Joined by the College of Arts & Letters Alumni Association Board (photo bottom right), and CAL staff members, Acting Dean Elizabeth H. Simmons presented the 2015 CAL Alumni Association Faculty Awards at a brunch and awards ceremony conducted Saturday, April 11 at the Kellogg Center.
Award winners left to right with Dean Simmons (second from right) are: Chair of the Department of English, David Stowe, accepting for Professor Marsha MacDowell (the Community Partner Award); Associate Professor, Sandra Logan (Faculty Leadership Award); Associate Professor Rob Roznowski (Paul Varg Alumni Award for Faculty); and Assistant Professor Natalie Phillips (Award for Innovation and Leadership in Teaching and Learning). The two latter awards’ nominations come from students.
The Awards:
The College of Arts & Letters Community Partner Award is a new award created in 2015 by the Arts and Letters Alumni Association to recognize a CAL faculty member’s community contributions at the local, state, national and or global/world levels.
A nomination letter may be submitted by any individual—from the faculty, student body, or general public—with knowledge of the faculty member’s distinguished contributions in the area of community engagement, and should describe the faculty member’s involvement. Department of English Chair David Stowe nominated Professor Logan.
The College of Arts and Letters Faculty Leadership Award was created through private gifts to the College to recognize faculty who go beyond the routine tasks, are generous in sharing insights, and provide the hard work and mentorship to others that creates excellence and vision in programs and departments.
Faculty Leadership Award nominations originate from department chairs. Department of English Chair David Stowe nominated Professor Logan. (When a department does not nominate a faculty member, no one from that department is considered.) The winner is recommended by a committee comprising Arts and Letters faculty and approved by the Provost.
The Paul Varg Award was created by the College of Arts and Letters Alumni Association Board of Directors in 1989, and is given each year to a professor or associate professor with at least ten years in the College who has provided the highest quality education for students at MSU.
It is named after the College’s first dean, and recognizes excellence in teaching that intellectually challenges students and instills in them a desire for continuing inquiry and growth beyond their university experience. It is one of two CAL Alumni Association awards where nominations originate from students.
The Alumni Award for Innovation and Leadership in Teaching and Learning was created by the Arts and Letters Alumni Association to recognize excellence among faculty who have served the college between three and ten years.
It and the Paul Varg Award are the only two CAL Alumni Association awards where students originate nominations. They are then supported by Department Chairs, and the winner is chosen by the Alumni Board from the list of supported nominations. CAL student Savannah Smith nominated Professor Phillips, and fellow students Lana Grasser and Katie Grimes joined Savannah at the awards event in support. Department of English Chair David Stowe supported the nomination.
The CAL Alumni Association Faculty Awards are presented each April.
