Stewart Ross

As a faculty member, faculty developer and course design coach and workshop presenter, Stewart Ross understands how course design plays a major role in student success and retention. As the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning founding director at Minnesota State, Mankato, Stewart delivered professional development opportunities through a faculty teaching certificate for which he received an Honorable Mention Award from the Professional and Organizational Development Network (POD).  

Stewart knows the importance in designing an environment where every student grows and succeeds. Working with faculty in over 160 workshops and online courses through Dee Fink, he has shared his expertise in course design strategies internationally. Some of his experiences with faculty are included in this book as faculty shared stories as well as some of his own journey in improving his own teaching.

Stewart Ross developed campus- and system-level faculty development programming for over 10 years for thousands of college and university faculty. His highly-rated presentations at international conferences on teaching and learning have impacted 100s of faculty worldwide. Stewart’s Big Dream is to help faculty impact their students by identifying and sharing their own Big Dreams and creating courses that motivate students to learn.

  • Professor Emeritus Minnesota State University, Mankato
  • Founding Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
  • Directed the Minnesota State University Teaching Certificate Program and received an Honorable Mention Award at Professional and Organizational Development Network (POD) Conference.
  • Member of systemwide Center for Teaching and Learning leaders network for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (now Minnesota State).
  • Senior Associate with Dee Fink and Associates; has presented over 160 workshops on course design, active learning techniques and rubric creation both nationally and internationally.
  • Taught integrated course design via online format to faculty nationally and internationally.
  • Assessment Coordinator for a National Science Foundation Grant
  • D. in Music Education from Northwestern University in 1985
  • Kiwanis International Trustee from 2009-2012.