The Office of the Provost and the William G. Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning have announced that Todd Arney, lecturer in the College of Computing’s Department of Applied Computing, is one of four instructors who will receive The Provost’s Award for Sustained Teaching Excellence, a new teaching award that celebrates the work of individuals whose teaching consistently and dramatically benefits students.
Had this been a normal year, Arney would have again qualified as a finalist for the annual Distinguished Teaching Award, which he has been awarded three times. But because this was Arney’s fourth nomination, the Provost, academic deans, and the Center for Teaching and Learning agreed that Arney deserves special recognition that goes beyond consideration as a finalist.
Provost Huntoon, in collaboration with the Academic Deans, initiated this award because “It became clear that we had a group of instructors consistently delivering exceptional instruction to their students over many years, who are worthy of special recognition,” said a March 18, 2020, Tech Today news item.
“The intent in establishing this new award is to acknowledge that anyone named a finalist more than three times has been consistently exceptional,” wrote Michael Meyer, director of the William G. Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning, in Arney’s award letter. “Your commitment to excellence is worthy of significant recognition.”
The award, which consists of a plaque and $1000 in additional compensation, will be presented at the Academy of Teaching Excellence banquet on April 14, 2020. Each of the recipients of the new award will continue to be honored on an annual basis as members of Michigan Tech’s Distinguished Teaching Academy, an elite group with an established reputation for excellent teaching.
Arney is a lecturer in the Computer Network and System Administration (CNSA) program, Applied Computing. He teaches courses in Linux system administration, Microsoft system administration, infrastructure system administration, scripting administration and automation, data center engineering, cybersecurity, and cyber ethics. In addition, he supervises CNSA Senior Design projects. He was also nominated for the Dean’s Teaching Award in spring 2019.
“Todd’s energy and his rapport with the students creates a community within CNSA that promotes student success,” said Adrienne Minerick, dean of the College of Computing. “He is accessible and dedicated to the students, always encouraging them to try projects that lie outside of their comfort zones.”
“I am delighted, but not 100% surprised, that Todd Arney was selected as one of the inaugural recipients for this award,” said Dan Fuhrmann, chair of the Applied Computing department. “‘Sustained teaching excellence’ is a perfect description of Todd’s contributions to the CNSA program. Our students are his number one priority, and in return he is respected and well-liked by his students. Todd represents the very best that Michigan Tech offers in undergraduate education.”
“I am very pleased to be part this award’s initiation, and to be associated with a place where there’s so much good instruction going on that we need to expand the ways we recognize people,” wrote Meyer. “Your [Arney’s] efforts motivated the creation of this award, and that alone is an outstanding professional accomplishment! On behalf of the students, staff, and faculty at Michigan Tech, I offer my sincerest congratulations and appreciation to you for your dedicated efforts and willingness to go the extra mile to connect with your students.”
As is the case for those that have won the Distinguished Teaching Award, recipients of the Provost’s Award for Sustained Teaching Excellence are members of an elite group with an established reputation for teaching excellence. Recipients of the new Provost’s award are ineligible to be named as a finalist in the future, but membership in the elite group is permanent.
Finalists for the 2020 teaching awards were selected based on the spring and fall 2019 semester teaching evaluations.