Timothy Shepherd, associate teaching professor in agricultural and biosystems engineering, is the recipient of the 2023 Excellence in Teaching by Term Faculty Award from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University. He has taught 11 different courses in his seven years as a faculty member, and constantly monitors and redevelops course content and delivery. He has retained some teaching strategies that were used during restrictions due to COVID-19 because of their positive impact on student learning and student ownership of the learning process. Students view him as a teacher who will hold them to high standards, while also giving them the support they need to achieve those standards.
In 2019, he was part of a comprehensive review of the teaching curriculum in his discipline. This involved dialogue with industry partners who hire their students, identification of new content areas to develop programming, and evaluation of option-specific courses in light of retirements that have reduced the department’s teaching capacity in the subdiscipline. The model for curriculum review that he led now serves as a prototype for the other focus groups in the department. In addition to teaching, Shepherd is the faculty advisor for the Agricultural Systems Technology Club. He routinely works with officers and members to ensure the club provides opportunities to engage professionally with industry, promotes diversity and inclusion of members and non-members alike, and that the departmental vision and mission are elevated by the club’s activities.