Father Stewart Medal for Excellence in Teaching

History

Father William A. Stewart was a Professor of Philosophy and an Administrator at Saint Mary’s from 1950-1982, working in the Faculty of Arts and holding various Administration positions during a time of major growth at the University. He continued to volunteer on committees until 1997.  Father Stewart was one of the first professors at Saint Mary’s to embrace inclusivity by welcoming women into his classroom, and helping young women become full-time students before the University introduced co-ed education evening classes in 1952.  He was known for his strong beliefs in promoting accessible education to marginalized communities and was also very much involved in promoting teaching innovation and excellence on campus.

Established in 1983 in cooperation with the Faculty Union and the Students' Representative Council, The Father William A. Stewart, S.J. Medal for Excellence in Teaching honours this legacy at Saint Mary’s by annually highlighting full-time and part-time faculty members who have made significant contributions to the education of Saint Mary’s students through excellence in teaching and service.

Criteria

This award is now open to current part-time and full-time faculty members who have completed at least five years of teaching service at Saint Mary's University and have made significant contributions to the education of Saint Mary's students through excellence in teaching and service. Full criteria can be found in the Nomination Dossier.

The Selection Committee will consider candidates who:
a) Demonstrate teaching ability and classroom performance
b) Demonstrate capacity to engage learner interest in the subject
c) Develop and clearly communicate student learning outcomes, course requirements, and pathways to success
d) Use approaches to teaching and evaluation of learning that respect diverse student learning needs
e) Demonstrate active, experiential learning in and outside the classroom
f) Demonstrate reflective teaching, for example: by engaging in the scholarship of teaching and learning- sharing good practice with others through workshops, presentations, or publications on teaching and learning or participating in professional development activities to enhance teaching practice

Nominations

Members of the Saint Mary's University Alumni Association, University employees, and students (who are not currently enrolled in courses taught by the candidate) may submit a Nomination Dossier, which should make a persuasive case using evidence from a variety of sources, including the candidate, students, peers, former students/alumni, and exemplary teaching materials.

Selection

Members of the Committee may be substituted in the event of conflicts of interest, including current working or teacher-student relationships, or previous support of the nomination of any of the current year's candidates.

The Committee reserves the right to withhold the award in any year where nominations do not meet criteria/eligibility standards. 

Timeline

The nomination period for the 2024 Father William A. Stewart, S.J. Medal for Excellence in Teaching is now closed. 

The recipient will be presented with a plaque as well as a $1,500 monetary award which is funded equally by the Alumni Association and the Faculty Union.

2024 Recipient: Dr. Valerie Creelman

 

Dr. Creelman is a Professor of Communication within the Department of Marketing and Communication at the Sobey School of Business. After completing her PhD at the University of Waterloo, Dr. Creelman returned to her home province of Nova Scotia to launch her academic career at Saint Mary’s University.  
 
For Dr. Creelman, conversations on topics she cares passionately about are where teaching and learning begin. Preparing students for their professional lives beyond Saint Mary’s is a hallmark of her teaching practice. For her students, her enthusiasm, passion, and care for their learning and for her subject matter emerge as prominent, recurring themes in their evaluations of her teaching practices and classroom learning environment. Students consistently praised the active, experiential, and applied learning environment she creates in her classes as well as her deep respect for diverse student learning needs. Her respect for learning diversity is also evident in teaching she has done outside the classroom, most notably in the managerial communication training programs she has both developed and delivered throughout Nunavut. 

 In recognition of her long-term commitment to developing and promoting the quality of teaching and learning at Saint Mary’s, Dr. Creelman received the prestigious Dr. Geraldine Thomas Educational Leadership Award in 2013, which made her the first faculty member in the Sobey School of Business ever to receive that award. In 2015, Dr. Creelman won the Sobey School of Business Commerce Society Full-time Professor of the Year Award, making her the first faculty member in the business school to receive both awards.  
 
Dr. Creelman’s deep commitment to teaching excellence is also reflected in her service activities, both on and off campus. Within the Sobey School of Business, Dr. Creelman’s educational leadership has been demonstrated through her early involvement in defining the learning goals and outcomes for the Bachelor of Commerce program. Her commitment to this process eventually led to her appointment as the acting associate dean of the undergraduate program, wherein she established and led the first Assurance of Learning Committee to facilitate the Sobey School’s AACSB re-accreditation.  
 
Beyond Saint Mary’s, Dr. Creelman’s contributions to research, teaching, and service in her discipline were recognized in 2017 at the Association of Business Communication’s Annual International Conference in Dublin, Ireland, where she received its Rising Star Award. She presently serves on its board of directors as its Regional Vice President for Canada. In that role, she has organized and hosted numerous virtual workshops for business communications instructors. In 2015, she was invited to co-chair the association’s international conference in Seattle, which had as its theme “Innovation and Creativity in Business Communication Teaching.”  
 
Dr. Creelman is also an active researcher in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Her research on business communications pedagogy appears in various peer-reviewed journals and in a collection of scholarly essays titled Rhetorical Theory and Praxis in the Business Communication Classroom (Routledge, 2018). Cited in many of the leading business communication textbooks, her research has advanced the teaching of educators in her discipline across several continents. Professors from across North America and as far afield as Europe and Southeast Asia have noted the positive impact of Dr. Creelman’s pedagogical scholarship on their own teaching.  
 
As a long-serving member of the Senate Committee on Learning and Teaching, Dr. Creelman has also been involved in the planning and delivery of many teaching-related workshops, panel discussions, and communities of practice on our campus. As Dr. Paul Muir, a former recipient of this award, observed in his supporting letter, “Since her arrival at Saint Mary’s, Dr. Creelman has demonstrated an inspirational commitment to teaching and learning…I know her to be one of the best thinkers about and strongest voices for teaching and learning on our campus.”  
 
For the past 20 years, Dr. Creelman has been authentically engaged in conversations with her students and colleagues about teaching and learning. She looks forward to having many more, both within Saint Mary’s and beyond. 

Past Recipients

• 2023: Dr. Mary Sheppard, Department of Chemistry
• 2022: Dr. Benita Bunjun, Social Justice and Community Studies, and Women and Gender Studies 
• 2021: Dr. John Plews, Modern Languages (German) 
• 2020: Dr. Ethan Pancer, Marketing
• 2019: Dr. Roby Austin, Astronomy & Physics
• 2018: Dr. David Bourgeois, Psychology
• 2017: Dr. Marc G. Doucet, Political Science
• 2016: Dr. Thomas Kozloski, Accounting 
• 2015: Dr. Ellen Farrell, Management
• 2014: Dr. Maryanne Fisher, Psychology
• 2013: Dr. Gene Barrett, Sociology and Criminology
• 2012: Dr. Colleen Barber, Biology
• 2011: Dr. Brian Bartlett, English
• 2010: Dr. Barry Gorman, Accounting
• 2009: Dr. Pawan Lingras, Mathematics and Computing Sciences
• 2008: Dr. Shelagh Crooks, Philosophy 
• 2007: Dr. Stephen Davis, Anthropology
• 2006: Dr. Edna Keeble, Political Science
• 2005: Dr. Adam Sarty, Astronomy & Physics
• 2004: Dr. Porter Scobey, Mathematics & Computing Science
• 2003: Dr. Janet Hill, English   
• 2002: Dr. Gillian Thomas, English
• 2001: Dr. Janet Gregory, Finance & Management Science
• 2000: Dr. Eric Lee, Finance & Management Science
• 1999: Dr. Robert Singer, Chemistry
• 1998: Dr. David Cone, Biology
• 1997: Dr. Paul Muir, Mathematics & Computing Science
• 1996: Dr. Ronald Landes, Political Science
• 1995: Prof. Nicola Young, Accounting
• 1994: Dr. Cyril Byrne, English   
• 1993: Dr. Janet Baker, English
• 1992: Dr. Francis Phillips, Education
• 1991: Dr. Philip Street, Psychology
• 1990: Dr. Andrew Seaman, English
• 1989: Dr. Peter March, Philosophy
• 1988: Dr. Jack Ginsburg, Chemistry
• 1987: Prof. Edward McBride, Political Science
• 1986: Dr. John Young, Chemistry
• 1985: Dr. David Perrier, Sociology
• 1984: Prof. Dermot Mulrooney, Engineering
• 1983: Prof. David Hope, Accounting