This spring, faculty, staff, and campus partners came together at the 2026 Essential Education Symposium to reflect on the first year of Essential Education at Michigan Tech and to work toward a shared vision for student learning.
The Symposium showed that Essential Education is collaborative, evolving, and focused on helping students connect their academic experiences.
Building an Integrative Learning Experience
Essential Education supports integrative learning by connecting general education, majors, and future careers, while building skills to address complex problems from multiple perspectives.
The curriculum emphasizes high-impact, experiential learning, engaging students in applied, collaborative experiences throughout their time at Michigan Tech. It offers flexibility for students through customizable pathways and for instructors in teaching and assessment methods.
Essential Education highlights the relevance of SHAPE disciplines (Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts for the People and Economy/Environment) through real-world and interdisciplinary experiences, helping students understand the purpose and value of their education.
Symposium Sessions Spark Reflection and Conversation
Throughout the Symposium, attendees explored how these goals are taking shape in classrooms, programs, and partnerships across campus.
Symposium feedback revealed that participants valued sessions that offered practical examples and ideas, such as “Husky Folio Made Easy,” “Reflection and Metacognition Seminar,” and “Purposeful Teaching with AI,” as well as interactive peer feedback workshops like “Teaching Squares.” These provided strategies for reflection, assessment, and engagement.
Faculty also expressed appreciation for concrete examples of Essential Abilities integrated in course design, assignments, and assessments in adaptable, meaningful ways.
Panels and presentations sparked conversations about student learning and community engagement. Attendees noted that the ePortfolio panel highlighted hands-on learning successes, the community partners panel showcased effective collaborations, and the student panel revealed both opportunities and challenges faced during Essential Education implementation.
In addition, Marika Seigel, associate provost for undergraduate education, presented a reflection on the community’s collective progress over the past year, which was another meaningful moment that underscored how much work has already been accomplished through collaboration across departments and programs.
Collaboration Across Campus
Beyond the formal sessions, many participants emphasized that one of the Symposium’s greatest strengths was the opportunity to connect with colleagues.
Informal conversations, cross-departmental networking, and hearing directly from instructors about their experiences created space for authentic dialogue, idea-sharing, and community building. For some participants, leading or co-presenting a session was itself a rewarding experience — a chance to contribute to the broader conversation around teaching and learning at Michigan Tech.
Symposium conversations reflected a commitment to supporting students academically and to developing them into adaptable, engaged individuals for a complex world.
Recognizing the 2026 Exemplary Instructors
The Symposium also recognized faculty and staff who exemplify Essential Education’s goals and values through the 2026 Exemplary Instructors Seminar.
This year’s honorees included:
Seminar
- Kayla Michelson
Foundations & SHAPE
- Dr. Leeann Youn
- D-Jay Bidwell
- Jordan Dagenais
- Dr. Laura Kasson Fiss
- Claire Helakoski
- Jack Van Treese
Activities for Well-being and Success
- Katy Ellenich
Math, Science, & STEM
- Nick Folcik
- Ann M. Humes
Experience
- Dr. Tara L. Bal
- Dr. Angie Carter
Arts & Culture and Intercultural Competency
- Anne Beffel
These instructors were recognized for their commitment to learning, innovative teaching, and the creation of high-impact educational experiences across the Essential Education curriculum.
Looking Ahead
As Essential Education evolves, the Symposium celebrated progress and reminded attendees that this work is ongoing.
Over the past year, faculty and staff have experimented with new approaches, refined assessments, integrated high-impact learning, and helped students understand the value of their education.
As the first year of Essential Education comes to a close, the Symposium offered an encouraging reminder that this work is being shaped collectively — through experimentation, collaboration, reflection, and a willingness to learn from one another.
