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Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching for Faculty

By Laurie Krasin, director of marketing and communications

Valerie Mumm-Jansen, UW-Fond du Lac world languages professor, has been awarded the 2013 UW Colleges Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching for Faculty.Chancellor Cross and Professor Valerie Mumm-Jansen

Presented by Chancellor Ray Cross, the award recognizes her excellence in teaching, attention to scholarship, innovation in the classroom and leadership connecting students to service-learning opportunities. UW-Fond du Lac is one of the 13 UW Colleges located across the state.

A member of the UW-Fond du Lac faculty since 2008, Mumm-Jansen teaches Spanish courses, has led two UW Colleges study abroad courses and has been involved in many service-learning activities both in the community and abroad. She is also the faculty advisor for the Multicultural Club which hosts a variety of campus and community events celebrating diversity.

She is passionate about traveling and completed coursework abroad during both of her degree programs, earning a master’s degree in Spanish language and Latin American literature from UW-Milwaukee and a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from UW-Eau Claire.

As a college student, she studied abroad in Spain and Costa Rica and also spent four months in Peru working with children at a local orphanage. These study abroad experiences opened her eyes to diverse experiences and perspectives. “I also quickly learned the importance of knowing another language and saw how it opened up opportunities to form personal relationships and mutual understanding that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise,” said Mumm-Jansen.

Lessons learned abroad

Now, as a professor, she has led students on this same type of educational journey during a recent three-week Winterim program to Cuernavaca, Mexico, and a two-week summer program to Lima and Cuzco, Peru.

Her study abroad courses focus on the target culture’s history, geography, literature, colloquialisms, politics, culinary customs, music and folkloric traditions. “These lessons often take place in museums and archeological sites, but also while watching parades, through discussions with host families or even while hiking parts of the Inca trail,” said Mumm-Jansen.

stuents in Manchay

The lesson can also be hands-on. In Peru, her students worked at a local school where they mixed concrete and hauled bricks to build a bathroom. They worked right alongside the school’s director and a teacher.

“The school was in dire need of an additional bathroom to provide the boys and girls separate facilities so that the school could be officially recognized and receive funding,” said Mumm-Jansen. “My students also led after school tutoring, math games, literacy development opportunities and recreational activities.”

Through study abroad experiences like this, Mumm-Jansen hopes students develop a stronger sense of global citizenry, improve their linguistic skills and increase intercultural competence. But, the experience isn’t one-sided. “Students are given the opportunity to accomplish all of this while positively contributing to the communities.”

Assisting the local community

In her UW-Fond du Lac courses, students are encouraged to identify a need in the local community for their service-learning projects and have helped the Salvation Army at their holiday assistance sign-up event and the coat distribution day serving as interpreters for local families. They have also worked at the annual Fiesta Hispana event assisting kids with various crafts and games. Others have gone into elementary school through high school classrooms to share some of their linguistic and/or cultural knowledge.

“Students are expected to use the target language during their interactions at the service site,” said Mumm-Jansen. She adds that these types of interactions help students build confidence and develop additional life skills at the same time. “Over time, students form a sense of ownership not only of their learning, but also of their community as they foster personal relationships at the service site.”

Professor Mumm-Jansen with child

“Professor Mumm-Jansen has been an extraordinary asset in creating an inclusive, caring environment, and in fostering community engagement for our campus,” said UW-Fond du Lac Dean and CEO John Short. “As advisor to the Multicultural Club, she has been instrumental in helping a student organization become actively involved in community events such as Fiesta Hispana and Celebrate Community, both of which celebrate the richness of our diverse Fond du Lac region.”

Mentorship of students

On campus, Mumm-Jansen is recognized for her mentorship and advising of students, both in and out of the classroom.

“In their letters of support for this award, former and current students noted how much they valued Professor Mumm-Jansen’s mentorship and her dedication to helping them reach their goals,” said Short. “Learning a new language can often be a difficult process. She goes out of her way to assist students and help them to succeed.”

Mumm-Jansen says mentoring and guiding students is something that she enjoys doing. Many students are balancing family and job commitments while working towards a college degree. “I clearly remember the challenges of balancing many responsibilities while keeping up with my coursework in college,” she said. “Since I funded my education, I consistently worked two to three part-time jobs while taking full credit loads.”

She was honored to receive this recognition. “I felt surprised, excited, but mostly, extremely honored because I know there are so many deserving candidates among the great faculty I have the pleasure of working with both locally and across the entire state.”

The Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching for Faculty is awarded each year in the UW Colleges. For more information about UW-Fond du Lac call (920) 929-1122.

Contact

Laurie Krasin
920-929-1122
fdlinfo@uwc.edu