Saskatchewan Polytechnic recognizes and celebrates faculty
Through the Faculty Award for Excellence: Teaching and Applied Research Award of Excellence Saskatchewan Polytechnic acknowledges outstanding faculty members who go above and beyond.
“Saskatchewan Polytechnic is recognized for its expertise in applied education and applied research, ensuring our graduates receive the education and hands-on learning opportunities they require to succeed in their jobs,” says Dr. Larry Rosia, Sask Polytech president and CEO. “This success is due to the dedication of our faculty who teach our students essential practical skills and knowledge and demonstrate how to be innovative contributors to Saskatchewan's economic and social development. Thank you for helping inspire success in every learning journey.”
Faculty Award for Excellence: Teaching 2022
Sask Polytech recognizes four faculty members for outstanding teaching. Recipients of the award provided supportive learning environments, inspired success in skill development and utilized the latest technologies to enhance learning and embody Sask Polytech’s core values. The Faculty Award for Excellence: Teaching recipients are:
Brett Watson, Civil Engineering Technologies (Moose Jaw campus)
Brett is a professional engineer, with a doctorate level degree who displays professionalism through his dedication to education and engineering. Brett provides excellent instruction to enhance student learning and prepare students for the workforce. He built long-lasting relationships with industry. Brett’s field camps for students are often a highlight of the academic year, taking place at the Hannin Creek Education and Applied Research Centre, industry experts are invited to come and collaborate with students to help achieve learning outcomes. Brett’s colleagues describe him as dependable, accountable, responsive and a real team player. Brett’s passion for the engineering profession is contagious and students graduate from the program excited to start their career in the engineering field.
Brett Shiers, Business Information Systems (Moose Jaw campus)
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Brett goes out of his way to provide excellent instruction during his courses. Brett reinforces coding knowledge and skills by sharing multiple ways to solve a problem and pointing out the strengths and weaknesses in different coding approaches. Brett provides students Zoom recordings of lectures, textbook resources for additional reference and flexible due dates to complete projects as he understands that students absorb information differently and learn on their own time. Brett is always helpful, positive and respectful of students and colleagues. Brett’s quiet and unassuming demeanor makes students feel comfortable approaching him, and his mastery of the subject matter assures they receive the best possible education when they do.
Susan Howell, Psychiatric Nursing and Perioperative Nursing (Regina campus)
Susan works tirelessly to use her abounding nursing knowledge and expertise to enhance psychiatric nursing students’ learning experiences. Susan is a knowledgeable faculty member and scholar whose vast range of clinical experiences include critical care, pediatric critical care, pediatric transport, emergency, family medicine, oncology, perioperative, and forensics to name a few. Susan consistently demonstrates passion and commitment to support and foster psychiatric nursing students’ success and is instrumental in helping students prepare for graduation with all the necessary skills to be career-ready. Students often remark on what a great role model Susan is, particularly in terms of compassion, empathy, understanding, inclusivity, integrity and professionalism. She is a great team member and collaborates on interdisciplinary teams to ensure her psychiatric nursing students have rich learning experiences.
Wendy Doell, Business (Saskatoon campus)
Wendy’s passion and professionalism, coupled with her experience and background in economics and business, are key contributors to her pursuit of excellence and her students’ success. Wendy shows concern for her students’ learning and wellbeing, is respectful and truly values diversity. She welcomes students to meet with her if they have questions, making herself available on evenings and weekends. She also uses a variety of methods for the different learning styles students may have. She also records her Zoom classes for students and ensures they have closed captioning so all students can participate. This is a great way for students who may have English as a second language to become engaged. She always creates a safe learning environment where students feel safe to share and collaborate.
Applied Research Award of Excellence 2022
At Sask Polytech, we solve real-world problems and develop solutions to everyday challenges. Sask Polytech owes our strong reputation for success in applied research to the commitment and expertise of our faculty and researchers. This year, Sask Polytech recognized a faculty member who made significant contributions in the areas of applied research and innovation. The Applied Research Award of Excellence recipient is:
Michelle Pavloff, research chair for Rural Health
Michelle has an outstanding dedication to excellence and professionalism and is passionate about supporting mental health initiatives in Saskatchewan. Michelle is the principal investigator of the Saskatchewan Farmer and Rancher Mental Health (FARMh) initiative, an applied research project that is identifying key features for a mental health support system for Saskatchewan farmers and ranchers. Since the launch of the FARMh initiative over 100 people have participated in the project. In addition to the FARMh applied research project, Michelle is also the principal investigator on the YOUth Matter Saskatchewan research project. YOUth Matter Saskatchewan is a patient-oriented study that is evaluating programming that supports the mental wellness of youth in Saskatchewan schools. Thank you to Michelle for her dedication to mental health and rural health in Saskatchewan.
Congratulations to this year's Faculty Award for Excellence: Teaching and Applied Research Award for Excellence recipients. We are extremely fortunate to have faculty that are not only experts in their fields, but also leaders in education. Thank you for all you do for our students and institution.
Published June 2022.