Biography

Melissa Willis is a lifelong Rhode Islander and first-generation college graduate who joins the ATL in 2024 as a graduate assistant with a varied background!

Melissa earned a bachelor’s degree in music education from URI in 2002 and immediately embarked on a fulfilling career as a PreK-12 public school music teacher. As a music teacher, she developed a strong passion for inclusion and diversity in all aspects of her life and education. Music is indeed a universal language, and she has always felt that as someone working in education, she has an important responsibility to foster equality, empathy, and inclusivity amongst all people.

In 2014, she left teaching to pursue an opportunity to become an auctioneer and start her own auction business. She successfully operated her small business until December of 2023 when she closed the gallery to return to the world of education. In December of 2022, Melissa graduated from URI with a master’s degree in adult education and is now pursuing her Ph.D. in Education at URI with the goal of working in higher education in the future.

In her free time, Melissa enjoys performing with her trumpeter husband, Eric, in three RI community bands on the flute, piccolo, trumpet, cornet and/or tuba depending on the ensemble. She also loves traveling, baking and spending time with her two dogs, two cats, two parrots and one chinchilla.

Primary Responsibilities

• Support the success of faculty development programs across all modalities.
• Provide logistical support for in-person events (biking rooms, ordering food, gathering supplies, gathering attendance data, sitting at registration, etc.).
• Support virtual events by helping to facilitate Zoom meetings.
• Track participation and impact of ATL faculty development programs and services.
• Author web-based instructional guides for the ATL website by surveying other Center for Teaching and Learning websites for models to follow, identifying common, high-use topics, as well as following ideas and recommendations from within ATL and/or the campus community, writing and organizing the content and working with the ATL Marketing and Communications GA to post and/or distribute new information.