Reva A. Savkar, and Robert C. Loser created the Loser-Savkar Faculty Professional Development Fellowship in 2016. We believe that excellent college teaching requires both content knowledge, and knowledge of how to teach that content effectively. Graduate study provides content knowledge, but teaching knowledge is often acquired on the job, through trial and error. The mission of the Loser-Savkar Fellowship is to provide opportunities for faculty to learn how to teach more effectively. The program awards up to $1000 to full-time NOVA teaching faculty members in support of their professional development for enhancing their teaching effectiveness.
“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known”. – Carl Sagan
Reva A. Savkar, Professor Emerita, began teaching at NOVA in 1974 as an adjunct faculty member while raising her children. She joined the full-time faculty in 1989 with a dual appointment, teaching both chemistry and computer science courses. Reva pioneered the online teaching of chemistry, developing the first online college chemistry courses in the US. She won numerous teaching awards and honors, including the “NOVA Alumni Federation Outstanding Faculty of the Year”, the “NOVA Educational Foundation Excellence in Teaching Award”, the “NOVA Student Government Golden Apple Award”, “Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers” and the prestigious VCCS Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence in 2013. She was an invited speaker at the National Teacher Appreciation Day ceremony at the White House in 2015. Reva was a long-time chair of the NOVA Science Seminar Series, member of the NOVA “Science Across the Curriculum”, the NOVA College-wide Stem Initiative (NCSI), the NCSI Summer Science Academy for High School students, and co-chair of the Lyceum committee.
Robert C. Loser, Professor Emeritus, was an instructional designer with NOVA’s Extended Learning Institute (ELI) from 1986 until he retired in 2016. He was a pioneer in the use of online technologies, teaching strategies, and course design processes that established models for NOVA online distance learning and hybrid courses. Bob helped to develop ELI’s faculty orientation and professional development programs and has mentored and guided numerous teaching faculty and ELI colleagues during his career at NOVA. He helped create and teach EDU 285 (Teaching Online), EDU 287 (Instructional Design for Online Learning), and the TOTAL workshop series. He teaches EDU 295 (The Science of Learning), which he began developing during a presidential sabbatical in 2014. Bob is a supporter of NOVA’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), chairing its first advisory committee in 2008, helping to develop its mission, serving as a faculty associate in 2011-2012, and contributing frequently to the annual PuP conference.