As educators, it is our responsibility to ensure that our students are prepared to enter and succeed in this changing world – to have the skills to become culturally-responsive leaders who are civically engaged. This line of thinking is at the heart of Essential Education, a core component of the Tech Forward vision.
To make this vision become a reality, Essential Education will be guided by the Essential Education Steering Committee (EESC). The EESC will conduct the following activities:
- Planning of the annual Essential Education Symposium
- Review new Essential Education course proposals, suggesting any needed changes, approving changes
- Provide oversight of assessment and resulting actions to ensure continuous improvement and effectiveness of the Essential Ed curriculum
- Provide feedback to Essential Ed instructors and units regarding curricular needs and possible modifications
Steering Committee Membership: Representatives from staff and faculty, including 6 course-list leaders:
- Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education (chair)
- Essential Ed Project Manager
- Assessment Manager
- Director, Husky Folio
- Registrar’s Office representative
- Student Affairs representative
- 2-3 at-large members selected to ensure that there is faculty representation from each college of the university
- 6, course list team leaders (see below)
The Essential Ed oversight structure is intended to encourage and support a community of educators focused on student achievement of programmatic learning outcomes (which for Essential Ed are the Essential Abilities). Since the course-list types serve different functions within the curriculum and have different expectations, support is structured around groupings of course lists: course-list teams and leaders (who also sit on the Essential Ed Steering Committee). Note: This differs from the previous approach structured around undergraduate student learning goals (USLGs).
Role of Essential Educations Course List Teams
- 3-6 members who are from units teaching or supporting courses on the associated Essential Ed course lists
- Helps compile/disseminate findings and recommendations; develop online resources; help train faculty; make proposed-course recommendations to assist Steering Committee, plan/attend Essential Education Symposium
- Provides Essential Ed faculty support for their units — to provide assistance or referral on topics including pedagogy, Essential Ability evidence/assignment design, ePortfolio, as well as Essential Ed checklist completion and assessment reporting
- Participate in professional development, especially the summer assessment activities (strongly encouraged)hort description:
Different from previous goal committee structure:
- Not applicable to degree program outcome assessment.
- Considerable faculty support duties
- Fewer members but additional faculty can be recruited for specific tasks
- Reviews course proposals and makes recommendations to Steering Committee
To view who staffs the Essential Education Steering Committee and Course List Teams, visit Michigan Tech’s Essential Education News Blog. Next week, learn about the role of continuous improvement in the ongoing improvement and increased effectiveness of Michigan Tech’s Essential Education Tech Forward initiative.
Michigan Tech Essential Education Steering Committee
| Essential Education Steering Committee | |||
| Member | Department | Role | Course List Team |
| Marika Seigel | APUE | Chair | |
| Steve Patchin | APUE – Project Mgr | Member | |
| Jean DeClerck | APUE – Assessment Mgr | Member | |
| AJ Hamlin | Eng Fund, Director Husky Folio | Member | |
| Darren Bausano | Registrars Office | Member | |
| Cassandra Reed-Vandam | APUE – E3 Manager | Member | |
| Anna McClatchy | Student Affairs | Member | |
| Yu Cai | College of Computing | Member | |
| Valroiee Gagnon | CFRES | Member | |
| Audra Morse | CoE | Member | |
| Steven Holloway | CoB | Member | Foundations & SHAPE |
| Richelle Winkler | SS | Member | Experience & 1 credit minor portfolio Course |
| Holly Hassel | HU | Member | Composition & Communication Intensive |
| Crystal McLeod | Ctr Student Mental Health & Wellness | Member | Seminar + Activities for Wellbeing & Success |
| Mike Maxwell | VPA | Member | Arts & Culture + Intercultural Competencies |
| Mike Meyer | Physics | Member | Math + Science + STEM |
Michigan Tech Essential Education Course List Teams
| 2025-26 Essential Education Course List Teams | |||
| Course List Team | Member | Dept | Role |
| Foundations & Shape | Steven Holloway | CoB | Lead |
| Steve Walton | SS | Co-Lead | |
| Laura Fiss | Pavlis/HU | Member | |
| Experience + 1-credit minor portfolio course | Richelle Winkler | SS | Lead |
| Cassandra Reed-VanDam | APUE | Co-Lead | |
| Laura Rouleau | SS | Co-Lead | |
| Danielle Meirow | SLI | Member | |
| Estella Mira Barrenda | HU | Member | |
| Composition + Communication Intensive | Holly Hassel | HU | Lead |
| Jennifer Nish | HU | Co-Lead | |
| Paul Sanders | MAT | Member | |
| Jonathan Robins | SS | Member | |
| Nich Radcliffe | VPA | Member | |
| Seminar + Activities for Wellbeing & Success | Crystal McLeod | Ctr Student Mental Health/Wellbeing | Lead |
| AJ Hamlin | Eng Fund | Co-Lead | |
| Veronica Horning | SA | Member | |
| Melissa Michaelson | Career Services | Member | |
| Craig Pelizzaro | KIP | Member | |
| Christopher Plummer | VPA | Member | |
| Arts & Culture + Intercultural Compentency | Mike Maxwell | VPA | Lead |
| Destaney Sauls | PHF | Co-Lead | |
| Matt Seigel | HU | Member | |
| Math + Science + STEM | Mike Meyer | Physics | Lead |
| Teresa Woods | Math | Co-Lead | |
| Brigette Morin | BL,CSA | Member | |
| Tim VanWagner | CC | Member | |
| Andrew Galerneau | Chem | Member | |
| Chad Walber | MAE | Member | |
| Matt Laird | CEGE | Member |