MacEwan University’s Teaching Awards celebrate faculty members who provide exceptional learning environments for their students. This year, three faculty members will receive the Distinguished Teaching Award, one will receive the Teaching Leadership Award, two will receive the Early Career Teaching Excellence Award and three instructors will be recognized with the Sessional Teaching Excellence Award.
“Each of this year’s recipients has demonstrated the adaptability and innovation we value in our colleagues,” says Dr. Craig Monk, provost and vice-president, Academic. “From creative grading approaches and assignments to imaginative uses of technology, these recipients have shown a strong commitment to exceptional undergraduate teaching, preparing MacEwan graduates who are versatile and future-ready.”
The Distinguished Teaching Awards will be presented as part of the Spring Convocation ceremonies.
Meet the recipients
Distinguished Teaching Award
Michelle Malin
Department of Accounting and Finance, Triffo School of Business
An associate professor with the Department of Accounting and Finance, Michelle Malin has been teaching at MacEwan University since 2011. Having developed curriculum for multiple courses, Malin has found success in working backward, beginning with clearly articulated learning outcomes and then determining the learning activities and assessments needed to help students achieve those outcomes.
Early in her teaching career, Malin developed online modules to improve the financial literacy of undergraduate students. In 2024, she developed a live client-based experiential tax case integrated into the Advanced Corporate Taxation (ACCT 428) course, reflecting MacEwan’s emphasis on applying classroom learning to the world around us. In 2026, Malin introduced diverse assessment options, allowing students to choose between cases, presentations, applied projects and quizzes to improve accessibility, student engagement and ownership of learning. She has found this approach supports diverse learning styles while still maintaining rigorous academic standards.
Along with teaching, Malin serves as a faculty advisor with the MacEwan University Accounting Club, helping plan and execute the annual Volunteer Tax Clinic, a two-week work-integrated learning initiative.
Dr. Tai Munro
School of Continuing Education
An assistant professor with MacEwan University’s School of Continuing Education, Dr. Tai Munro has been key in building the Sustainability Studies certificate and in increasing sustainability initiatives across campus. Dr. Munro focuses on student responsibility and autonomy, inclusive learning opportunities and assessment for learning in her courses. This means she uses a unique, alternative grading approach that requires students to make meaningful decisions about their learning, including setting their target grade.
Dr. Munro has been recognized for her innovation, often identifying when a necessary learning tool is lacking and then developing the tool herself. This includes a custom AI sustainability connection assistant she created to help students understand particularly challenging concepts. In 2023, she published Introduction to Sustainability, an open educational resource textbook. Dr. Munro also helped launch a new initiative in which students are creating a podcast, The Green Desk.
Teaching about 360 students directly each year, Dr. Munro also takes time to mentor her colleagues, including sessional instructors teaching sustainability. She is currently working on an open educational resource for her systems thinking course. This work is supported by an internal grant from MacEwan University Library and is scheduled to be released in late 2026 or early 2027.
Brandi Pawliuk
Department of Mental Health Nursing and Community Wellness, Faculty of Nursing
Since joining MacEwan University as a nurse educator in 2010, Brandi Pawliuk, an assistant professor in the Department of Mental Health Nursing and Community Wellness, has helped develop Alberta’s first Bachelor of Psychiatric Nursing degree with a diploma exit option, and has contributed to the development or revision of 18 courses, helping grow the program into what it is today.
Her teaching experience spans multiple programs, course levels and delivery formats, reflecting a broad contribution to undergraduate nursing and psychiatric nursing education. Pawliuk’s teaching focuses on student belonging before performance. She believes connection, support, curiosity and fun are crucial to student wellbeing and understanding. Pawliuk uses colouring pages and children’s books to help students decompress after emotionally taxing and complex courses. She encourages student feedback and uses a layered approach to course delivery that includes lectures, recordings, readings, applied learning activities and case studies, many of which are based on her experience as a registered nurse.
Along with her work inside the classroom, Pawliuk is also committed to her own learning, having completed more than 30 workshops, seminars and training sessions related to teaching and learning.
Teaching Leadership Award
Dr. Jennifer Long
Department of Anthropology, Economics and Political Science
A cultural anthropologist, Dr. Jennifer Long is an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology, Economics and Political Science. Since joining MacEwan University in 2018, Dr. Long has developed a teaching philosophy focused on guiding students through real-world experiences. In 2021, she helped co-design and co-teach MacEwan’s inaugural work-integrated learning course, which has since become one of the university’s key offerings. Dr. Long’s students have had pivotal experiences that have also benefited the campus community. In 2024, her applied anthropology students worked with Dr. Eva Revitt in the John L. Haar Library to explore ways to foster community through the library.
Dr. Long uses an applied partnership research model that has seen her co-write grant applications, securing nearly $67,000 in competitive external funding to support 23 undergraduate research assistantships to date. So far, 12 of her students have been hired by community partners because of their course-based research experience.
Dr. Long has served on numerous boards and committees, including the Anti-Racism Circle, the Interdisciplinary Dialogue Project and the Research Ethics Board. She is also committed to sharing her expertise and pedagogy through workshops, conferences and community settings.
Early Career Teaching Excellence Awards
Dr. Carolyn Furlong
Department of Physical Sciences
Since joining MacEwan University in 2023, Dr. Carolyn Furlong, assistant professor in the Department of Physical Sciences, has focused her work on supervising student researchers and creating an inclusive environment for her students.
Dr. Furlong incorporates universal design for learning components into her teaching, providing multiple means of engagement, representation, action and expression in her courses. This includes using anonymous forms at the end of the semester to evaluate specific course assessments, labs and topics. She then uses that information to adapt her lessons moving forward. Students have praised Dr. Furlong for teaching complex material in an organized and linear fashion, making it more digestible.
In her relatively short time at MacEwan, Dr. Furlong has shown a strong commitment to supporting undergraduate research. She has also participated across campus, serving on the Environmental Studies Institute Advisory Committee, the Academic Integrity Adjudication Committee and other committees. Outside of the classroom, Dr. Furlong is herself a lifelong learner, continuously taking courses to find new methods and ideas to incorporate into her teaching.
Dr. Morgan Wadams
Department of Nursing Foundations and Science
Dr. Morgan Wadams, an assistant professor in the Department of Nursing Foundations and Science at MacEwan University, has shaped much of his teaching philosophy around his real-life experiences as a nurse at the Edmonton Remand Centre, one of Canada’s largest correctional facilities. He uses that real-world experience to bring in guest speakers and encourage experiential learning, including arranging tours of the STARS base for students. Dr. Wadams uses a “tell, inquire, retell” reflective writing assignment in which students share a story and identify assumptions, including how social, health and political conditions shape trauma in the health-care system.
Dr. Wadams joined MacEwan in 2023 and centres his teaching around student feedback, professional development and ongoing reflection. He has implemented student-selected office hours, both in person and online, creating an open, accessible and respectful learning environment. Dr. Wadams continuously gathers student feedback and actively implements changes to improve the student experience.
In his relatively short time at MacEwan, he has participated in multiple service initiatives, including serving on the Faculty of Nursing Research and Scholarship Committee, acting as a faculty adjudicator for the Academic Integrity Office and serving on the Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program and Curriculum Committee. He has also mentored three student groups participating in Student Research Day.
Sessional Teaching Excellence Awards
Kat Furtado
Department of Humanities, Faculty of Arts and Science
As a sessional instructor in the Department of Humanities since 2024, Kat Furtado has created courses that are both fun and informative. Teaching Introductory and Intermediate Greek and Introduction to Greek Society, Furtado uses written texts, podcasts, videos, comics and other materials in her teaching.
She focuses on play-based learning, introducing sing-alongs, Mad Libs, comic drawing and open-ended composition or translation assignments. In lecture courses, especially those with longer class periods, games involving movement are introduced to keep students engaged. Furtado also uses the video game Assassin’s Creed Odyssey as a teaching tool, taking the melody from a song and singing a line to students, which they then repeat back. This allows them to translate into Greek without overthinking.
She prioritizes inclusion by using dyslexia-friendly fonts and ensuring all images used in class are described and screen-reader compatible. Furtado also ensures a range of female, BIPOC, queer and other identities are represented in the assigned materials included in her syllabi. In an effort to support low-income students, she prioritizes content available for free through the library catalogue or public websites.
Joshua Letendre
Department of Accounting and Finance, Department of Decision Sciences, Triffo School of Business
In just three years since joining MacEwan University, Joshua Letendre has taught seven different courses. A sessional instructor with both the Department of Accounting and Finance and the Department of Decision Sciences, Letendre grounds his teaching philosophy in respect, relationship-building, reciprocity and trust.
With such a wide teaching portfolio, he uses name cards from the beginning of each term to ensure he can address students by name as a sign of respect. Letendre also developed what he calls the “mini teaching presentation.” In groups, students receive an assigned unit or chapter and create a review lesson for their peers. This encourages them to use their own language, examples and ways of understanding while engaging with the course material in a meaningful way. Guest speakers are frequently brought in so students can learn about real-world experiences and potential career opportunities.
Serving on the Chartered Professional Accountants Education Foundation of Alberta Board allows Letendre to offer students unique experiences and insights into the accounting industry.
Dr. Michael J. Vekasi
Department of Health and Human Services, Faculty of Health and Community Studies
Dr. Michael J. Vekasi, a doctor of audiology, has been with MacEwan University since 2017. Dr. Vekasi is a sessional instructor in the Department of Health and Human Services, teaching hearing testing, hearing disorders, bioacoustics of human hearing among other courses.
His teaching philosophy focuses on creating an inclusive and engaging learning environment that allows students to thrive and grow throughout their academic journey. After his first year at MacEwan, Dr. Vekasi significantly revised course assessments to better evaluate student competence by placing less emphasis on written papers and more weight on hands-on and practical assignments. He incorporates student feedback and adapts courses to ensure students develop the required clinical skills. Simulation software was introduced into one of Dr. Vekasi’s courses, allowing lab activities to continue throughout the COVID-19 pandemic when health restrictions prevented in-person testing. Continued use of simulation now provides students with additional opportunities to build their skills.
Dr. Vekasi is committed to professional development, regularly taking courses and attending conferences to expand his pedagogical knowledge.