Todd M. Beard, Director

Todd M. Beard, M.Ed. has been in education for over 20 years, teaching and leading programs in the USA, Germany and the UK. Before coming to UT Knoxville, he was the director for an intensive English program at a private higher education institution in Nashville, Tennessee. His strengths are with ideation, innovation and being a catalyst for strategic change. He enjoys taking action in areas to stimulate growth and learning that elevate the student experience. He has led presentations, program development and student recruitment in Europe, Central America and South America. Actively involved in international education, he has served on the NAFSA Region VII Leadership Team as the International Enrollment Management Liaison, the board of Study Tennessee as co-chair and as a member-at-large on the TNTESOL board. Todd is excited to welcome students at the English Language Institute!

Contact Information:  Email: tbeard9@utk.edu

Doug Terry, Teaching Associate

Doug Terry, MA TESOL Education, is a teaching associate at ELI. Deeply interested in helping UT become a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive campus, he also coordinates the Academy for Global Scholars in addition to his teaching work at ELI. The Academy helps first-generation college students—students who are the first in their families to attend college—travel abroad and see the world. Before joining ELI, he worked with Knox County Schools and Pellissippi State Community College’s Adult Education program.

Contact Information:  Email: dterry1@utk.edu

Avie Owensby, Admissions Specialist and Program Coordinator

Avie Owensby, earned her B.A. in Global Studies from the University of Tennessee, where she also pursued double minors in Portuguese and Africana Studies. Avie’s profound interest in world cultures has driven her to travel extensively, enriching her understanding of global perspectives and intercultural communication. This diverse experiential background informs her academic pursuits and enhances her ability to engage meaningfully with individuals from various backgrounds. Avie grew up in Chattanooga, TN and is committed to fostering cross-cultural connections and contributing to a greater understanding of global dynamics.

Contact Information:  Email: vqj965@utk.edu

Amanda Dascomb, Instructional Designer and Instructor

Amanda Dascomb, Ph.D., an educator with fifteen years of experience, has taught high school, university, and adult ed courses in subjects ranging from education to English and French. Prior to establishing roots in Knoxville, she worked in Guadeloupe, Ecuador, and Senegal. Dr. Dascomb takes joy in witnessing students build confidence and sharpen their academic skills. During the summer, you’ll often find her open water swimming in the Tennessee River.

Contact Information:  Email: adascomb@utk.edu

Maria Elena Arredondo, Instructor

Maria Elena Arredondo is a 15-year teaching professional with experience at the elementary, high school, and university level. Her undergraduate and master’s degrees are in TESOL. She has a passion for languages and loves to help students succeed in their journey to learn and improve their skills in English. She comes to us most recently from the University of Guanajuato in central Mexico. She was also a member of the exam design committee which included the University’s English language placement exams. She was born and raised in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico and relocated to Knoxville in 2022. In her spare time, she enjoys reading novels, traveling, meeting new people, trying food from different countries, soccer and Vols football. She is excited to join the ELI team and looks forward to positively impacting the lives of its students through teaching

Contact Information:  Email: marredo2@utk.edu

Alisha Cashman, Instructor

Alisha received her B.A. in Asian Studies, later obtained her TEFL certification, and is currently pursuing an MSEd in TESOL. Her cumulative 10 years of teaching have woven in and out of teaching English abroad—in Japan and Hungary—and teaching ESL locally in Knoxville, to which she has returned after three years working in Special Education. These experiences have shaped her teaching style. She recognizes that every situation is different and tailors each class accordingly. Believing that education should be applicable but also engaging—and, dare she say, fun—she loves blending academic rigor with flexibility and enjoyment. Alisha’s personal and academic passions include languages, culture, and travel, and she loves learning about how these intertwine. She knows Japanese and smatterings of other languages, of which she eager to further her knowledge. With the rest of her free time, she enjoys writing, cooking, and music.

Contact Information:  Email: abrock19@utk.edu

Benjamin Gavin, Instructor

Ben is originally from Chicago but grew up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He spent five years of his life teaching English in rural Japan and helped coach a junior high school soccer team while there. He also briefly taught English in Vietnam while studying at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology. Ben’s background aside from languages is in International Studies, where he has experience conducting research abroad in Tunisia and Kenya. He recently completed his Master’s degree in International Development at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. Ben can speak Japanese and a bit of German. In his free time, Ben enjoys soccer and photography.

Contact Information:  Email: bgavin1@utk.edu

Cara Hurley, Instructor

Mrs. Hurley was born in the United States but spent most of her childhood living in the beautiful nation of Indonesia, constantly interacting with both Indonesians and expats from many other countries. Cara holds an M.A. in TESOL & Intercultural Studies and has been teaching English to adults, mostly in the Chicago area, for over twenty years. Much of her career has involved teaching immigrants and refugees from a wide range of nationalities, ages (17-81), and educational backgrounds (preliterate to Ph.D.). Interacting with these students has deeply impacted her teaching style, and she strives for an engaging, collaborative classroom atmosphere that makes the subject matter accessible and interesting to her students. She speaks Bahasa Indonesia and understands several dialects of Malay.

Contact Information:  Email: churle14@utk.edu