It's hard to forget Robin Morgan.

A psychology professor at IU Southeast, Morgan is someone who students keep in touch with long after graduation. One former student, now an attorney, recently returned to IU Southeast to teach as an adjunct professor. "He told me the other day that I had always made teaching look simple, and that he never realized how difficult it was until he started teaching," Morgan says.

It's no surprise, then, that when IU Southeast administrators were looking for someone to head the new Institute for Learning and Teaching Excellence (ILTE), they looked no further than Morgan. She served as director of the institute, which focuses on improving faculty teaching skills, from 1997 to 2000. During her tenure, the institute was involved in a variety of partnerships, fellowships, and workshop programs, and it is now a model for similar faculty development efforts on other campuses. More than half of the full-time faculty members at IU Southeast have participated in the institute's programs.

Morgan is pleased with the institute's impact. "In essence, the ILTE has significantly increased the discussion of teaching on our campus and has enhanced the value that faculty members place on teaching," she says.

The high value Morgan places on teaching has led to several teaching honors including the 2000 IU Southeast Distinguished Teaching Award. But such recognition is really just icing on the cake.

"When the students start asking deeper questions about the topic and the whole class becomes energized, leading to even greater learning—this is what I love about teaching," she says.