2024-2025 Winners
Glynda Betros
Professor of Instruction, Department of Mathematics
Recipient
Glynda Betros is a Professor of Instruction in the Department of Mathematics, where she has taught a variety of courses from freshman level to the capstone courses for both 7-12 and 4-8 future math teachers since 1997. She has also been the lead university supervisor and program coordinator for the student teachers in the Mathematics Department, mentoring hundreds of student teachers and host teachers since 2003.
Ms. Betros began her career in teaching as a high school mathematics teacher after obtaining her BS in Education in mathematics/chemistry and her MS in mathematics/chemistry from then Southwest Texas State University. After 11 years teaching on the secondary level, she taught at Baylor for 3 years prior to returning to Texas State University.
Since that time, Ms. Betros has sought to increase the engagement of students in doing mathematics in several different synchronous online courses in the Department of Mathematics. She has recently branched out to teach an asynchronous college algebra course during the winter intersession and is currently teaching two hybrid capstone courses for future teachers.
With this award, Ms. Betros is being recognized for her online course Math 1315: College Algebra. Ms. Betros developed the synchronous version of the course during 2020 and has refined it twice as a participant of both the 2021 and 2023 OXP Summer Institutes.
Dr. S. Marek Muller
Assistant Professor, Department of Communication Studies
Runner-Up
Dr. S. Marek Muller is an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies. They are honored to receive this runner-up award for their accelerated online course, COMM 3329: Intercultural Communication. This was the very first course Dr. Muller designed for the Department of Communication Studies after being hired by TXST in the summer of 2023. They have taught this course at least once every semester since then and are currently developing a version of COMM 3329 for TXST Global's emergent online BA in Communication Studies.
Before arriving at TXST, Dr. Muller spent four years as an Assistant Professor of Rhetorical Studies at Florida Atlantic University. There, they coordinated the School of Communication & Multimedia Studies' asynchronous Introduction to Communication course, which enrolled up to 200 undergraduates at one time. They also received public commendations from both students and upper university administration for their approach to transitioning students to online instruction during the 2020 Covid-19 outbreak.
Dr. Muller researches in the areas of rhetorical studies, cultural studies, and environmental communication. Their research has been published in journals ranging from Environmental Communication to Rhetoric & Public Affairs. Recently, they were awarded the Christine E. Oravec Award for research in environmental communication by the National Communication Association.
Dr. Emily Summers
Associate Professor, Department of Curriculum and Instruction
Runner-Up
Dr. Emily (EJ) Summers is an Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Texas State University. She is part of the Graduate Program in Postsecondary Student Success in Learning, Literacy, and Mathematics. Dr. Summers specializes in qualitative, mixed methods, and evaluation research. Her research agenda focuses on the intersection of cultural contexts, education, and schooling, emphasizing transitions to and within postsecondary settings.
Dr. Summers is receiving this award for her doctoral asynchronous online course CI 7355: Mixed Methods Research and Evaluation. One of her favorite things with online teaching is watching students who tend toward being more silent in face-to-face classes shine in asynchronous educational modalities. Additionally, she enjoys having students connect to the course from wherever they are in the world. Dr. Summers has enjoyed ongoing collaborations with instructional technology colleagues during her time at TXST including her past work developing the online version of CI 5372: Philosophical Foundations of Education, being a participant in OXP's 2022 Texas State Strong: Creating Resilient Courses Summer Institute, and her recent collaboration with instructional designer Megan Wiedeman in redesigning CI 7355.