By Pete Rosenbery
CARBONDALE – Jody Paulson brings a “foundational love” of teaching and a teaching philosophy rooted in experiential and interdisciplinary learning. Her students bring continuing motivation.
Jody Paulson (center) receives the 2026 Teaching Excellence Award for tenured and tenure-track faculty from Hong Cheng, dean of the College of Arts and Media (left) and Chancellor Austin Lane. (Photo by Russell Bailey)
These are the primary ingredients behind the success of Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Art Education Program. A clinical associate professor and art education program coordinator in the School of Art and Design, Paulson is the 2026 Excellence Award recipient for non-tenure track faculty.
The award recognizes faculty who demonstrate outstanding teaching, high-quality classroom performance, innovation and “commitment to student learning outcomes and inclusive excellence in education.”
Hong Cheng, professor and dean in the College of Arts and Media, wrote in a nomination letter that enrollment has grown by more than 140% with a 100% job placement rate for graduates who are seeking art education positions since Paulson, who is the only instructor, took over the program in 2018. Paulson also spearheaded development of SIU Carbondale’s pre-art therapy program and organizes professional development opportunities, including the Southern Illinois Art and Design Educators Conference — and she directs the Saturday Young Artist Workshop. In 2023, Paulson received the Illinois Higher Education Art Educator of the Year award and champions statewide efforts to strengthen arts education in K-12 schools.
“Her unflagging dedication, innovative teaching practices, and commitment to student success have transformed art education at SIU Carbondale and enriched the cultural and intellectual life of our region,” Cheng wrote.
Honored by the award
Paulson said she is surprised and honored to receive the award “as there are so many talented and deserving” non-tenure track faculty on campus. The excellence award recognition is “especially meaningful,” since colleague Julia Rendleman, is the 2026 Excellence Award recipient for tenured and tenure-track faculty, she said.
“Julia and I have worked with one another on a number of projects in the past two years and she is an amazing educator,” Paulson said.
Paulson’s more than 30-year art education career includes working as an art specialist in the elementary and high school levels in Montana and in Las Vegas along with being an adjunct art education professor at the University of Montana for seven years. She moved to Carbondale after her husband took a job at SIU. She taught a course in SIU’s curriculum and instruction program in 2017 before becoming art program coordinator the next year.
Student community involvement
Paulson said it’s important that her students become involved in art education workshops and conferences and build community relationships. Four of her five courses include service-learning opportunities in surrounding communities. Students have worked with community partners including Jackson County 4-H, Giant City Consolidated School District, the Cobden High School Art Club, the City of Carbondale, Artspace Southern Illinois, and Shawnee College in conjunction with the Southern Illinois Artists Council.
Mock art program defense
One of Paulson’s signature projects is a mock art program defense in her “Philosophies, Trends, and Professional Practices in Art Education” course. Paulson brings together education-affiliated university and community members who are not directly involved in the arts to serve as mock school board members for a fictional elementary school. Paulson’s students are tasked with the job to convince the fictional school board of the importance of art education in the school to save the fictional art program. Students receive invaluable feedback on their research, delivery and persuasive arguments, Paulson said.
“This is a real-life scenario that they may face. The people to whom they may have to defend their art program often have little or no experience in the arts,” Paulson wrote. “By bringing in community members to serve as a mock school board, I provide my students with a glimpse into the type of individuals they may encounter as they seek employment.”
Paulson said she also tries to invite administrators who do not have elementary art programs in their schools “so that my students are also participating in art advocacy with the hope that their defenses may instigate a change that results in more art in our area schools.”
Cole Moore, a 2022 SIU Carbondale graduate with a specialization in art education, is the seventh- and eighth grade art instructor at Carterville Junior High School. Paulson’s “commitment to teaching and her passion for cultivating the next generation of art educators is unmatched,” he wrote. She “consistently exemplifies what it means to be an art educator through her creativity, flexibility, advocacy, professionalism, and passion for art. With Jody’s guidance and mentorship, I felt more prepared than I ever thought I could be when entering my first year of teaching.”