Melissa Landers-Potts

Education

Research

Dr. Landers-Potts is interested in how familial and contextual factors, such as access to resources, use of technology, etc., influence the development and flourishing of adolescents by way of the parenting practices of their caregivers.  Recently, she has begun research on the experience of parental divorce during emerging adulthood and its impact on the well-being of young adults. Additionally, she frequently presents on pedagogical practices and research focusing on active learning, the Universal Design for Learning, and her teaching model in which she has partners with a private sector telemental health company to further the learning of her students and application of the course content they are studying to real-world situations.

Teaching

Human Development,  Adolescence, Effect of Technology on Human Development, Impact of Identity & Experience on Human Flourishing

Awards

Outreach

Dr. Landers-Potts regularly incorporates experiential and active learning into her teaching.  Recently, she has spent time speaking and facilitating faculty forums to discuss the ways that students with different identities and strengths can be supported through the way we structure our classes.  She teaches a service-learning Adolescent Development course each semester in which she partners with an online mental health company in the private sector.  Her students become online peer mentors to adolescents and emerging adults across the globe by way of sharing and discussing the developmental information they are learning about these life stages.  

Advisory Committee

FACS Representative and Member, University Curriculum Committee

FACS Representative, University Council

Lecturer Representative, Faculty Affairs Committee, University Council

FACS Associate Deans Representative to UGA Graduate School 

Chair, College Curriculum Committee

Chair, College Scholarship Committee

Chair, Student Technology Fee Committee

Faculty Advisory Committee, UGA Office of the Vice President for Instructrion (2022-2024)

Faculty Advisor for Phi Upsilon Omicron Honor Society

UGA Active Learning Summer Institute Mentor (2023) and panel speaker (2023 & 2024)

UGA Service-Learning Fellows mentor and speaker

UGA New Student/Parent Orientation speaker

UGA New Teaching Faculty Orientation speaker

Areas of Expertise

Effect of familial and contextual factors (e.g., economic stress, tehnology use) on adolescent well-being 

Melissa Landers-Potts is an avid runner who is a member of the Athens Road Runner racing team.  Her husband and two sons are graduates of the University of Georgia.

Current Classes

HDFS 2200 & 2200H:  Lifespan Development

HDFS 3700 & 3700S:  Adolescent Development/Adolescent Development, service-learning

FACS 2000:  Introduction to Family & Consumer Sciences

Current Research

Effects of experiences parental divorce in emerging adulthood 

Service-learning and self-compassion

Effects of electronic communication on adolescent well-being

Job Description

The Interim Assistant Dean for Academic Programs is primarily responsible for administrative oversight for undergraduate programs, verifying college compliance with University of Georgia policies, procedures, and unit accreditation, aligning all undergraduate educational programs with the college’s and university’s 2025 Strategic Plan, offering faculty  opportunities to increase the development of teaching excellence, and providing and evaluating opportunities for student agency and involvment in their education.

Journal Articles

• Armah, A., & Landers-Potts, M. (2021). A Review of Imaginary Companions and Their Implications for Development (with considerations for race & social class). Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 41(1), 31–53. 
• Landers-Potts, M. A., O’Neal, C. W., & Mancini, J. A. (2017). Electronic communication use and socio-emotional well-being among military youth. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 26(12), 3266-3277.
• Simons, L. G., Wickrama, K. A. S., Lee, T. K., Landers‐Potts, M., Cutrona, C., & Conger, R. D. (2016). Testing family stress and family investment explanations for conduct problems among African American adolescents. Journal of Marriage and Family, 78(2), 498-515.
• Landers‐Potts, M. A., Wickrama, K. A. S., Simons, L. G., Cutrona, C., Gibbons, F. X., Simons, R. L., & Conger, R. (2015). An extension and moderational analysis of the family stress model focusing on African American adolescents. Family Relations, 64(2), 233-248.
• Brody, G. H., Jack, L., Jr., Murry, V. M., Lander-Potts, M., & Liburd, L. (2001). Heuristic model linking contextual processes to self-management in African-American adults with Type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Educator, 27, (5), 17-25.
• Malone, D. M., & Landers, M. A. (2001). Mother’s perceptions of the toy play of preschoolers with intellectual disabilities, Journal of Disabilities, Development and Education, 48, 1.
• Landers-Potts, M., & Grant., L. (1999). Competitive climates, athletic skill and children’s status in after-school recreational sports programs, Social Psychology of Education, 2, 297-313.
• Landers, M.A., & Fine, G. A. (1996). Learning life’s lessons in tee-ball: The reinforcement of gender and status in kindergarten sport. Sociology of Sport Journal, 13, 87-94.

Publications

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=H3wjpnQAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra