April 3, 2024 - Laurentian University has numerous staff and faculty members that go above and beyond for students. William (Bill) Newbigging, this year’s winner of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance’s (OUSA) Teaching Award of Excellence, is no exception.
Dr. Newbigging has been a member of the Laurentian faculty since 1993. For the majority of his time at Laurentian he has been a distance education professor, teaching courses online. The virtual nature of his teaching doesn’t stop Dr. Newbigging from forming meaningful connections with each of his students.
This year, 26 Laurentian students nominated Dr. Newbigging for the Teaching Award of Excellence. OUSA is a provincial advocacy group that represents over 150,000 post-secondary students throughout the province. Their Teaching Award of Excellence provides students with the opportunity to recognize educators within their post-secondary institutions who excel at unleashing the potential of Ontario's youth and spark the desire to learn in students.
Students shared kind words about Dr. Newbigging, highlighting his teaching style as engaging, motivating, and exceptional.
The Student’s General Association (SGA) has partnered with the OUSA to award Dr. Newbigging the Teaching Award of Excellence. “Dr. Newbigging’s students came out in droves to speak highly of their professor. They collectively agree that he is a “one-of-a-kind” educator. Students spoke of his caring, kind, patient, and thoughtful nature and highlighted his efforts to always be responsive, supportive, and understanding.”
Dr. Newbigging humbly credits Laurentian students, faculty, and staff for his ability to make an impact. “Good teaching is only possible when you have highly motivated students. It’s hard to get students motivated in one term so they must already be motivated. That says something about Laurentian. It says something about the students. It says something about hard-working faculty and staff. It’s not something one person does, it is a collective effort,” said Dr. Newbigging.
The professor’s teaching philosophy puts an emphasis on hard work, saying, “Students always say they appreciate the work I put in while teaching and I always say to them that this course deserves hard work. The subject matter deserves hard work. So I do work hard and I expect that the students work hard as well. It is a responsibility I take very seriously.”
The SGA collects the nominations from students and forwards them to OUSA annually. “Educators like Dr. Newbigging help our students not only to succeed but also to enjoy their academic journey,” said the SGA. “We wish to thank Dr. Newbigging for his continued efforts to make the learning experience positive for our students and congratulate him on his very well-deserved win.”
Other Laurentian faculty members have received the OUSA Teaching Award of Excellence in previous years:
- Dr. Blake Dotta, Laurentian University (2022)
- Dr. Pamela Toulouse, Laurentian University (2021/2020)
- Dr. Sara Burke | Laurentian University (2019)
- Dr. William Crumplin | Laurentian University (2018)
- Kathleen Zinn | Laurentian University (2017)
Previous winner, Dr. William Crumplin was a notable mentor and inspiration for Dr. Newbigging when he started out as a professor. “Dr. William Crumplin led by example and showed me that it was very important to engage students all the time,” said Dr. Newbigging, reflecting on the mentorship he received from Dr. Crumplin in his early days of teaching. “He demonstrated the positive impact of direct and ongoing communication with students. He paid attention to his students' needs and praised them when appropriate. All those things I thought made the experience and connection better for the students in the program.”
Dr. Newbigging will be presented his award at the OUSA Partners in Higher Education Dinner on April 10th, 2024.