The TIP Blog is excited to kick off the 2024-2025 academic year celebrating the outstanding achievements of our faculty members who have recently been honored with excellence in teaching, research, and service awards. These educators have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to student success, innovative teaching methods, and passion for their subjects. Join us in congratulating them on their well-deserved recognitions. Please also join us on Wednesday, August 28th from 12:45-1:45PM in Admin 202 for a lunch (provided) and learn panel to hear more about practical insights on planning, designing, and delivering course content that have proven highly effective in their classrooms.

Dr. Anita Nag, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Chemistry in the Division of Natural Sciences and Engineering at USC Upstate received the Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Pursuit Award in 2024. She also received the Excellence in Teaching and Advising Award in 2020.
Dr. Nag is passionate about providing experiential learning opportunities to her students in the classroom and the research laboratory. She combines traditional teaching with interactive group work, protein 3D printing, and case studies to engage her students in learning biochemistry. In her research laboratory, she mentors undergraduate students to study the interaction between SARS coronavirus nonstructural protein 1 or nsp1 with host cell proteins and RNA to understand how nsp1 shuts down host gene expression. “I cannot imagine such a positive experience with undergraduate research with any other professor,” wrote a research student. Dr. Nag’s students have co-authored multiple publications with her (Gerassimovich 2021, J of Biol. Chem. And Cromer 2024, Biochemistry). Her research is supported by the National Institute of Health (NIH).
Ginny Webb, Ph.D., Professor of Biology, won the Excellence in Teaching and Advising Award for the College of Science and Technology for the 2023-24 academic year. This award was given to Dr. Webb due to her high-impact teaching methods, including service learning and active learning.

Outside of the classroom, Dr. Webb mentors students in microbiology research and serves as the faculty advisor for the Health Professionals Club and the American Society for Microbiology student club.
Dr. Webb aims to help every student be successful in the classroom and work towards their goals. Students value and appreciate the level of care Dr. Webb has for their learning and success. She goes over and above to present material in various ways and provide multiple tools to help students master the material. Her class makes science fun and engaging. She is willing to help students in any way she can and truly enjoys having a positive impact on students’ academic journey.

Dr. Gary Lynch has been associated with USC Upstate for over twenty years, including as a student-athlete on the men’s soccer team, an assistant coach for the men’s soccer team, and both a full-time and adjunct instructor. Gary teaches courses related to health, coaching, and education, and he recently received an award of ‘Outstanding Adjunct Faculty’ in the College of Education, Human Performance and Health.
Dr. Lynch thoroughly enjoys helping students at USC Upstate become better educators, coaches, and human beings. He strives to learn as much as possible about everyone in his classes and demonstrate that he cares about their lives outside the classroom. Students particularly enjoy learning about improving mental health and happiness, so he makes a concerted effort to monitor emerging trends and new research in those areas. It is very satisfying when students share that he has contributed to their personal or professional growth, and he feels privileged to have the opportunity to enrich the lives of students at USC Upstate!
Ashlan Burns, MSN-Ed., RN, CNE instructor of the Mary Black College of Nursing program, received the Excellence in Teaching and Advising award. This award recognizes outstanding faculty who make a positive impact on their students’ academic progression and educational experience. She has served as a faculty member since January 2021 and is also proud to call herself an alumna of the MBCON program.

Ashlan is dedicated to helping produce compassionate, safe, quality nurses in our community and beyond. One student writes, “Mrs. Burns goes above and beyond for her students. She breaks everything down into a way that makes sense and connects all the dots. The way she ties it all together makes everything we have learned “click”. She decreases the anxiety and stress and is overall an amazing human being! I have never had a better professor and clinical instructor.”

Tasha A. Thomas, M.Ed. (she/her/hers)
Director of Composition and Senior Instructor, Languages, Literature and Composition (LLC)
A 1996 Graduate of USC Upstate and first generation college student, I have been a part of the Spartan Community for quite a while now (though we were known as the USC Spartanburg Rifles back when I was an undergraduate). I am currently serving as Senior Instructor and Director of Composition for the Department of Languages, Literature, and Composition. This will be my 19th year as full-time faculty at USC Upstate and my 25th year as a full-time educator in SC.
I joined USC Upstate in 2006 as the Director of the Spartanburg Writing Project and still enjoy working with k12 schools in Spartanburg County. In spring 2024 I was recognized as “Explorer Extraordinaire” for my work in teaching composition and exploring new avenues for student success.
This recognition stems from my work with the USC Upstate summer bridge program, Jumpstart. I spent summer 2024 and summer 2025 working with students who were unable to complete English 101 and/or 102 during the academic year. These students worked diligently to produce quality work and master foundational skills of effective communication and research. Working with struggling students to build confidence and intrinsic motivation is a rewarding experience for me, and I saw 100% pass rates. In addition, during spring 2024 I collaborated with Dr. Kim Purdy and Dr. Esther Godfrey to design the Spartan Block Program, and initiative allowing first-year students to focus on one core academic course at a time, completing each course in a 4-week span. Research proves that students are more successful when they can focus on fewer sets of learning objectives and assignments. We hope to implement this targeted program, modeled after my work with Jumpstart during fall 2025.
Tammy Pike, MA is a Senior Instructor of History at USC Upstate.
I graduated from the University of South Carolina Upstate, with a B.A. In History, in 2005 and I was a first-generation college student. I have taught at USC Upstate for over ten years. My fields of interest include Nazi Germany, Eugenics, World War II, and the History of Women. In 2024, I received the CAHSS Excellence in Teaching and Advising Award. I also received the University Excellence in Teaching and Advising Award.

Service-Learning, community engagement, and civic engagement were all crucial in defining my success in the classroom and beyond. Many of my courses include a Service-Learning component which allows students to work with community partners such as museums, local historical sites, libraries, etc. in order to transcribe original handwritten letters, create digital exhibits, explore oral histories of individuals in the community, and much more. I also serve as the Civic Engagement Coordinator on campus. This role allows me to work directly with student ambassadors to increase voter registration on campus, bring speakers to campus relating to voting issues, and much more.