CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Mid-American Conference will announce the 13 institutional winners for the Outstanding Faculty Award for Student Success this week. This marks the seventh year that the award has been given out 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 MAC 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 13 nominees represent a diverse community that demonstrate support for student success throughout their entire collegiate experience.

Institutional winners from each MAC school will be announced each day this week, with the winner of the 2026 Outstanding Faculty Award for Student Success being announced on Friday, March 6.  

2026 Outstanding Faculty Award for Student Success Institutional Winners
Dr. Seungbum Lee, University of Akron
Professor of Management

Dr. Seungbum Lee is a Professor in the Department of Management in the University of Akron’s College of Business. He received his Ph.D. in Sport Management from the University of Minnesota. He teaches a variety of courses, including Management: Principles & Concepts, Consulting Project in Sport Business, and Current Topics in Sport Business. Broadly speaking, Dr. Lee’s research lies at the intersection of sport and business. His work focuses on (a) business strategies and innovation in the sport context and (b) the intersection of sport, globalization, and international business, including global talent mobility, foreign direct investment, and ownership structures in sport.

Dr. Lee also serves as a Fellow for the Institute for Global Business in the College of Business at the University of Akron, where he helps design and execute experiential learning initiatives, such as the UA College of Business International Day. Through these programs, he supports the development of students’ global competencies and prepares them to assume leadership roles in an increasingly globalized business environment.

In addition, Dr. Lee serves as a faculty advisor for the Sport Analytics and Business Association at the University of Akron, one of the largest and most active student organizations on campus. The organization offers a wide range of activities, including conferences, case study competitions, sport organization site visits, group volunteering at sporting events, and other professional development opportunities.

Dr. Daria Kluver, Central Michigan University
Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

Dr. Daria Kluver is a Professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Central Michigan University. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Meteorology from St Cloud State University and a master’s degree and PhD in Climatology from the University of Delaware. At Central Michigan University she has taught for the Meteorology and Environmental Science programs since 2011 and serves as the Meteorology Program Director.

Dr. Kluver’s research interests are focused on understanding the impacts of large-scale climate processes on precipitation through modeling, climate informatics applied to regional hydroclimate, and Atmospheric Science Education Research. She is a passionate and enthusiastic teacher who uses innovative pedagogy to make learning fun and engaging, which earned her the CMU College of Science and Engineering Outstanding Teaching Award in 2019. Students in her classes often analyze their own data, have choice in their assignments, face bosses, play games, level up, and make learning relevant to their lives. She strives to build environments where students feel safe taking risks to learn new things, and where no matter their background, students feel like they belong in science.

Dr. Michele Frank, Miami University
Associated Professor of Accountancy

Michele Frank earned her PhD from the University of Pittsburgh in 2015 after working for nearly a decade at EY, an international public accounting firm. She draws on her prior experience in tax and mergers and acquisitions when teaching tax and financial accounting at the undergraduate and graduate levels.  

Michele is known across the university for her excellence in the area of teaching. She is known by her students as someone who cares deeply about their success and who creates a safe and welcoming classroom environment.  Michele has earned several teaching awards including:

• the Richard T. Smucker Teaching Excellence Award for Outstanding Junior Faculty, 2018;
• the Richard T. Smucker Teaching Excellence Award for Outstanding Professor Award, 2024; and
• the Miami University Honors College Professor of the Year Award, 2025.

Michele leads curricular development efforts within her department, division and university, aimed at improving students’ educational experience and post-graduation outcomes. Michele’s research focuses on understanding factors that influence the way in which auditors, managers, investors and jurors interpret and use accounting information. She is particularly interested in how individuals use accounting information to make predictions about the future and how the social context in which decisions are made influences the interpretation and use of information. Her research is published in numerous high quality accounting journals including The Accounting Review, Contemporary Research in Accounting and Accounting, Organizations and Society.

Dr. Frank was awarded the 2018 McLaughlin Prize for Research in Accounting and Ethics.

Dr. Ashlyn Kuersten, Western Michigan University
Professor in the Criminal Justice Studies program and Director of the Cold Case Program in partnership with the Michigan State Police

Dr. Ashlyn Kuersten is a Professor of Sociology at Western Michigan University. In her career as a faculty member at WMU (1997 to present), she has authored many journal articles and book contributions, and has secured over one million dollars in external funding. Although these achievements are undeniably valuable contributions, where Dr. Kuersten shines brightest is in her passion for teaching, mentoring, and supporting students. Dr. Kuersten has previously received the College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Achievement Award in Teaching and the American Political Science Association and Pi Sigma Alpha Outstanding Teacher of Political Science Award. Dr. Kuersten’s successes in student-learning are plentiful, but this narrative will focus on her most ambitious efforts in providing experiential learning and career development opportunities to undergraduate students.

One of the major efforts Dr. Kuersten launched at WMU was the Wrongful Conviction Program. Dr. Kuersten served as the project director from 2014 to 2019, with the bulk of the efforts operating under a Department of Justice grant between 2015 and 2018. Under a partnership with the Cooley Law School’s Innocence Project, the WMU Wrongful Conviction Program enabled undergraduate students to assist in screening, reviewing, and investigating claims of innocence by convicted persons in Michigan. According to a program evaluation, the project involved the review of “over 900 case files and [included] over 8,800 hours reviewing these cases. Several cases conducted evidence searches and DNA tests to obtain support for innocence claims. The efforts of the program contributed to at least one exoneration (Chlebek, 2019). As amazing as that program was, however, Dr. Kuersten only expanded on these successes in her next major effort in student experiential learning. In 2019, Dr. Kuersten launched the Western Michigan University Cold Case Program with the Michigan State Police. The project started with a collaboration with the state police and a small team of three students in the first year, and has grown to a veritable army of 55 student participants in 2025. In their first six years, they have worked with not only the Michigan State Police, but ten additional police agencies, multiple prosecutor offices, and crime labs across Michigan. The WMU Cold Case Program is a student-centered learning opportunity. The cases themselves, the victims, law enforcement agencies, and other stakeholders are naturally unrelated to the students themselves and external to academia. However, Dr. Kuersten has designed this program to provide educational and professional experience to its evolving team of student investigators. Dr. Kuersten built, and maintains over-time, a team of undergraduate students to work as student investigators directly assisting detectives in their work.

Dixie Denton, Ball State University
Senior Lecturer in the Department of Elementary Education

Dixie Denton is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Elementary Education at Ball State University, where she has dedicated more than 35 years to supporting student success and preparing future educators. She teaches introductory and first-year courses for elementary and early childhood education majors, helping students develop a strong

sense of purpose, belonging, and professional identity.

Dixie’s work is intentionally student-centered and extends far beyond the classroom. She integrates relationship-building, goal setting, and service-learning into her teaching, creating inclusive learning environments that empower students to grow academically and personally. Her courses connect theory to practice through community-based service experiences that allow students to work with children throughout Muncie while developing professional skills and civic responsibility.

A committed mentor and advocate, Dixie serves as a faculty mentor for students with disabilities and supports graduate students through the Pathways Mentoring Program. She is also a faculty liaison with the Teachers College Student Success team and has served as an instructor for First-Year Seminar courses. Since 2001, Dixie has been the faculty site manager for Ball State University’s College Mentors for Kids chapter, a nonprofitorganization that pairs college students with elementary school children for campus- based mentoring focused on education, culture and diversity, and community service.

Dixie sponsors the Preservice Teacher Community of Practice, “Passport to Success,” providing professional development workshops led by faculty and guest speakers. She also supports student recruitment and inclusion efforts through programs such as Jump Start and the Flight Path to Teaching Adventure. Known for her compassion, accessibility, and unwavering dedication, Dixie Denton is deeply committed to helping all students succeed.

Rebecca Spragg, Eastern Michigan University
Associate Professor and the Orthotics and Prosthetics Program Director?

Rebecca Spragg is an Associate Professor and the Orthotics and Prosthetics Program Director at Eastern Michigan University, where her work centers on student success and professional development. She oversees accreditation, clinical education, and student advising, with a focus on supporting learners through academically rigorous and professionally demanding curricula.

Rebecca is committed to experiential and student-centered learning. In addition to her academic role, she is a Certified Prosthetist Orthotist specializing in pediatric care, allowing her to directly integrate current clinical practice into classroom instruction and mentoring. This connection between education and practice helps students develop clinical reasoning, professionalism, and confidence as future healthcare providers.

Her research focuses on clinical education, interprofessional learning, and the qualities that contribute to student and instructor success. She also conducts nationally disseminated research on burnout and pregnancy in the healthcare workplace, topics that prepare students for the long-term realities of professional practice and promote sustainable careers.

Rebecca serves on the Faculty Senate Executive Board as Chair of the Intercollegiate Athletics Advisory Committee, where she has led collaborative initiatives to strengthen academic policies and institutional support structures for student-athletes—efforts designed to improve student success across the broader campuscommunity.

She serves as Vice President of the Association of Children’s Prosthetic-Orthotic Clinics and Treasurer on the Board of Directors for the National Commission on Orthotic-Prosthetic Education. She earned her Master of Science in Prosthetics and Orthotics from the Georgia Institute of Technology and her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University.

Dr. Farah J. Ishaq, Northern Illinois University
Assistant Professor of Sport Management and Sport Management Program Director

Farah J. Ishaq is an Assistant Professor of Sport Management and Sport Management Program Director at Northern Illinois University. Dr. Ishaq has a PhD in sport management from the University of Kansas, a master’s in sport administration from Northwestern University, and a bachelor’s in hospitality management from Iowa State University. After twice receiving the NIU Athletics Faculty Spotlight in 2023 and 2024, Dr. Ishaq was named the 2025 NIU Athletics Most Valuable Professor.

Dr. Ishaq is also an Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) Distinguished Teaching Scholar. Dr. Ishaq has received instructional and curricular innovation grants to implement virtual reality in classrooms, to use extra points to connect theory to practice, and for an “engage global” project on the Belizean Academic Experience. Dr. Ishaq chaired NIU’s Committee for the Improvement of the Undergraduate Academic Experience, a committee of the Baccalaureate Council, for two years during which time the committee developed a campus-wide Mental Health and Wellbeing syllabus statement.

He also serves on the College of Education’s Belonging Committee to address belonginess of students, staff and faculty. Dr. Ishaq’s research focuses on reducing barriers to academic support services for student-athletes. As an example, Dr. Ishaq received an NIU Research and Artistry Grant to study Black Student-Athlete Success: Assessing Black Student-Athlete Programming and Experience at Northern Illinois University.

Dr. Shannon K. Orr, Bowling Green State University
Professor of Political Science

Dr. Shannon K. Orr is a Professor of Political Science at Bowling Green State University (BGSU), where she specializes in public policy, nonprofit management, and food insecurity. She is also the Founding Director of the Falcon Food and Resource Community, a comprehensive campus program designed to address food insecurity among students. Under her leadership, the program serves over 1,300 students each month at the Falcon Food Pantry and includes initiatives such as food recovery, a community garden, and student research opportunities focused on hunger solutions. In addition to overseeing a team of 20 student interns, Dr. Orr’s work emphasizes the importance of collaboration, training the next generation of leaders to tackle food insecurity through innovative, community-based solutions.

Dr. Orr has published more than 18 peer-reviewed articles and two books on sustainable development, nonprofit management, and food security, with recent work examining the day-to-day challenges faced by food pantries and other frontline hunger relief efforts. 

Through her courses, students have completed more than 150 community-based projects in partnership with organizations such as local governments, nonprofits, and national agencies, gaining practical experience while contributing to community problem-solving. Class projects have included working with a wide range of clients such as NASA, city government and nonprofits on topics such as strategic planning and community development. 

Across her teaching, research, and service, Dr. Orr is dedicated to supporting students as they develop the skills, confidence, and sense of purpose needed for meaningful careers in public service.

Dr. Susan Kunkle, Kent State University
Professor and Internship Coordinator for the Department of Sociology and Criminology

Dr. Susan Kunkle was employed for over three decades in the justice system working in several juvenile court systems, the federal bureau of prisons, and a multi-jurisdictional system of detention and rehabilitation services for juvenile offenders. She is currently a Professor and Internship Coordinator for the Department of Sociology and Criminology, Kent State University, Kent, OH.

Dr. Kunkle’s teaching practice is based on a philosophy that effective teaching extends beyond lectures, exams, discussions forums, or grading rubrics. Her pedagogy is grounded in authentic connection and communication that honors each student’s individual circumstances. She embraces a flexible student center approach which reflects an ongoing commitment to meet students where they are and to respond to their “evolving needs” with empathy, creativity, and compassion. In her words, “flexibility reinforces a powerful message to students: You matter.You are important. I see you."

Dr. Kunkle was a recipient of the Elaine Mae Shock Award for Outstanding Graduate Student, presented by the Sociology Department at Kent State University; the Community Crime Prevention Award presented by the Stark County Prosecutor's Office; and the Dawn Marie Hendershot Award for exemplary service on behalf of child victims presented by the Stark County Victims’ Rights Coalition and the Stark County Prosecutor’s Office. She is an Honorary Board Member of Project KARE, Stark County Children’s Services. Dr. Kunkle was a finalist for the College of Arts & Sciences’ 50th Annual Glen Frank Distinguished Teaching Award, Kent State’s most prestigious honor in teaching. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Sisters of Charity Foundation, Canton, OH.

Dr. Adam Rapp, Ohio University
Academic Director and Ralph and Luci Schey Professor of Sales

Dr. Adam Rapp is Academic Director and Ralph and Luci Schey Professor of Sales at Ohio University. He is also a visiting lecturer at the Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School in Belgium. Adam has taught at the undergraduate, graduate, and executive levels. He focuses on student engagement and emphasizes experiential activities and skills-based learning by incorporating live case studies and real-world consulting activities.  Most recently, he won the Ohio University Presidential Teaching Award (2021).

Adam has published three books and over seventy-five peer-reviewed articles which examine factors influencing the performance of front-line service and sales personnel. He has presented at hundreds of conferences and events. He has received multiple awards for both theory and empirical-based papers, specifically: the 2016-2025 Excellence in Research Recognition, 2021; 2022 Marketing Department Research Award, 2019; 2025 College of Business Excellence in Intellectual Contributions Award, 2017; 2022 Ohio University COB Research Impact Award, and the Neil Rackham annual award which recognizes one scholarly globally for the most impactful sales research (2014). Finally, he was awarded the Presidential Research Award from Ohio University in 2021. Adam currently has over 14,000 citations and an h-index of 45 as reported by Google Scholar. 

Adam spent several years in the market research industry, primarily responsible for selling market research products and services. He is the founder of GATS Group Consulting focusing on leadership training and assessment, a past principal at the Sales and Leadership Development Group, and is currently the Vice President of Research Integration at the Tyson Group.

Dr. Donna A. Fabry, University at Buffalo
Clinical Instructor and Pre-Licensure Program Coordinator

As a 16-year veteran clinical faculty member and Program Director for the Undergraduate Prelicensure Program, Dr. Fabry carries a significant teaching, administrative, and advising load, yet consistently exceeds expectations in her dedication to students. In this leadership role, she is directly responsible for shaping the academic and clinical experiences of undergraduate nursing students, ensuring programmatic rigor while prioritizing student success and well-being. Her contributions frequently extend beyond traditional measures of faculty productivity, making this award an especially meaningful opportunity to recognize the extraordinary impact of her work.
 
At the core of Dr. Fabry’s work is a deeply student-centered philosophy. She maintains an open-door policy and is widely known for her accessibility and willingness to meet students where they are. Dr. Fabry routinely meets with students individually to review exams, helping them identify strengths, address areas of difficulty, and develop concrete strategies for improvement. These individualized interactions are thoughtful, supportive, and empowering, reinforcing students’ confidence and capacity for growth. Her commitment extends well beyond scheduled office hours and reflects a genuine investment in each student’s academic and personal success.
 
She consistently engages with the latest literature not only in nursing practice, but also in nursing education, ensuring her teaching strategies are evidence-based and responsive to the evolving needs of student nurses. As Program Director, she skillfully bridges curricular and co-curricular learning, fosters collaboration among faculty, and promotes instructional practices that support student retention, progression, and success. Her excellence in teaching is further strengthened by her engagement in scholarship and creative activities that directly inform and enrich the classroom environment.

Dr. Christiane Healey, UMass Amherst
Senior Lecturer II, Department of Biology, and Leadership Fellow, UG Student Success Center

Dr. Healey has over 20 years of teaching experience that span experiential, service, writing-intensive, and team-based learning. Her commitment to academic excellence has been recognized through the Mahoney Teaching Award and the College Outstanding Teacher Award. Dr. Healey teaching practice has benefited from teaching-focused communities, and she has launched numerous mentoring groups to create community and space for teaching innovation among faculty. In her varied leadership roles, Dr. Healey leads initiatives to improve the student success and the undergraduate experience at UMass Amherst. Currently, Dr. Healey is working to strengthen students’ course persistence and academic success through the academic alert initiative. Engaging campus partners, including Athletics, has proving highly successful, with instructor participation increasing by 50% during 2025.

In the Office of Faculty Development, Dr. Healey has assessed the needs of and developed professional development programming for non-tenure track faculty on long-term appointments who teach thousands of undergraduate students each year, including first-year students in gateway courses. Dr. Healey’s leadership in student success and teaching-focused faculty development was recognized with the inaugural 2025 UMass Delphi Leadership Award. She was honored to be sponsored to join the 2025 cohort in the HERS Leadership Institute. Dr. Healey received her Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University in 2006 and her undergraduate degree in Tropical Ecology from the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (Germany) in 2000. Dr. Healey grew up in Germany, and loves horses, traveling, and doing things that make her teenage kids roll their eyes and her students smile.

Dr. Thehazhnan K. Ponnaiyan, University of Toledo
Lecturer in the Department of Chemical Engineering

Dr. Thehazhnan K. Ponnaiyan is a Lecturer in the Department of Chemical Engineering at The University of Toledo, where he has taught since 2015. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from The University of Toledo in 2016, following advanced degrees in chemical engineering and business from Imperial College London and Cardiff University, and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Anna University in Chennai, India.

Dr. Ponnaiyan teaches a wide range of undergraduate and graduate theory and laboratory courses, including chemical engineering thermodynamics, mass and energy balances, process economics and design, professional development, and laboratory methods. His teaching emphasizes active learning, project-based approaches, and flexible student support structures designed to enhance engagement, particularly for student athletes and historically underserved students. He has also developed novel laboratory experiments incorporating 3D design and printing technologies to support student-centered learning.

In addition to his teaching role, Dr. Ponnaiyan has extensive experience in pedagogical research and curriculum development. He served as Curriculum Director for the NSF-funded INITIATE project from 2017 to 2021, focusing on integrating project-based learning, computational thinking, and mathematics into career and technical education. He has also implemented and assessed evidence-based practices to foster belonging in the classroom.

Dr. Ponnaiyan has received multiple teaching and service awards, including the University of Toledo College of Engineering Outstanding Teacher Award, and currently serves as Undergraduate Director for the Department of Chemical Engineering.