The recipients of the Best Student Engagement Strategies Award are (from left): Christopher Green (associate professor of linguistics and associate chair of languages, literatures, and linguistics), Jordan Chiantelli-Mosebach (linguistic studies master’s student), Johnson Akano (linguistic studies master’s student), Stella Clymer (linguistic studies master’s student), Tamara Svehla (linguistic studies master’s student), and Amanda Brown (professor of linguistics and director of the linguistic studies program). (Photo by Laura Harrington)
Awards Recognize Success of Assessment Through Engagement and Collaboration
From partnering with students in the classroom to building cross-campus collaboration that led to real-time improvements, the University’s commitment to meaningful assessment took center stage at the seventh annual One University Assessment Celebration on April 10. The event, hosted by Academic Affairs and the Office of Institutional Effectiveness (OIE), included awards and poster presentations.
In her opening remarks, Julie Hasenwinkel, associate provost for academic programs, highlighted the importance of celebrating the many ways faculty, staff and students engaged in assessment across the University over the past year.
Awards were given in five categories.
- Institutional Effectiveness Champions: This award honors campus community members who champion meaningful assessment and who have made outstanding contributions to the University’s culture of improvement. The recipients were:
- Academic programs: Xiyuan Liu, associate teaching professor, Dean’s Faculty Fellow for Academic Affairs, College of Engineering and Computer Science
- Co-curricular programs: Emily Dittman, director, Syracuse University Art Museum
- Course feedback: Magdelín Montenegro, part-time instructor, Spanish, College of Arts and Sciences
- Shared competencies: ‘Cuse Works
- Shared competencies student champion: Fetch Collective magazine
- Outstanding Assessment: This award recognizes a distinguished academic, co-curricular and functional area for overall robust assessment. The recipients were:
- Academic: Library and information science master’s degree program, School of Information Studies
- Co-curricular: Disability Cultural Center
- Functional: Office of Pre-College Programs
- Best Engagement Strategies: This award recognizes the engagement of faculty, staff and students in the assessment process. The recipients were:
- Faculty engagement: Ash Heim and Vera McIlvain, the biology department, College of Arts and Sciences
- Staff engagement: Arts at SU
- Student engagement: Linguistic studies master’s degree program, College of Arts and Sciences
- Best Use of Results: This award recognizes an academic, co-curricular and functional area for how assessment results are used in making decisions. The recipients were:
- Academic: Bachelor’s of biomedical engineering degree program, College of Engineering and Computer Science
- Co-curricular: LGBTQ+ Resource Center
- Functional: Syracuse University Libraries
- Collaborative Inquiry and Action: This award recognizes a partnership that extends beyond a single school, college, division or unit and uses strong assessment methods and data as a catalyst for improvement. The recipient was:
- First Year Seminar
Following the awards, 2025 poster presenters were acknowledged for their efforts to collaborate, experiment, reflect and innovate in their areas over this academic year. Assessment Leadership Institute faculty participants included:
- Ben Akih Kumgeh, Xiyuan Liu, Karen Martinez Soto, Anupam Pandey and Mehmet Sarimurat, mechanical and aerospace engineering, College of Engineering and Computer Science
- Alex Méndez Giner, film and media arts, College of Visual and Performing Arts
- Ash Heim and Vera McIlvain, biology, College of Arts and Sciences
- Jane Read, geography and the environment, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
- Nancy Rindfuss, nutrition and food studies, Falk College of Sport
Recipients of the 2025-26 “Student Engagement in Assessment” grant included:
- Civil and environmental engineering: Yilei Shi
- Civil and environmental engineering: Svetoslava Todorova
- Communication sciences and disorders: Charles Nudelman
- Environment, sustainability and policy: Jane Read
- Nutrition science: Claire Cooney, Nikki Beckwith
- Setnor School of Music: Klark Johnson
- School of Social Work: Nadaya Brantley
- The Writing Center: Collie Fulford
Closing the event, Laura Harrington, director of institutional effectiveness, reflected on the deeper meaning of the work: “At its root, the word ‘assess’ comes from Latin, meaning ‘to sit beside.’ This is what it asks of us: to sit beside our work, take stock of what we see, and take action… Assessment isn’t a requirement. It’s a practice,” Harrington said.
Explore photos, award highlights and full poster presentations on the .
Story by A’yla James
