Texas Intensive English Program

Faculty

TIEP faculty members are highly trained professionals who understand student needs. They have native English speaking proficiency and master's or doctoral degrees in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL), foreign language education, or closely related fields. Current faculty have an average of more than ten years of experience teaching English to speakers of other languages. Most of the faculty have studied and taught overseas and many have traveled extensively.

	Rachelle Bumgardner Ms. Bumgardner, a native Texan, received her B.A. in International Business from Texas State University. As an undergraduate, she participated in a language exchange program at the University of Hanover, Germany. She then obtained an M.A. in Applied Language Studies from the University of Westminster in London, England. While in the United Kingdom, she co-wrote the curriculum for the Sinoscope Program, a bi-annual teacher training program hosted by the University of Westminster. Ms. Bumgardner has worked in international education since 2000, in the U.S. and abroad, teaching multiple levels of English as a Second Language and coordinating student services. She also has extensive experience teaching corporate English. In 2005, she conducted an intensive English program for international managers at Samsung Austin Semiconductor prior to joining the TIEP faculty. [back to top]
	Karen Easterday - Academic Coordinator Ms. Easterday has a B.A. in French and a certification in English as a Second Language from Miami University in Ohio. She has an M.A. in Student Affairs in Higher Education from the Ohio State University. She has extensive experience working in the U.S. and abroad in international education in English as a Second Language teaching and program management, international student advising, and study abroad. She has taught all levels of English as a Second Language in international schools, private corporations, foreign and American universities and has managed a large English program for the U.S. government. She has lived, worked, and studied in nine countries including the U.S. Ms. Easterday is professionally active in TESOL and NAFSA: Association of International Educators. [back to top]
	James Fowler Mr. James Fowler, born and raised in Texas, earned both his BA in Italian Literature in 1997, and his MA in ESL in 2001 from The University of Texas at Austin. Soon after earning his MA, he moved out of Texas for the first time to live and teach in Korea. During his undergraduate studies, he worked intermittently in several construction trades where he often taught his co-workers English for their job-related activities. While in Korea, Mr. Fowler taught English in community outreach courses sponsored by the local government, in university credit courses, in professional development courses for Korean teachers of English, and in night classes for Koreans employed locally in the travel industry. Additionally, he edited English language documents for the local government and served as English Editor for a university news magazine. In 2003, Mr. Fowler returned to Texas, where he has continued to teach English to students from a variety of backgrounds. He has taught at TIEP since the spring 2006 semester. [back to top]
	Heather Grassmick Ms. Heather Grassmick grew up near Dallas, Texas and received her B.A. in English from The University of Texas at Austin in 2001, specializing in English literature and writing. After graduating, she moved to Granada, Spain, where she studied Spanish at the University of Granada and worked with a Christian non-profit organization. During her two years in Spain, she gave private English lessons and helped organize and lead a weekly English tutoring session for students from the University of Granada. After her return to Texas in 2003, she worked both as a Spanish-English translator and taught English and ESL classes for the Mesquite Independent School District. In 2004, she returned to The University of Texas where she began graduate studies in Foreign Language Education, specializing in teaching English as a Second Language. While pursuing her master’s degree, she taught ESL classes at Casa Marianella, a non-profit service organization in Austin. She earned her M.A. in ESL in 2005 and has been teaching at TIEP since 2006. [back to top]
	Christopher Hastings Mr. Hastings received a B.A. in History and Linguistics from the University of Memphis. After teaching English in Colombia and conducting EFL teacher training in Brazil, he returned to the University of Memphis, where he earned an M.A. in ESL. Following his graduate studies, Mr. Hastings taught EFL in South Korea. He came back from Korea to work as the Educational Programs Coordinator for Manos de Cristo, a local area non-profit service provider, before coming to TIEP in January, 2006. While employed at TIEP, Mr. Hastings has taught in the Foundations of English Program and the English for Academic Purposes Program, has taught in a customized program for Japanese high school students, and has assisted with the Advanced Business Communications workshops for international MBA students at The McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. Apart from his experience teaching English, he is a graduate of the Memphis Culinary Academy and has cooked at the James Beard House. In addition to teaching at TIEP, Mr. Hastings is working with Alacridad, a non-profit organization he helped found, to connect non-profits in Latin America with computing resources and volunteers. [back to top]
	Meagan Hopkins Ms. Hopkins holds a B.A. in International Affairs from the University of Nevada, Reno. She received her teacher education training at Sierra Nevada College in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and holds a secondary teaching license in Spanish, Social Studies, and English as a Second Language (ESL). Ms. Hopkins earned her Master of Education, with a focus on teaching post-secondary English as a second language, from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Since 1996, Ms. Hopkins has taught ESL in a variety of settings. She taught and supervised ESL programs at both junior high and high school levels. In Las Vegas, she taught at the Community College of Southern Nevada and was the Academic Director of the Intensive English Program on the College's campus. Ms. Hopkins speaks Spanish and studied at the Universidad del Pais Vasco in San Sebastian, Spain. Additionally, Ms. Hopkins was a Rotary Exchange Scholar and spent a year studying in Brazil. [back to top]
	Thomas H. Kitchens Mr. Kitchens has a B.A. from the University of Kentucky at Lexington, an M.A. in Latin American Studies from UCLA, and Ph.D. coursework in Educational Administration at The University of Texas at Austin. For eight years he lived and worked in Latin America, principally Mexico and Peru, with the Peace Corps and with USIA, as ESL teacher/trainer and Academic Director of various Peruvian-North American Cultural Institutes. Since 1979, he has worked in various capacities at TIEP, as an instructor, and as a supervisor of English for Academic Purposes courses and English for Communication and Culture courses. [back to top]
	Dr. Cheryl Nuwash - University Express Coordinator Dr. Nuwash studied in Mexico and Nicaragua before receiving her B.A. degree in Spanish from Wilmington College, Wilmington, Ohio. She received her M.A. in Applied English Linguistics from The University of Texas at El Paso. She holds a Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin in Foreign Language Education. She taught ESL and other subjects in public schools in New Mexico and Texas. She has taught Adult Basic Education and ESL at Austin Community College. At Concordia University at Austin, she designed the curriculum and taught a course to help prepare education majors to work with Spanish-speaking children. She also tutors prospective teachers for the TExES test for certification to teach ESL and Bilingual Education in Texas. She has presented at TESOL and International Reading Association conventions. [back to top]
	Mimi Parris Mimi Parris has had extensive experience in the foreign language testing and training process. She was a member from 2003-2007 of the Advanced Placement (AP) German Test Development Committee through the College Board and the Educational Testing Service (ETS). This committee comprises three university professors and three high school teachers from across the U.S. (out of over 4,000 high schools nationwide), meets twice a year, and writes two tests per year. Each member serves a four-year term. Last year 5,500 students from the U.S. and Europe took the German test. The AP German Exam has proven to be the most valid of all 32 AP exams. Mimi has also been a “Reader,” or a grader, of the German AP Exams for ETS for over ten years, she has given foreign language teacher training workshops throughout the United States for over twenty years, she has had training in the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) process, she was a Fulbright Exchange Teacher for a year in Germany, and she taught foreign languages and ESL in high schools and middle schools for twenty-nine years. She was on a Junior Year Abroad program during her third year of college, and she later earned a Master’s Degree in Foreign Language Education at the University of Texas at Austin. She has also taught ESL at the community college level and in college preparatory programs. At TIEP she currently chairs the Assessment Committee, and teaches Grammar/Listening/Speaking classes and develops tests for these courses. She has also taught the Public Education course to Korean secondary school teachers who have participated in the Fulbright KAEC-American Studies Institute at TIEP. [back to top]
	Hilary Pepper Ms. Pepper is originally from Iowa, where she earned her M.A. in TESOL and her B.A. in Spanish Education from the University of Northern Iowa. Since 1998, Ms. Pepper has been teaching in a variety of settings and places. Her experiences in language instruction include teaching Spanish (K-12) and ESL (7-8) in Iowa and Texas public schools, teaching private classes of Spanish to engineers at Square D, teaching classes of English for international employees at ACT™, and teaching academic intensive English courses at Kirkwood Community College and the University of Northern Iowa. Since joining the faculty of the TIEP, Ms. Pepper has taught in both the Foundations of English Program and the English for Academic Purposes Program. Ms. Pepper's love for people and her desire to bridge cultures have taken her around the world. Her first international experience was as a student of Spanish in Colima, Mexico. Soon after, she decided to spend her summers abroad, leading programs for students living in Moscow, Russia; Cadiz, Spain; and Davao City, Mindanao in the Philippines. Over the past 10 years, she has also traveled extensively throughout Morocco, Costa Rica, Peru, and Argentina. Before moving to Austin, Ms. Pepper taught a semester of English to university faculty and students at the University of Tarapacá in Arica, Chile. [back to top]
	Dr. John Schmidt - Academic Coordinator Dr. Schmidt has been involved in TIEC projects overseas and in the United States since 1985. He began teaching ESL at the University of Texas at Austin Intensive English Program (now TIEP) in 1978, where he has worked as a student advisor, as a supervisor of Foundations levels and as the developer and supervisor of the English for Business program. He is currently an academic coordinator at TIEP, overseeing the English for Academic Purposes program and the evening program. He has trained teachers of English on five continents. Prior to coming to Austin, he taught English in Spain at the University of Barcelona and Spanish at the University of Illinois. His master's level studies in Spanish Linguistics at both of these institutions were preceded by undergraduate work in Spanish and Ibero-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Madrid. Dr. Schmidt received his Ph.D. in Foreign Language Education from the University of Texas at Austin. He co-authored Frontiers: An Active Introduction to English Grammar (Addison-Wesley, 1988) with Dr. Terry Simon. He has served as President of the national consortium UCIEP (University and College Intensive English Programs) and President of TEXTESOL III. He is serving on the international Board of Directors of TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) through 2009. [back to top]
	Charles Seltzer Mr. Seltzer earned his M.A. in English from the University of California at Los Angeles. He taught composition and rhetoric at the University of Texas at El Paso for three years before joining TIEP in 1979, where he is currently an instructor. While employed at TIEP, he has served as supervisor of Elective Courses, taught in The University of Texas Fulbright Program, delivered workshops on ESL methods for the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon in Monterrey, Mexico and taught in teacher training programs for English teachers from Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Japan, Korea, Paraguay, and Uruguay. [back to top]
	Dr. Woody Smith Dr. Smith has a Ph.D. in Foreign Language Education with an emphasis in Applied Linguistics, an M.A. in Slavic Linguistics, and a B.A. in Russian, all from The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Smith has studied in the former Soviet Union and the former Czechoslovakia; in addition, he has led several educational tours to these countries. Dr. Smith has been employed by the Texas Intensive English Program since the fall of 2005. During that time he has been the program coordinator for 2 training programs for Korean teachers of English sponsored by the Korean-American Educational Commission (Fulbright), 4 teacher training programs for English teachers from South America sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, 1 English language and culture program for students from Nihon University, 2 programs for students from Nihon University-Mishima Senior High School, and 1 program for high school students from Taichung, Taiwan. Previous to his work at TIEC, Dr. Smith taught Russian and Czech at The University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas State University (formerly known as Southwest Texas State University), as well as at several community colleges and junior colleges throughout the state. While at Texas A&M University, Dr. Smith taught ESL in the English Language Institute. Most recently Dr. Smith served for three years as Executive Director of the Texas Czech Heritage and Cultural Center, a developing multi-million dollar facility in La Grange, Texas. Dr. Smith serves on the Boards of various Texas-Czech organizations. He is President of the Czech Educational Foundation of Texas and Vice Chairman of the Czech Heritage Society of Texas. [back to top]
	Emily Spurgeon Ms. Spurgeon holds a B.A. in Anthropology and African Diaspora Studies from Tulane University in New Orleans, LA and an M.A. in TESOL from Hunter College, part of the City University of New York (CUNY). Since 2001, she has taught ESL at all levels, in a variety of settings including Hunter College and New York University. She also taught for several years and helped coordinate the English Language and Civics program for the public library system in Brooklyn, NY. In addition to teaching ESL, Ms. Spurgeon has worked in international program administration at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and in corporate & education development at Thirteen/WNET New York, the nation's flagship PBS station. [back to top]
	Matt Wallace Matt Wallace is a native Texan who received a B.A. in Composition and Language from the University of North Texas. While there, Mr. Wallace earned a Texas Secondary Education Teaching certificate, as well as a TESOL certificate. He garnered experience in the Texas public education system, as well as in the field of behavior therapy as a therapist for children afflicted with autism. Mr. Wallace then taught English in Japan for three years. In Japan, he taught in a wide variety of businesses, cultural centers, and public schools. Mr. Wallace also has experience teaching TOEFL and TOEIC preparation courses. He has taught at TIEP since 2005. [back to top]