Amy Tibbals, a senior lecturer in the College of Arts and Sciences Department of English at The Ohio State University at Marion, has been selected as a recipient of The Ohio State University’s 2024 Provost’s Award for Distinguished Teaching by a Lecturer.
A long-standing faculty member at Ohio State Marion and much-respected cornerstone of the campus writing program, Tibbals is a firm believer in student-centered education and has a passion for incorporating service-learning into student learning.
Senior leadership surprised Tibbals with the news of her selection during a virtual meeting on March 27. Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Patrick Louchouarn and Vice Provost for Academic Policy and Faculty Resources Helen Malone joined the celebration.
Tibbals was touched by the award and shared her thoughts on the surprise announcement.
"This is such an honor and means even more to me as the daughter of two educators now carrying on their legacy. Teaching is my passion, and to be recognized in this special way is truly rewarding," said Tibbals.
Tibbals is known for innovative teaching methods, which stand out in her role as the primary instructor for the "Pay It Forward" sections of Second-Year Composition and Business and Professional Writing. In these courses, students engage in experiential learning, refining their writing abilities by developing a grant request program for local nonprofit organizations that seek project funding. Through this program, students develop the request for proposal language and assessment rubrics, gain insight into the organizations’ missions, evaluate project proposals and select the winners, all in the context of learning effective writing and communication skills in meaningful and authentic ways that demonstrate impact beyond the classroom. Students also develop video public service announcements for the organizations, helping them understand the important roles these organizations play in the community, become philanthropists themselves and learn to be team players, an essential skill sought by employers.
Ohio State Marion Dean and Director, Gregory S. Rose said, "The fact that Amy received this distinguished award for outstanding teaching should be no surprise to her students or her colleagues in Marion. She brings innovation and care to her teaching, perhaps most visibly (but not exclusively) through the Pay It forward program which engages her students with the community in unique ways."
"Through her work at the Writing Center," Rose added, "she not only helps students improve their communication skills but also pays attention to their overall wellbeing as persons."
"Faculty like Amy are hard to come by, and we are lucky to have her among our many excellent lecturers and senior lecturers," he said.
Students in Tibbals’ classes consistently remark positively on the service-learning aspect of her courses, praising them for their “real-world” application of writing and the fact that they help real people in their community.
“I loved that the work we did in class made a difference for Ohio State Marion students, the community and my professional life. It really helped me prepare for the real world,” wrote a student.
“Amy Tibbals' class was one of the best experiences of my college career,” wrote a second student. “Everything she does in the classroom teaches students lessons for life.”
Outside of formal classroom instruction, Tibbals has served as the campus Writing Center’s assistant coordinator since 2019. This role allows her to work closely with the larger student population, offering tutoring support and mentoring students to help them achieve their professionalization goals.
Constantly developing as an educator, Tibbals was an early adopter of using evolving technologies and multimodal projects in course content and volunteered to teach Ohio State’s new General Education Launch Seminar. She presented on building students’ empathy and engagement through service-learning at Ohio State’s Academy of Teaching’s annual conference.
Tibbals began teaching at Ohio State Marion in 2008. She was awarded the Ohio State Marion Teaching Excellence Award for Associated Faculty in 2013, and the Ohio State Marion Student Honors Society Griffin Society Teaching Award in 2015. In 2017, she was awarded the Marion County United Way Community Partner Award for her Pay It Forward project work.
"Amy’s dedication to excellence in teaching and commitment to service-learning have left an indelible mark on our students and community," said Louchouarn. She has not only significantly enriched the educational experience for our students but strengthened our ties to the Marion community. Her work with the Writing Center and community-engaged projects cannot be praised enough for the difference they make in the learning and lives of her students. Congratulations on this well-deserved award.”
Provost’s Award for Distinguished Teaching by a Lecturer recipients are recognized with a $5,000 honorarium made possible by the Office of Academic Affairs. Honorees are also inducted into Ohio State’s Academy of Teaching. All associated faculty, including senior lecturers and full-time lecturers on all campuses who have taught undergraduate and/or graduate/professional students in the past three years, are eligible for this award.
Tibbals and other 2024 faculty award winners will be recognized on April 30 during the annual Faculty Awards Celebration.