Karen A. Poole
Karen "Pea" Poole, M.A., is an Academic Professional Associate Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). Certified as a physical education specialist with a sociology minor from Bishop Otter College of the University of Sussex higher education system, she began her teaching career in 1979 in the United Kingdom. She taught physical education and social science at a girl´s grammar school which eventually transitioned to a co- educational institution. She received a Fulbright Teaching Scholarship (1985) and taught at a junior high school in Danbury, CT for one year. She received her Master of Arts degree in Sport Management & Sociology from Appalachian State University, Boone, NC and taught physical activity in the university Health, Leisure and Exercise Science department until 1996. Professor Poole currently teaches Kinesiology (KIN) Majors and students in the general UNCG community. She teaches in the Activity Instruction Program, Aquatics, and in the Physical Education Teacher Education and Fitness Leadership concentrations. She has also taught in the UNCG Student Academic Services sponsored Strategies for Academic Success program.
She is the recipient of the Kinesiology Department inaugural HUMARTS service award sponsored by KIN emeritus faculty (1999), the School of Health and Human Performance (HHP) Teaching Excellence Award (2003), and a School of HHP Teaching Innovation Instructional Technology Award (2004). In 2005, Professor Poole received the UNCG Alumni Teaching Excellence Award for Untenured Faculty (2005). She also received a UNCG University Marshals award for excellence for positively affecting the success of students at UNCG (2005). She is a 2005 nominee for a U.S. Professor of the Year Award sponsored by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. She is the current Department of Kinesiology Director of Undergraduate Studies.