Congratulations to the 2023 Teaching Award of Excellence Winners

The Paul MacPherson Teaching Award of Excellence for a full-time faculty member (tenure track/contract), and The Casey Cosgrove Teaching Award of Excellence, for a sessional faculty member were launched in 2018 and help celebrate the outstanding work of our instructors. These awards were developed to recognize superior commitment to student learning and support. This year Lang received numerous applications, all of which were of exceptional quality. This reflects the effort Lang instructors put into their courses and the dedication they have for supporting student learning and wellbeing.

It is with great pleasure that we announce the 2023 Teaching Award of Excellence recipients. This year’s recipient of the MacPherson Teaching Award of Excellence is:

Dr. Katie Lebel, Department of Management, is this year's recipient of The Paul MacPherson Teaching Award of Excellence. Katie takes an innovative and experiential approach throughout her courses, to support students’ understanding of how what they are learning in the classroom applies in the real world. She actively strives to create a positive, respectful, and inclusive learning environment, something she views as core to her teaching philosophy. Recently she developed an active learning opportunity with the WNBA in one of her courses, where students had the opportunity to work on their knowledge and skills in relation to sports media. In addition to her time teaching, Katie is also dedicated to continuous improvement, and plays an active role in fostering new curriculum innovations. One of her students had this to say in their supporting letter:

“Dr. Lebel creates a unique environment that I have not experienced in any other post-secondary course. She establishes a team-based environment where all students are collaborative and have the opportunity to lead and be led by others. Students are consistently engaged in any topic discussed by Dr. Lebel, as she always opens the floor to us and develops an environment that fosters participation all semester long. By having much of course content group based, she challenges us to work together toward a goal or final product, just as we would within the industries we wish to pursue after graduation. We learned the importance of community, communication, and accountability, which pushes us to be our best.”

Congratulations to Katie and thank you for your efforts in providing outstanding experiential learning experiences for students!

Nicole McCallum, Department of Marketing and Consumer Studies, is this year's recipient of The Casey Cosgrove Teaching Award of Excellence. Nicole takes an active learning approach throughout her teaching, by using case studies, flipped classroom, and role play. This helps students develop skills and abilities that are hands-on, which prepares them for the real world. This year Nicole also taught the first-year introduction to business course, one of Lang’s flagship experiential learning courses. In addition, her mentorship of undergraduate students both in and outside of the classroom represents her commitment and leadership to the Lang community. A group of students had this to say about their experience:

“The largest impact Nicole made was on a personal level with those she taught and mentored. Opening her door for all of first year students’ various troubles and taking the time to appreciate and assist students who needed it. Simultaneously, Nicole masterfully mentored TAs to grow as educators and professionals. Being mentored by Nicole came with a sense of trust that most educators or academics do not offer to mentees. While you immediately felt trust in Nicole’s abilities to tackle problems, she easily made you feel trusted and capable. A sense of belief in your abilities and appreciation for your contributions made every TA confident enough to succeed through the level of autonomy she offered.”

Congratulations Nicole and thank you for your commitment to supporting students at Lang!

The Teaching Awards of Excellence at Lang are awarded annually, with applications normally due sometime in May. For more information, and to read about past winners, check out the Lang teaching and learning website.