Sarah Balcom

Dr. Sarah Balcom joined the department of Animal & Avian Sciences at the University of Maryland as a full-time lecturer in the fall of 2010. The following year, she became the undergraduate program director for her department. In this full time position, she taught 5-7 courses and mentored several independent study projects per year and provided programmatic and advising oversight to the undergraduate program. She advised over 40 students per semester in the department through its group advising system, and she served as the pre-veterinary advisor for the UMD campus. She chaired the departmental programs, courses and curriculum (PCC) and the evaluation of teaching committees, as well as several other committees within the Department of Animal and Avian sciences and the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. She was a ten year member of the faculty board for the University's "Scholarship in Practice"; General Education courses, and a member of the I-series faculty development community. As a CTE-Lilly Faculty fellow in AY2011-2012, she helped to create the documents that now define the Scholarship in Practice category of courses.

In February of 2023, Dr. Balcom became the Assistant Dean for Academic Programs in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. There, she oversees academics, advising, and student services across the seven departments in the college which offer undergraduate programs. Further, she leads community building and retention efforts for undergraduate students in the College. She has chaired the College’s PTK policy review committee, its PTK promotions committee, and has mentored several PTK faculty in AGNR and across campus. At the campus level, she works on campus curricular learning outcomes assessment, development of campus-wide advising resources for students and advisors, Terrapin Strong initiatives, collaborating on interdisciplinary majors, and infusing innovation and entrepreneurship to AGNR student experiences. She continues to work with pre-veterinary students and teaches one section of the first semester seminar, UNIV100.

Major Awards and Honors

• Kirwan Award for Undergraduate Education. University of Maryland, September 2022.
• WW-CH Fellowship for Excellence in Teaching. The Woodrow Wilson Foundation. April 2019.
• Provost's Excellence Award for Professional Track Faculty- Teaching Excellence. University of Maryland. May 2016.
• Paul R. Poffenberger Excellence in Teaching and Advising Award. College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Alumni Chapter. May 2014.