CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Mid-American Conference announced today the 12 institutional winners for the inaugural Outstanding Faculty Award for Student Success.
The Mid-American Conference Outstanding Faculty Award for Student Success is an annual award created to recognize the outstanding efforts of MAC faculty to support and develop students both inside and outside of the classroom.
This student-focused award is distinguishable from academic or research-based awards as it celebrates the commitment of the Mid-American Conference to a holistic student experience and the creation of an environment that supports success in school and in life.
Eligibility for this award is broad in nature in an effort to identify a wide range of outstanding means by which faculty are significantly impacting students, and to create an opportunity to recognize the various ways that student success is supported within the MAC. It is the hope of this award that the twelve nominees represent a diverse community that demonstrate support for student success throughout their entire collegiate experience.
The list of the institutional winners from each MAC school can be found below. The winner of the 2020 Outstanding Faculty Award for Student Success will be announced on Friday, October 23.
2020 Outstanding Faculty Award for Student Success Institutional Winners
Mary J. MacCracken, Akron, Professor Sport Science & Wellness Education
Dr. MacCracken has taught students in both Akron's Physical Education and Sport Studies programs. She goes above and beyond what is expected of any professor. She meets with students in her classes regularly to assist in understanding difficult material. Her student evaluations demonstrate that she is an excellent mentor. Here are a few of the comments that reflect the students' assessment of Dr. MacCracken: "Instructor was very thoughtful." "She was outgoing and cheerful which made learning fun; this was a good course." "Instructor very knowledgeable and wanted her students to succeed. Very impressed with Dr. Mac" "She is a very enthusiastic teacher-she will go out of her way to help students when needed. This was especially true with me, as I needed help with an outside project, and she helped me tremendously." "Especially successful teaching b/c she explained concepts with many different examples" "enjoyed variety of teaching techniques" •'motor labs most successful."
Doctor MacCracken is a strong proponent of experiential learning for our students. Through a variety of initiatives, she has involved students in programming that reaches out to ethnic minority youth including: Salvation Army Preschool, After-school (African American), Asian (ICEP -lnternational Community Empowerment Program), Proyecto Raices Youth Group (Hispanic), Native American children and their parents in Akron, Ohio. Additionally, students have been involved in working with programming from several grant activities including Ohio Minority Health Grants. Currently, she has students working with the Ohio Minority Health funded grant for the FABU (Finding a Better You) project which targets wlnerable older adults in the community to provide exercise, nutrition and health education.
Finally, Dr. MacCracken has and continues to provide service to professional organizations such as Ohio Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (OAHPERD) as well as service to the university, college and school.
Jennifer Palilonis, Ball State, George and Frances Ball Distinguished Professor of Multimedia Journalism
Dr. Jennifer Palilonis is the George and Frances Ball Distinguished Professor of Multimedia Journalism and a full professor in the Department of Journalism. She also serves as the Director of the Center for Emerging Media Design and Development (EMDD). She is known for her creative and innovative endeavors. In 2017, Dr. Palilonis and her students deployed a global social media campaign to engage young people in the value of water. The work was recognized by the Vatican, and she and EMDD students were invited to lead a three-day workshop on water issues during the Vatican’s World Water Day. She and her students also have worked with the Professor Garfield Foundation, building a digital literacy curriculum for children K-5, and she leads the David Letterman Learning Experience, an ongoing interdisciplinary immersive learning project focused on intersections between technology, art, and storytelling. Garfield Creator Jim Davis and former late-night talk show host David Letterman are Ball State alumni. Other project collaborations have been with The Indiana State Museum, Circle of Blue, and USA Volleyball.
Dr. Palilonis’ fields of professional specialization are design thinking, human-computer interaction, cross-platform storytelling, visual journalism, information graphics reporting, art direction, redesign, visual rhetoric, elearning, digital publishing, research-informed design and development, human-computer interaction and interaction design. She is the former education director for the Society for News Design and former head of the Visual Communications division of the Association for Educators in Journalism and Mass Communication.
Resmi Krishnankuttyrema, Bowling Green, Assistant Teaching Professor
Understanding the needs of her students at BGSU, Professor Krishnankuttyrema has tried to offer a variety of proven academic support systems to the students. She took the initiative in identifying academically successful undergraduate students to be potential tutors for the ECET and Mechatronics courses and re-instated the tutoring process of core ECET courses through Library learning commons. The tutoring for introductory level courses helped to bridge the academic gap for freshman college students. With the BGSU learning commons she established in-lab tutoring so that students received the much-needed support for practical lab sessions in the familiar atmosphere in the ECET lab. To reflect the latest technological advancements in the field of study, Professor Krishnankuttyrema is always updating the teaching materials and lab manuals as well. To improve her students' leadership and team working skills, group quizzes, projects, and presentations are part of all her course curriculums. She has also provided several field trips and industry experts panel discussions to support the students' learning experience.
Professor Krishnankuttyrema is the founder and faculty advisor for the Women in Technology group at BGSU. This is an inclusive group providing support and encouragement to women and minority students and anyone seeking support in the technology majors in the college. The group organizes students and employee panels, and forums aimed towards the professional development of the students in CTAAE. She has participated in the BGSU Ally program to get professional training on improving ally-ship among faculties and students.
Carole T. Emberton, Buffalo, Associate Professor of History
Professor Emberton is a world-renowned scholar of the Civil War Era. She is an award-winning author and a 2018 National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar. Her research achievements are only one measure of her impact at UB. A dedicated faculty member, Emberton, is an exceptional mentor to students. She served as the director of undergraduate studies for the Department of History from 2015-2018 where she offered her advice, guidance, and academic support to over 200 undergraduate majors and all those interested in pursuing a degree in history. She served on the Department of History Undergraduate Education Committee from 2007 until 2018. A dedicated advocate for the importance of history in public discourse, she has helped many undergraduate students find fulfilling careers that employ history expertise in creative ways.
Her deep commitment to undergraduate education in the department and University-wide has been evident throughout her tenure at UB. Professor Emberton was instrumental in developing and implementing the reimagined general education curriculum that UB adopted in 2016. She currently serves on the steering committee charged with continually assessing its effectiveness. Throughout her distinguished career, Professor Emberton has also been key to the success of UB's doctoral, masters, and honors programs in History. She has directed 22 dissertation and thesis committees since 2010 and guided all of her students to successful and satisfying outcomes.
Holly Hoffman, Central Michigan, Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Dr. Hoffman is a tenured, full-professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Central Michigan University {CMU) who clearly exemplifies the commitment to student success, support for inclusion, and appreciation for the MAC Core Values that are at the heart of this award. Throughout her time as a faculty member at CMU, Dr. Hoffman has been recognized for her teaching effectiveness and leadership excellence, frequently, because of nominations by students.
Dr. Hoffman is an outstanding instructor. She has been nominated by faculty peers and students for the CMU Excellence in Teaching Award 9 times and has received the award twice. She has also been twice nominated for the CMU Student Choice Award - an award facilitated by the student members of the Excellence in Teaching Award committee. In 2016, the National Society of Leadership and Success, the nation's largest leadership honor society, recognized Dr. Hoffman with the Excellence in Teaching Award.
In addition to the awards that she has received, Dr. Hoffman is best known for her desire to engage with students through multiple learning opportunities. Leading a study abroad experience, volunteering with students at the Michigan Special Olympics, and mentoring Honors student capstone projects are but a few of the experiences that illustrate Dr. Hoffman's commitment to student success, support for inclusion, and value of lifelong learning.
John Staunton, Eastern Michigan, Professor English Education and American Literature
Prior to becoming Associate Dean of the Honors College in July 2020, Staunton has been Professor of English Education and American Literature in the Department of English Language and Literature as well as Affiliate Faculty in the Department of Women's and Gender Studies. He was the 2017 recipient of the Ronald W. Collins Distinguished Faculty Award for Teaching at Eastern Michigan University.
Staunton's scholarly and teaching interests frequently overlap, focusing on English teacher education, literature pedagogy, local literature, American women writers, and multi-modalities in literacy education. A past co-director of the National Writing Project site at Eastern Michigan (EMWP),
Staunton has been involved with local and national teacher research networks for close to 20 years, most recently to support site-based teacher research and teacher inquiry groups in southeast Michigan. He is the co-editor of the book Teaching the Literature Survey Course, published by WVU Press, which was nominated for the 2019 Teaching Literature Book Award.
Linda Spurlock, Kent State, Professor of Anthropology
Dr. Linda Spurlock is an Asociate Professor of Anthropology at Kent State University, where she teaches courses in biological anthropology, forensic anthropology and archaeology. Previously, she served as Director of Human Health at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, where she organized programming aimed at improving community health. She has had an extensive career as a teacher of anatomy and physiology in colleges and universities throughout northern Ohio. She received her Ph.D. in biomedical science from Kent State and held a post-doctoral position in the Department of Anatomy at NEOMED, where she refined techniques of forensic facial reconstruction. Spurlock is a forensic facial reconstruction artist and provides sketches and sculptures of unidentified persons for Coroner’s offices throughout the region. She is also a scientific illustrator who specializes in primate fossil reconstruction and has recently worked on reconstructing the fossil Ardipithecus ramidus pelvis. In 2006 she co-edited Caves and Culture: 10,000 Years of History in Ohio, Kent State University Press. She collaborates with colleagues from Case Western Reserve (Cleveland, Ohio) in Israel in excavations of Manot Cave, a Middle-Upper Paleolithic site.
Molly Kelly, Miami, Assistant Clinical Professor
Dr. Molly Kelly has demonstrated a commitment to student successin many ways. She advises all undergraduate special education pre-majors, all prospective and change-of majors, all thematic sequence and minor students in special education, many disability studies minors, and a fourth of the undergraduate special education majors in our department. From before they even arrive on campus, Dr. Kelly supports students through her frequent attendance at recruitment and Summer Orientation events. Throughout their time at Miami, Dr. Kelly devotes significant time and energy to advisingand nurturing students’success, something I have witnessed firsthand from the stream of students that stop by her office for both planned and unplanned meetings throughout the day. No matter how busy her schedule, Dr. Kelly greets students with a warm smile, expresses true interest and concern in what they have to say, and helps them to set and meet meaningful goals. Dr. Kelly is alsor eflective about her advising and teaching, and models a commitment to lifelong learning by seeking new ways to improve her ability to serve students. Dr. Kelly’s service to students also includes supervising many independent studies, attending student presentations and events, writing many student letters of recommendation (16 in 2018 alone), and providing references for students seeking employment (5 in 2018 alone)
Laura Hedin, Northern Illinois
Department of Special and Early Education ChairLaura R. Hedin, Ph.D. joined the faculty at Northern Illinois University in August 2007 after completing her Ph.D. in Special Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She began her teaching career as a paraprofessional supporting computer-based reading and writing programs for kindergarten and first grade students. She later obtained her Masters degree with K-8 certification at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. After teaching middle school science, social studies and language arts for 10 years, Hedin joined the research team of Dr. Linda Mason, working on a federally funded quasi-experimental group study of self-regulated strategy development for upper elementary students with and at risk for disabilities in reading and writing. Her dissertation research explored the effectiveness of two reading interventions taught to sixth graders in small group settings.
Hedin's current research interests include reading in the content areas, reading strategies for students with learning disabilities, co-teaching, and pre-service and in-service teacher education. She recently completed a study of student outcomes as the result of intensive professional development provided by university consultants to teachers who became reading intervention specialists. She and colleagues at NIU are also exploring the evolution of co-teaching partnerships and the impact of this shift on student outcomes.
Hedin strives to make research findings in education accessible to pre-service and practicing teachers, and to engage in new research that informs the professional practice of teachers and enhances outcomes for learners. To accomplish these goals, Hedin has participated in partnership development with school districts in Downers Grove and Rockford, IL. Hedin's work has appeared in a variety of professional, peer-reviewed journals including The Reading Teacher, Intervention in School and Clinic, Reading Psychology, and Preventing School Failure. Hedin has presented at state and national conferences including AERA, Council for Exceptional Children, and Learning Disabilities Association of America. She reviews manuscripts for the Journal for Teachers of English, and Journal of School Connections and for presentations to various professional organizations. Hedin serves as a co-sponsor for NIU's Student Council for Exceptional Children chapter.
Sarah Wyatt, Ohio
Professor
Sarah Wyatt a professor and researcher in the department of Environmental and Plant Biology and has been with OHIO since 2000. In 2004 she received her college's highest teaching award; in 2007 she received the university's highest teaching honor. This is due in great measure to her commitment to the highest academic standards. Professor Wyatt sets high expectations for her students and is unwavering in her support to help them achieve. She asks directs questions and expects thoughtful responses. Her curriculum is geared towards self-reflection and accountability. When students make an assertion-scientific or other-she questions their thought process. But she also celebrates their achievements and is quick to give encouragement and credit. Sarah teaches academic skills, like how to craft a credible argument for a grant, and social skills, like how to collaborate and value other's input. ollaborative activities. She also has the mastery to determine when to focus on the individual.
Sarah's influence goes well beyond the classroom. Since 2017 she has served as the director of the interdisciplinary Molecular and Cell Biology Program (MCB) with 23 current doctoral students. Her influence has gone well beyond the role of an administrator. She is an advocate and mentor for her faculty and their students. She tirelessly promotes resources, university programming, professional development and funding opportunities. She has hosted an annual MCB research retreat, where students present their research as posters and talks. Under her leadership, students and faculty understand the expectation that they should actively participate in the retreat, giving constructive feedback to their colleagues. I have attended the event several times and have been impressed by the camaraderie shared by the faculty and student.
A long-standing member of Sigma Xi, the scientific research national honor society, Sarah wanted to bring their signature program, Science Cafes, to OHIO. Unlike scientific colloquia, cafes are geared towards a broader audience and are designed to be interactive discussions rather than lectures. After a few meetings, with her vision, enthusiasm and commitment, she convinced me to help underwrite the cafes and to provide administrative support. For 10 years she helped select speakers and emceed nearly all 134 cafes; she even presented a few on her International Space Station microgravity research. Looking at the stats, the impacts is impressive: more than 7,500 attendees - community and university members ranging in age from 4 to 90; presenters from 41 departments; and over 21,000 LiveStream views. This year, based largely on the success of the cafes and her ability to increase chapter initiates (spurred by her convincing the university president to pay for their initiation fees), the OHIO Chapter received a Sigma Xi Chapter of Excellent Award.
Ruthie Kucharewski, Toledo
Professor
Dr. Kucharewski’s research interests include recreation programming for persons with disabilities, assessment, youth programming, accreditation and standards of practice. She has received grant money in excess of $1 million, is well known and published in professional recreation and recreation therapy journals, is a member of three editorial boards and has presented over 100 times at professional conferences. She has served on numerous boards affiliated with recreation and recreation therapy; as well as served as President of the Ohio Association for Health Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. She currently serves as one of OAHPERD'S Trustees; serves as a member on the Neighborhood Properties, Inc. Board and she is also on the National Recreation and Park Association Council on Accreditation of Parks, Recreation, Tourism and Related Professions. She is a site visitor for the Council on the Accreditation of Recreation Therapy Education. In addition, she is the Administrator of the University of Toledo's National Youth Sports Program; an award winning, educational and recreational summer program for income eligible children aged 9-16.
Kelley O'Reilly, Western Michigan
Associate Professor of Marketing
Dr. Kelley O'Reilly, is the interim chair and associate professor of marketing at Western Michigan University's Haworth College of Business.
Her scholarly interests include retail, entrepreneurship and franchising with a focus on small- and medium-sized enterprises where rapid and often haphazard innovation occurs. O'Reilly's dissertation research provides a framework for diagnosing customer-company interactions and for designing protocols for effective sales and service programs within the sales and retail domains.
Her work has been published in the Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, International Journal of Electronic Business Research, Qualitative Market Research, Information Resources Management Journal & Journal of Information Technology Case and Application Research.
O'Reilly has more than 20 years of experience in retail and service franchise businesses. She has held executive positions at Fortune 100 corporations, including senior vice president of strategy and brand development, vice president of sales and marketing and vice president of advertising. In these roles, she managed the sales, marketing, new product development, purchasing, advertising, training and retail management functions with full profit and loss responsibility. O'Reilly is a Certified Franchise Executive with the International Franchise Association and is a champion of small business owners and entrepreneurs.
