Campus Feature
Best of the Best
Kaplan Earns Rice Award
Others Recognized at Honors Convocation
A
ssistant Professor of Spanish Nick
Kaplan of Adrian, Mich., earned the 2011
Eileen K. Rice Award for Outstanding Teaching. Kaplan was awarded the honor at Siena
Heights’ annual spring Honors Convocation
ceremony on April 29 (right).
He has taught Spanish at Siena Heights since 2006 and is
the Spanish program coordinator and director of the
Mexico Experience program,
which sends students abroad
to Mexico for studies. While
at SHU, Kaplan has guided the Spanish program through the Michigan Department
of Education review for the preparation of
teacher education students.
Kaplan has served on a number of committees at SHU, including the Teacher Education
subcommittee, Academic Computing Group
and The Faculty Assembly. He also served as
advisor to the Student Senate and received
the 2011 student organization Advisor of
the Year Award.
Kaplan received a Bachelor of Arts degree
in mathematics and Spanish from Siena
Heights University in 2003 and a Master
of Arts degree in Spanish: Linguistics
and Literature from Bowling Green State
University in 2006.
According to one of his students, “Nick
brings Siena out to the world and the world
to Siena through his innovative use of
technology and his intrepid travels.”
Right: Nick Kaplan
(front row, far left)
coordinated the Mexico
Experience exchange
program last winter
as part of the Spanish
program at SHU.
Kaplan hopes to continue to expand the
Spanish department and increase enrollment in the Mexico Experience. According
to Kaplan, he hopes to incorporate more
uses of technology in student learning and
develop cost-saving measures for student
textbooks in the future. Kaplan said he
also hopes to incorporate a third world
language, such as Chinese or Arabic, into
Siena’s class offerings on a regular basis.
He hopes to spend next summer in Mexico
and travel through Latin America. u
Other Award Recipients from Honors Convocation:
— Professor of Philosophy Thomas Dunne, Ph.D, of Royal Oak, Mich.,
earned the Jack Bologna Award for Innovative Teaching.
— Andy Switzer of Pettisville, Ohio, earned the St. Catherine of
Alexandria Award.
— Kyrie Bristle ‘11 of Clinton, Mich., and Mary Mercer ‘11 of Toledo, Ohio,
earned the Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award.
— Ann Vano ‘11 of Warren, Mich., Amanda Schmidt of Tecumseh, Mich.,
and Kerri Judkins ‘06, ‘11 of Adrian, Mich., earned the Outstanding
Graduate Student Award.
— Juniors Doug Dawson of Roseville, Mich., and Nichole Hughes of
Tecumseh, Mich., earned the Thomas Emmet Student-Athlete Award.
Reflections Winter ’12
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