served on the network’s executive committee from 2018 to 2021 and was elected president from 2019 to 2020, the latter of which she said was among her greatest professional achievements. Prior to that, she served on the network’s governing board and chaired numerous committees (finance, governance and grants committees and gifting subcommittee). Linse also is a past conference program co-chair and has been a member of the network’s Professional Development Committee for many years.
Linse has worked in various leadership positions in higher education, and prior to Penn State, she was the director of Temple University’s Teaching and Learning Center. Linse earned her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in anthropology from the University of Washington. Her research work in archaeology focused on the American Southwest, in New Mexico.
In retirement, Linse will return to the Western United States where family members live. She plans to write a book about faculty evaluation, volunteer in local election administration, and hopes to get back to her roots in North American archaeology by volunteering for field projects.
“As much as I've enjoyed what I call ‘My Eastern Adventure’ in Pennsylvania, it's time to rejoin my family back West,” she said.
What colleagues said about Linse’s leadership
“Angela encourages, supports and cheers my efforts to keep learning, growing and innovating, both as a consultant and as an academic,” said Mary Ann Tobin. “She also knows more about Penn State's academic policies, processes and structures than any other person I know. I've learned so much from her! She's truly the best boss I've ever had.” — Mary Ann Tobin, associate research professor and senior instructional consultant, Schreyer Institute
“Angela has been a tremendous leader and mentor. She knows Penn State inside and out, and her expertise in educational development has shaped how our unit works and will keep shaping it for a long time. We'll miss her generosity, her sense of humor, and her unwavering support.” — Beate Brunow, associate research professor and associate director, Schreyer Institute
“Angela has an inspiring commitment to all the people who teach at Penn State — with the ultimate goal of benefiting undergraduate learners,” said Chas Brua, associate research professor with the Schreyer Institute. “I’ve been especially grateful for her commitment to graduate students who serve as instructors or TAs. They teach more than 50,000 learners every year, and she has always seen them as a key part of the story.”
“I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Angela. As a mentor, she has been generous with feedback and genuinely invested in what I could become in service to faculty development. She is a rare kind of leader, one who doesn’t just manage but genuinely leads. She has shaped how I think about leadership, and that influence will carry forward in how I work with others.” — Jonathan Aragon, research faculty, Schreyer Institute
The Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence is part of Penn State Undergraduate Education.