STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Tarleton State University’s Dr. Christopher R. Wilder has been honored with the individual Chancellor’s Academy of Teacher Educators (CATE) award by The Texas A&M System.
The CATE award recognizes individuals and university teams for their contributions to quality, innovation and continuous improvement in teacher preparation. Each year up to three individuals and up to three university teams may be inducted into CATE. This year’s recipients were recognized at the Chancellor’s Century Council annual banquet Thursday, Feb. 22.
“The training of professional counselors is a shared responsibility, and I work with colleagues who support, encourage and challenge one another,” said Dr. Wilder, Assistant Professor, Clinic Director and School Counseling Coordinator at Tarleton-Waco. “It is a gift, and I’m honored that my department colleagues valued my work enough to nominate me for this prestigious award.”
Dr. Diane Stearns, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, said Dr. Wilder’s experience and dedication to equipping future counselors is impressive and deserves recognition.
“His selection for this award reflects Tarleton State’s commitment to preparing students to be highly qualified professionals,” she said. “I’m pleased that we have someone of his caliber as part of our team.”
Dr. Wilder has worked at Tarleton State since summer 2017, specializing in clinical mental health and school counseling. He’s a Licensed Professional Counselor and Board-Approved Supervisor with over 30 years of professional counseling in outpatient clinics, college counseling centers, public high schools and faith-based settings, and he has worked with adults, adolescents and children. He earned his master’s degree and doctorate in counseling from the University of North Texas in Denton.
In 2010, The Texas A&M System Office of Academic Affairs partnered with the Chancellor’s Century Council (CCC) to create a process to honor individual faculty for impactful teacher preparation. As of 2021, CATE had inducted 87 faculty for individual contributions to teacher preparation.
Each university may make one nomination per year in each category — individual and team. Each nominee (individual or team member) must work directly in preparing teachers. The award is not limited to any college or department — all teacher preparation pathways are included.
In addition to this year’s individual award, team award recipients include:
Prairie View A&M University’s Panther Teaching Academy and Residency
- Dr. Beverly Sande, Associate Professor
- Doris A. Barnes-Green, Director of Teacher Certification
- Dr. Beverly A. Miller, Assistant Professor
- Ms. Elizabeth Stoerkel, Lecturer I
- Dr. Britine Perkins, Assistant Professor
Texas A&M University’s Special Education Undergraduate Team
- Dr. Melissa Fogarty, Clinical Associate Professor, Educational Psychology
- Dr. Marcia Montague, Clinical Assistant Professor and Special Education Program Area Chair
- Dr. Erinn Whiteside, Clinical Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Applied Behavior Analysis Certificate Program
- Dr. Julie Thompson, Associate Professor of Special Education
- Mrs. Kelly Schmid, Director of Field Placements
Texas A&M International University’s College of Education Branch Alliance Transformation Team
- Dr. Christian Faltis, Professor and Department Chair of Educational Programs
- Dr. Puneet S. Gill, Associate Professor
- Dr. Seth Sampson, Assistant Professor
- Dr. Filiz S. Shine, Associate Professor
- Dr. Maria de Lourdes Viloria, Associate Professor
In 2021, the CATE award shifted to align with the “We Teach Texas” initiative and other state and national recognition systems, with a focus on quality, innovation and continuous improvement in teacher preparation. In addition to updated criteria, the award expanded to recognize teams of individuals who are collectively making exemplary impacts toward producing the highest quality educators.
A founding member of The Texas A&M System, Tarleton State University is breaking records — in enrollment, research, scholarship, athletics, philanthropy and engagement — while transforming the lives of approximately 18,000 students in Stephenville, Fort Worth, Waco, Bryan and online. For 125 years, Tarleton State has been committed to accessible higher education opportunities for all while helping students grow academically, socially and professionally through programs that emphasize real world learning and address regional, state and national needs.