BY DANIELLE LEGARE

As the inaugural director of NJIT’s new Center for Educational Innovation and Excellence (CEIE), Bosca—a student in the Graduate School of Education—is leading a university-wide effort to transform pedagogy, support faculty development and prioritize education research at a STEM-focused institution.

The CEIE, which officially launched in January 2025, replaces NJIT’s former Institute for Teaching Excellence and expands its mission. With full-time staff, a central location within the university’s academic framework and an agenda to advance both pedagogy and education research, the center is already transforming teaching and learning at NJIT.

“This is my dream position. I get to advocate for pedagogical best practices, help instructors become the best they can be and support students in having truly meaningful educational experiences. A huge part of it—and this is largely because of my PhD at UB—is that I also want to drive education research,” Bosca said. “I want to work with faculty to do education research, go through the IRB process, support them with the scholarship and the literature review, and collaborate to publish research in education.”

“We're a STEM university, so we do a lot of research, but this hasn’t traditionally been a primary focus,” she added. “Now, with this new center, we can say: this is a research priority.”

Bosca credits much of her professional growth and confidence to her experience in GSE’s curriculum, instruction and the science of learning PhD program. While working full-time and raising two young children, she took courses online and quickly found a sense of belonging at GSE.

“Being a fully online student really shaped some of the decisions I’ve made here in my work because I was truly experiencing the impact that certain strategies have on students,” she said. “I just felt so happy and proud to be part of this program at the University at Buffalo because the instructors were setting a standard that I now hold up here at NJIT.”

Bosca’s advisor, Tiffany Karalis Noel, clinical associate professor of learning and instruction and director of doctoral programs, stands out.

“She is incredible—as a human being, and of course, as an educator, a scholar and an administrator. I took a class with her and then asked her to be my advisor. That’s been so formative not only in my learning as a student, because she’s such a strong teacher, but also in my professional growth,” Bosca said. “Because of her, I’ve already published two articles. She invited me to coauthor a chapter with her and another peer during the pandemic, and later we authored another paper together and presented together at the AERA [American Educational Research Association] conference.”

According to Karalis Noel, their relationship is mutually beneficial.

"There’s a moment as a doctoral advisor when you realize the student you’re mentoring has become the person you look to for what’s next. That’s Nikki. Her leadership at NJIT’s Center for Educational Innovation and Excellence reflects the kind of scholar she has become through her doctoral research: principled, visionary and deeply attuned to the realities of teaching and learning,” said Karalis Noel. “She’s built her scholarship from a place of courage and care, and now she is building a center with the same clarity of purpose. It has been a privilege to learn alongside her."

Currently, Bosca’s research centers on generative AI and its implications for first-year writing instruction. Her dissertation research is already informing her work at NJIT, where she’s become a point person for AI literacy and integration in higher education.

As for what’s next, Bosca is eager to continue building momentum at the CEIE and finish her dissertation at UB.

“I’ve had such a great experience at UB… When I started my first semester, my daughter was nine months old. I was a new mom, starting a PhD, and working full-time,” she said.

“It was hard. But I had amazing professors who were empathetic and understanding. Their inclusive mindset has been incredible.”