Presidential Award for Outstanding NTE Faculty: Teaching

Bridgett R. Severt

A breath of fresh air. Rigorous but fun. A tireless worker.

Those are just a few of the ways students and colleagues describe Bridgett R. Severt, lecturer of anatomy in the Department of Neuroscience, Cell Biology and Physiology and the recipient of the 2020–2021 Presidential Award for Outstanding Non-Tenure (NTE) Faculty: Teaching.

“Bridgett Severt is an extremely talented, dedicated, hardworking and outstanding educator, whose prime objective is to provide an excellent educational opportunity for all of her students — she will work tirelessly to meet her prime objective,” said Eric Bennett, chair of the Department of Neuroscience, Cell Biology and Physiology.

Severt plays a critical role in preparing nursing and medical students for difficult professional curricula and clinical training. Her management of Wright State’s unique hands-on anatomy labs is a model for other faculty members.

As a course director or co-director of nine courses in Human Anatomy and Physiology, Severt is annually involved with the education of nearly 1,000 undergraduate, graduate and medical school students in various majors, including nursing, biomedical engineering and pre-health. She also oversees the training and teaching activities of more than 100 undergraduate and graduate teaching assistants.

Severt coordinates the Human Anatomy and Physiology Interactive Lab (HAPI Lab), which provides an interactive learning experience to several hundred high school students annually. The HAPI lab and the department’s NeuroLab are models for outreach to the Dayton area high school community.

After serving as workshop co-coordinator and presenting on the HAPI Lab at the annual Human Anatomy and Physiology Society (HAPS) conference, Severt published an article on the lab in the HAPS Educator journal to help others to use the HAPI Lab as a model at their own universities. Within the HAPS society, she is helping develop a mentorship program to help others who teach anatomy labs.

Her excellent performance and contributions as an educator are outlined by the numerous comments and evaluations from students and peer evaluators. Students praise the way she teaches challenging and technical courses, skillfully breaking down concepts and making learning fun.

When courses moved to remote delivery during the pandemic, Severt reorganized her classes so she could deliver high-quality hybrid lessons. When students were permitted to return to campus, she developed lab protocols that included doubling the number of lab sections to accommodate safe physical distancing. Other faculty members implemented Severt’s protocols as their students returned to campus labs. She also helped develop lab safety protocols when medical students returned for anatomy training.

Severt’s creative teaching and leadership skills have been recognized through the Outstanding Female Faculty Award from the Panhellenic Council and the Spirit of Innovation Award from the College of Science and Mathematics.

Her numerous service and outreach contributions are just as impressive as her teaching efforts. She has served on the Undergraduate Student Success Committee, Library Faculty Advisory Board, Commencement Committee and the college and university Petitions Committee, among many others. She also volunteers with the STEMM: Exploring Human Anatomy Program and the Forensics Camp and serves as a science fair judge for local middle and high schools as well as a consultant for local Science Olympiad teams.

Not only is Severt an outstanding instructor and colleague, but she is also a Wright State graduate, with a master’s degree in anatomy and a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences.