Meet Our Team

Jennifer Vannatta-Hall is the Director of the MTSU Center for Teaching and Mentoring and professor of music education. She holds degrees from the University of Illinois (Ed.D) and Middle Tennessee State University (B.M., M.A.). She has nearly 30 years of experience as a professional educator, including teaching K–12 music in both Rutherford County Schools and the Franklin Special School District. Jennifer currently serves as co-chair of Priority 1 for MTSU’s 2035 Strategic Plan and has served in various leadership roles for the MTSU School of Music as Interim Director (2020-2023), Associate Director (2023-2025), and Assistant Director (2019-2020). She continues to teach courses in music education.

Jennifer has presented workshops and conference sessions all over the United States and was a visiting professor of music at Hangzhou Normal University in China in March 2019. She has conducted and adjudicated numerous choral festivals. She completed the master-level training in the Orff-Schulwerk approach to music education and has also studied World Music Pedagogy through the Smithsonian Institution and Modern Band/Music Will. Her book, Music Teaching Self-Efficacy in Early Childhood Teacher Education, was published in 2013.

Robyn Ridgley is Assistant Director of the CTM and professor of early childhood education. She holds degrees from the University of Kentucky (Ed.D.), Vanderbilt University (M.Ed.), and Murray State University (B.S.). She has 30 years of experience as a professional educator and has taught special education in an elementary school and supported children birth through age 5 and their parents in inclusive early learning and home visiting programs. At MTSU, she has served as associate dean of the College of Education (2020-2025), department chair of the Department of Elementary and Special Education (2016-2020), principal investigator of the Home & Community-Based Early Intervention program (2010-2020), interim director of the Ann Campbell Early Learning Center (2014-2015), and program coordinator of the Early Childhood Education program (2007-2010).   

Robyn’s research has focused on factors impacting completion of teacher preparation programs, strategies for preparing teachers and service providers to work in early childhood fields, and early intervention services for young children with disabilities, specifically quality features of individualized family service plans and strategies for supporting quality service provision. She has taught various classes in the Early Childhood Education program and supported the assessment core of the Assessment, Learning, and Student Success doctoral program. She has received state funding to support the training and preparation of special education teachers through a Grow Your Own program. She has been active at the state and national level in educator preparation accreditation and serves on the board of the Tennessee Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. 

Bonnie Bailey is the CTM Administrative Assistant. A graduate of MTSU, Bonnie holds a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication with an emphasis in Newspaper/Magazine Journalism. While at MTSU, she participated in a study abroad program coordinated by MTSU and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and studied children’s literature at the University of Edinburgh in Edinburgh, Scotland.

In addition to previous positions at MTSU, she has worked in higher education administration roles at the University of Denver, East Tennessee State University, and Arapahoe Community College. She enjoys supporting students, faculty, and staff, and is excited to contribute to the Center for Teaching and Mentoring.

John Hagan is the Graduate Assistant for the Center for Teaching & Mentoring and a doctoral candidate in the Assessment, Learning, and Student Success program at Middle Tennessee State University. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Religion from the University of Ghana, Legon, and a master’s degree in Psychology from MTSU. He brings a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary lens to research, student success, and faculty development.

John has facilitated faculty book discussions, contributed to working groups on institutional innovation, and co-facilitated mentoring programs focused on inclusive academic support. He is recognized for his academic excellence through his membership in the prestigious Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. As the Graduate Assistant for the Center for Teaching and Mentoring, he supports the center’s programming and assists with social media and marketing initiatives.

Jenn Caputo is CTM Faculty Leader for the Faculty Fellows program and professor of exercise science, where she is the graduate program coordinator. Her commitment to relationship-rich teaching has been recognized with the MTSU Foundation Outstanding Teacher Award in 2009 and 2022.

Jenn is deeply engaged in faculty and student mentoring, having chaired over 75 theses and dissertations and led the LT&ITC Faculty Teaching Mentor Program for more than a decade. In addition to serving as Interim Director of Faculty Development at the LT&ITC (2024-2025), she has led and participated in Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs) and book groups for the Center and co-led the All-Inclusive Mentoring (AIM) program. She also serves as a mentor in the Leadership & Diversity Training Programs for both her regional and national professional organizations.

Jenn holds a B.S. in Psychology from Connecticut College and an M.S. in Sport Psychology and a Ph.D. in Exercise Physiology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Rebecca (Becky) Seipelt-Thiemann, Ph.D. is CTM Faculty Leader for the Peer Observation of Teaching program, which includes Teaching Mentors and Teaching Triangles. Professor of Biology at Middle Tennessee State University, she is recognized for her leadership in evidence-based teaching practices and faculty development. She designs and implements high-impact, research-driven learning experiences, including flipped classrooms, spaced practice, and backward design. Her courses also integrate Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs), where students conduct authentic research projects culminating in public presentations. These approaches emphasize problem-solving, scientific communication, and data literacy, aligning with national learning frameworks.

Dr. Seipelt-Thiemann also mentors faculty nationwide through NSF-funded initiatives such as the CASE Mentoring Network and Microbiology Open Education Resource (MOER) projects, training educators in case-based learning and open educational resource development. At MTSU, she has trained instructors in CURE pedagogy and serves as a departmental teaching mentor. Her commitment to evidence-based strategies extends to professional development, where she leads workshops on active learning, assessment, and open science practices.

Dr. Pamela Kramer Ertel is CTM Faculty Leader for the Small Changes, Big Impact: Practical Approaches to Enhance Student Engagement program and Professor of Education in the Department of Elementary and Special Education. She is also the Program Coordinator of the Early Childhood Program and coordinates the Early Childhood Residency 1 experience for teacher candidates. Dr. Kramer Ertel is a former professor and Dean of the College of Education at East Stroudsburg University. She is a former president of Kappa Delta Pi (KDP), the International Honor Society in Education, as well as currently serving as a member of the Eleanor Roosevelt Chapter of KDP.

Her research interests include teacher education, student engagement, social-emotional learning, and trauma-informed schools. She serves as the Associate Editor of the International Journal of the Whole Child.

Jenna Cutright is the CTM Student Worker. She is from Buckhannon, WV and is enrolled in the B.S. degree program in Horse Science at MTSU. She is excited about helping out in the Center for Teaching and Mentoring.