Dr. Kristi McDuffie, the Interim Director of Rhetoric, has won the Chancellor’s Academic Professional Excellence (CAPE) Award. At the onset of the pandemic, McDuffie guided the Rhetoric Program under extremely difficult conditions, organizing professional training for online teaching and providing support for instructors of Rhetoric.
McDuffie joined the Department of English in 2015 after earning her PhD in English Studies with a concentration in Rhetoric and Composition from Illinois State University. As the acting Director of the Rhetoric Program, which serves over 3,500 students per year, McDuffie leads a team of Rhetoric program staff and over 70 writing instructors each semester. McDuffie also directs curriculum, oversees professional development, leads staffing and scheduling, programmatic hiring, and liaises with campus partners and student support services. She is also the Editor and one of the lead authors for the programmatic textbook, I Write: A Writing Guide for the Undergraduate Rhetoric Program at the University of Illinois.
As one of six recipients of the CAPE Award, McDuffie is recognized for her demonstrated excellence at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Recipients of the competitive award are first nominated by a University employee and then evaluated by the CAPE committee for their work, personal, and professional contributions.
Please join the department in celebrating Dr. Kristi McDuffie!