Meagan Patterson named associate vice provost in Faculty Affairs

LAWRENCE — Meagan Patterson, professor of educational psychology, has been named associate vice provost for faculty policy and recognition at the University of Kansas. Her appointment became effective Jan. 1. 

This new position will take a leadership role in developing policy, reviewing policy processes and developing educational programming related to faculty policy. Additionally, this role will develop and promote faculty recognition initiatives and coordinate university-level faculty award committees in the Office of Faculty Affairs.  

Amy Mendenhall, vice provost for faculty affairs, said the new associate vice provost position will allow Faculty Affairs to expand already established relationships across KU and further support the mission of the office. 

“This position will enable the Office of Faculty Affairs to grow our efforts to support faculty and faculty leaders in developing and implementing clear, equitable and aligned policies that relate to the faculty role and promote and recognize the valuable work and contributions of KU faculty,” Mendenhall said. “I am excited for Meagan to bring her experience in policy development and implementation, as well as existing partnerships with units across campus on academic initiatives, to this role.” 

Patterson recently served the Office of Faculty Affairs as a provost fellow. In this position, she laid the groundwork for some of the initiatives that will be further developed in her new role as associate vice provost. As a faculty fellow, Patterson reviewed faculty-related policies and led initiatives such as updating outdated policies, creating supplemental policy resource documents and communicating with units across campus to clarify and provide guidance. 

Patterson has been with the Department of Educational Psychology in the School of Education & Human Sciences since 2007. Previously, Patterson has served as a program coordinator within the Department of Educational Psychology, a faculty fellow with the Center for Teaching Excellence, a member of faculty senate and a research mentor for the McNair Scholars program.  

“I am excited to join the team at the Office of Faculty Affairs and look forward to working with groups across campus to recognize the great work being done within their units and create policies that reflect their goals, priorities and values,” Patterson said. 

Patterson’s research focuses on children’s knowledge and attitudes about gender, race and politics and how adults talk with children about these topics. She has taught courses on child development, the psychology of learning, social psychology and college teaching and serves as the director of KU’s graduate certificate program in postsecondary teaching. She has received multiple teaching awards, including the Budig Teaching Professorship in Education. 

Before coming to KU, Patterson received her bachelor’s degree in psychology and linguistics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her master’s and doctorate in developmental psychology from the University of Texas at Austin.