Faculty and Staff
- Director, Michael Babcock
- Instructional Designer, Ken Silvesteri
- Program Coordinator, Emily Smith
- Assistant Director - Research & Scholarship, Nika Stoop
Director, Ph.D.
Professor, Psychology
406-994-5175
mbabcock@montana.edu
Michael serves as the Director of the Center for Faculty Excellence (CFE). Working with the CFE team, he oversees faculty development programs in coordination with other academic areas, including orientations, discussion groups, mentoring opportunities, DEDL, and several provost's office grant programs. He is a faculty member in the Department of Psychology, served two terms as Faculty Senate chair, MSU's third Presidential Faculty Leadership Fellow, and department head of Earth Sciences. Michael received his Ph.D. in psychology with an emphasis in behavioral neuroscience. He joined the MSU faculty in 1991 after completing a postdoctoral fellowship at UCLA School of Medicine.
Instructional Designer MS Ed Tech
406-994-7835
kenneth.silvestri@montana.edu
Ken helps advance teaching and learning at MSU by providing instructional support to faculty through workshops on pedagogy and use of instructional technologies, one-on-one consultations, faculty learning communities, and online training courses. In addition, he coordinates programs to connect faculty to resources and each other such as grants to attend teaching-related conferences, teaching-related awards, and the Early Career Faculty Mentoring program.
Program Coordinator B.A.
406-994-4555
Emily helps plan CFE's events and manages the center's business and HR operations. She contributes to internal and external communications, assists with attendance tracking of CFE's Certificate program and other administrative duties.
Assistant Director - Research & Scholarship Ph.D.
406-994-5338
nikastoop@montana.edu
Nika focuses on supporting faculty scholarship and communication to enhance its significance and impact and expand interdisciplinary scholarship. She provides workshops and one-on-one consultations on grant proposal writing, publications, identifying and connecting with potential collaborators, and support for career development. She provides mentor training and supports Retention, Tenure and Promotion training.