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May 13, 2005 ACKERMAN NAMED OUTSTANDING TEACHER AT K-STATE AT SALINA SALINA – Patricia Ackerman, Kansas State University at Salina instructor, was named the 2005 recipient of the Marchbanks Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence at the spring commencement ceremony, May 7. Ackerman teaches expository writing and critical thinking and has been with K-State at Salina since 2000. “Pat is a magnificent teacher and huge asset to the educational system at K-State Salina and the university as a whole,” said Dennis Kuhlman, dean of K-State at Salina. “The Marchbanks Award is the highest indication of teaching excellence awarded by our college, and she is most deserving of this honor.” The Marchbanks Award was established in 1983 to recognize a faculty member on the Salina campus for excellence in education with a focus on the development of students’ talents and abilities. Candidates are nominated by faculty, students and alumni, and must submit materials that justify that nomination. During the presentation of the award, Kuhlman read from one of the nominations. “Pat inspires our best students to achieve great things, and will spend extra time with weaker students, fostering them along, but never lowering academic expectations.” In another letter of nomination, Ackerman was described by a student. “She has made a major impact on my academic career. She believes in me, cares about me and encourages me to show the world who I really am.” Ackerman has served the college and university as a faculty senator. She is adviser to On the Record, the K-State at Salina student newspaper, and led efforts to develop and launch the K-State at Salina writing center, which opened last fall. In the past two years, she has joined other K-State at Salina faculty members in developing Solomon University, a collaborative service-learning effort between K-State at Salina and elementary schools in Solomon, Kan. In addition, Ackerman is a past fellow for the Flint Hills Writing Project and was a National Writing Project Convention delegate in 2004. Ackerman and her husband Donald live in Abilene. She has two grown children. She is a graduate of Marymount College and Salina Central High School and the daughter of Kay Wilson, Salina.
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