Faculty and Staff
Jan Kirkham
CTL Interim Director
Brian Jackson
Instructor of Composition
Brian is visiting clinical instructor in Writing in the CTL. He has wide experience teaching English composition and once served as a teaching assistant for beat poet Allen Ginsberg. His recent scholarship explores the inter-relationships of visual art and modernist poetry, and literature, including surrealism. Jackson has a B.A. in Medieval and Renaissance Studies from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, an M.A. in English from UIS, and a Ph.D. from St. Louis University.
Nicole Meismer
Instructor of Mathematics
Nicole earned her B.A. in Mathematics and M.A. in Mathematics from Eastern Illinois University. She then spent two years studying and teaching math at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Her primary courses of study were Algebra related. She enjoys helping students learn all levels of mathematics.
Email: nmeis2@uis.edu
Pamela McGowan
Staff Clerk
Pam joined the CTL on June 30, 2008 after 18 years of administrative management in funeral service. She was born and raised in Taylorville, IL and now resides in Rochester. She is married to her childhood sweetheart, Jim, and was blessed with two daughters and three grandsons. Pam enjoys spending time with her family and cheering on her grandsons at all their sporting events. Pam is so impressed that UIS offers the Center for Teaching and Learning and encourages all students to embrace this asset. It is a place where you will find dedicated tutors with the desire to help all students succeed.
Dana Atwell
ESL Coordinator
Dana has been with the ESL Program since 2007. She has experience teaching students from beginning to advanced levels and in all different majors from around the world. At UIS, she teaches, coordinates, and supervises classes and extracurricular activities for non-native English and multi-lingual speakers. Dana received her B.A. in Anthropology from Washington University in Saint Louis and her M.A. in Applied Linguistics with a specialization in TESOL from the University of Illinois at Chicago. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, running, and traveling.
