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Beckie Supiano

Senior Writer

What I Cover

I write about teaching, learning, and the human interactions that shape them. Some of my favorite stories have examined the role that teaching plays in professors’ careers, the toll that this work can take on the professors who love it, and efforts to make large classes feel smaller.

As the college-going population diversifies, the professoriate adjunctifies, and institutional priorities shift, much of my coverage explores the question: Will colleges deliver on their promise to educate the students they now enroll?

With my colleague Beth McMurtrie, I co-write The Chronicle’s Teaching newsletter, which offers instructors and the faculty developers who support them a weekly dose of news, research, advice, and ideas. It also provides connection and community — and informs our reporting for our broader Chronicle readership.

My Background

I didn’t know I wanted to be a journalist until near the end of college. Even then, I didn’t intend to write about education, but after I joined The Chronicle as an intern in 2008, I discovered that colleges were actors and writing about them was a way to write about almost anything. I moved into a staff position covering college affordability before taking on the teaching beat.

I earned a bachelor’s degree in comparative religion from Miami University and a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School. I grew up in Michigan and now reside in Florida. A planner by nature, I carried a hand-me-down PalmPilot in high school.

Connect

Email me at beckie.supiano@chronicle.com. I can be found on social media but am more of a lurker than a poster.

You can sign up here to receive the Teaching newsletter in your inbox on Thursdays. It’s free, and we love connecting with our readers.

Highlights

Supportive Strategies
By Beckie Supiano August 26, 2024

Recent Stories

Teaching
By Beckie Supiano May 15, 2025
There are lots of problems with student evaluations of teaching. Among them: timing.
Teaching
By Beckie Supiano May 1, 2025
Is classroom instruction so different from helping someone learn a sport or musical instrument?
Teaching
By Beckie Supiano April 17, 2025
A first-year seminar instructor describes how she involved her students in adjusting her plans for the course.
Summa Cum Laude?
By Beckie Supiano April 14, 2025
The history scholar explains why it matters that there’s been a spike in students graduating with Latin honors.
Teaching
By Beckie Supiano April 3, 2025
For my latest story, I show how learning-assistant programs can help create better learning environments.
A Classroom 'Relief'
By Beckie Supiano March 21, 2025
How undergraduate learning assistants make large-enrollment courses feel more human.
Teaching
By Beckie Supiano March 20, 2025
Open-access tools developed at Baylor U. and MIT help instructors be intentional in their syllabus language.
'Ripple Effects for Years'
By Beckie Supiano March 12, 2025
Distributing millions of grants and loans can be made more efficient, but without enough people, experts worry that things will start to break.
Teaching
By Beckie Supiano March 6, 2025
Two faculty developers share their perspectives on how instructors can streamline an often-overburdened document.
Teaching
By Beckie Supiano February 20, 2025
Faculty development is often about putting out fires. This program is meant to offer some fun.