ESPM is proud to announce that the 2013-2014 Berkeley Faculty Award for Outstanding Mentorship of GSIs went to Professor Lynn Huntsinger!
Each spring, graduate students are invited to nominate faculty members for the Faculty Award for Outstanding Mentorship of GSIs. Typically each nomination is supported by several GSIs who have worked with the honoree. The award, sponsored by the Graduate Council's Advisory Committee for GSI Affairs and the GSI Teaching & Resource Center, is presented as a surprise in the faculty member’s classroom, with the GSIs and other departmental faculty and staff present.
Here are some of the compelling reasons ESPM GSIs gave in nominating Prof. Huntsinger:
“For those of us who have worked directly with Lynn as a GSI, she has offered us essential teaching support. … Lynn schedules a weekly meeting to discuss how things are going in section. She is lightning-fast in responding to any questions from GSIs over the course of the week. And she is always checking in with us about balance — how well we are doing with managing class material along with the many other responsibilities we each carry. Most importantly, Lynn’s mentorship provides us with a key opportunity for us to grow as instructors in our own right. Lynn also works hard to share decision making with GSIs and to give them authentic teaching and course planning experience.”
“Perhaps what distinguished my GSI experience the most was the degree to which Lynn made me feel empowered to make my own decisions. She visited my sections, but did not dictate how I spent my time and allowed me to exert creative control over the course material throughout the semester.”
“As the primary instructor for ESPM’s pedagogy course, Lynn has offered key mentorship for many first-time graduate student instructors… Even while Lynn taught us the fundamentals of lesson planning, rubric development, and classroom management in our GSI course, she made sure that students were learning from one another as peers, and engaging in collective problem solving.… Lynn really helped me feel more like a professional.”
“We hold Lynn in high regard for the mentorship that she has provided to us, as we test the waters of becoming teachers and academic professionals at Berkeley. She is a wonderful teacher, both in terms of her direct instruction and the modeling that she provides for us in the classroom. She is always considerate of GSI needs and encourages us to extend beyond our comfort zone to try something new. Working with Lynn has been among our most rewarding and enjoyable experiences. She has provided us with a model for excellent teaching and mentoring that we plan to incorporate in our own academic careers."