Four University of Michigan lecturers have been honored for their outstanding contributions to instruction and inclusive teaching.
Laurie McCauley, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, named Michela Arnaboldi, Katri Ervamaa and Paul Kessenich 2023-24 Collegiate Lecturers and awarded Colleen van Lent with the 2023 Lecturer Excellence in Inclusive Teaching Award.
The university awards up to four Collegiate Lecturer titles annually to lecturers II and IV who demonstrate a sustained record of excellence in teaching and learning, or in service or other contributions to the university.
One lecturer is selected each year for the Lecturer Excellence in Inclusive Teaching Award, which is open to all lecturer classifications. This award recognizes lecturers who demonstrate a sustained record of excellence in inclusive teaching practices.
The following summaries were drawn from letters of support submitted for each honoree:
Michela Arnaboldi
Lecturer II in LSA’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Throughout her 17 years of service, Arnaboldi has demonstrated outstanding leadership in working to improve the quality and creativity of instruction within her department. She has integrated travel and field study into her courses, including Oceanography in Italy and Geology of the Great Lakes.
Arnaboldi seeks to advance inclusivity in her teaching and altered how she introduces quantitative reasoning in her courses. She also has adopted GradeCraft and gameful pedagogy in two of her courses, providing different approaches to mastery compared with traditional approaches. Students now have ownership of their grade trajectory and have increased their interest in course material and learning.
Katri Ervamaa
Lecturer IV in LSA’s Residential College
Throughout Ervamaa’s 19 years of service, permanent course offerings in the RC Music Program have grown 54%. She combines teaching with a robust performance and recording career, with both regionally- and internationally-based ensembles, to advance teaching and learning for U-M students across several major academic units.
Ervamaa’s approach to music is modern and fun, and provides her students the building blocks to connect with music and understand it on an intellectual level. Ervamaa has earned several major awards, including a Grammy Award nomination for Best Classical Recording in 2008 and a Michigan Jammie’s Album of the Year award in 2011.
Paul Kessenich
Lecturer IV in LSA’s Department of Mathematics
As a co-director of the Mathematics Introductory Program, Kessenich is responsible for several courses affecting more than 4,500 university students. The program is nationally recognized as a model for instruction in calculus courses, and is known for developing students and instructors exceptionally well.
Kessenich was instrumental in fundamentally reshaping courses to support instructors’ understanding of and ability to use equity-focused instruction, and he expanded the flexibility and support provided to all students in the courses. As coordinator, he also supports and mentors the graduate student and postdoctoral instructors teaching the courses, and provides training and mentorship for new instructors.
Colleen van Lent
Lecturer IV in the School of Information
Van Lent is a leader in shaping and incorporating inclusive teaching practices at UMSI. She has partnered with the university’s web accessibility coordinator to incorporate principles of equitable teaching into courses and course materials.
Van Lent developed Web Design for Everybody, a course with a strong focus on inclusive design. The course lowers the barrier to participation for underrepresented people in computer science and incorporates accessible design for a wide audience. She also supports a mentoring group, which helps students from underrepresented groups to study in science, technology, engineering and math.
Nominations for the 2024-25 Collegiate Lecturer Program and the 2024 LEIT Award will begin around November. Direct questions about this process to hr-acadhr@umich.edu.
