Since graduate school, Marion Larson has had a passion for helping others improve their teaching skills. “One of the reasons I chose composition and rhetoric is that it is a discipline that pays a lot of attention to student learning,” she explains.

Larson, professor of writing and director of the Honors Program at Bethel, was recently honored by The Collaboration for the Advancement of College Teaching & Learning for her work in faculty development. At the Collaboration’s fall conference, Larson was awarded the Stewart Bellman Award for Exemplary Leadership for the Advancement of College Teaching and Learning.

“From my first contact with Marion nearly twenty years ago, I was impressed by the clarity of her communication, the usefulness of her materials, and the quality of her presentation,” Barrett Fisher, associate dean of arts and humanities, who supervises Larson’s areas of responsibility at Bethel. “It was clear that she is a skillful teacher who is able to make practical connections between theory and practice in her own classroom, and who can generate a wealth of ideas for others as they also seek to improve their teaching.” Fisher, Provost Jay Barnes, and Dean of Faculty Growth and Assessment Rich Sherry nominated Larson for the award.

Nominees for the award were evaluated on the following criteria:

-Advocating for the development or adoption of educational approaches that have been demonstrated to be effective in promoting student learning;

-Inspiring the engagement of others in meaningful, collaborative change efforts to improve college teaching and learning;

-Providing leadership for measurable, sustained improvement in college teaching and learning; and

-Engaging actively in the professional community, applying what has been learned, and encouraging others to do the same.

Larson has been active in faculty development at Bethel since 1994. She has served two terms as Bethel’s faculty development coordinator, from 1994-1998 and 2003-2007. From 1996-1999, she served on the Board of Directors of the Collaboration. Four times she has served in leadership for the Collaboration Summer Institute at St. Olaf. In addition, she has frequently participated in the “Traveling Workshop” initiative of the Collaboration, presenting at campuses in the region.

“Marion has a unique set of personal and intellectual skills as a faculty development coordinator; a skillful teacher herself, she knows how to assist, motivate, and equip others in developing their individual gifts and then using those gifts to contribute to the larger academic community,” says Fisher. “She embodies and ratifies Bethel’s commitment to strong faculty leadership in developing faculty.”