{"id":14591,"date":"2026-06-17T14:18:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T19:18:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/?p=14591"},"modified":"2026-06-17T14:20:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T19:20:53","slug":"cheers-to-augsburg-faculty-and-staff-who-go-above-and-beyond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/2026\/06\/17\/cheers-to-augsburg-faculty-and-staff-who-go-above-and-beyond\/","title":{"rendered":"Cheers to Augsburg faculty and staff who go above and beyond"},"content":{"rendered":"

Late spring and early summer are packed with celebrations as departments, student groups, and the whole Augsburg community come together to lift up the incredible Auggies in each year\u2019s graduating class. In between student events, faculty and staff also gather to cheer on their colleagues at the end of each academic year. These festive gatherings in Hoversten Chapel recognize individuals who made an outsize impact over the past year through outstanding teaching, innovation, commitment, and professional achievements.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2025-26 Faculty Awards<\/span><\/h2>\n

Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor<\/span><\/h3>\n

Seven faculty members were recognized for their achievement in receiving tenure and promotion to associate professor, effective Fall 2026.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Mallory Alekna, music education<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Nimanthi Atukorala, computer science and data science<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Jacob Enger, business administration<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Abby Hughes-Scalise, clinical psychology<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Kao Nou Moua, social work<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Iva Patel, religion and philosophy<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Shayna Sheinfeld, religion and philosophy<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Promotion to Full Professor<\/span><\/h3>\n

    Four individuals were recognized for their promotions to full professor effective Fall 2026, in recognition of their exemplary practice and mastery in teaching, scholarship, and leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    • Matthew Beckman, biology<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Katie Clark, nursing<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Ben Denkinger, psychology<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Christopher Houltberg, visual art and design<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Augsburg Day Student Government Excellence in Teaching Award<\/span><\/h3>\n

      Nancy Fischer, sociology and urban studies<\/span><\/p>\n

      Faculty Innovation Award<\/span><\/h3>\n

      Department of Nursing<\/span><\/p>\n

      Excellence in Teaching Award (Adjunct Faculty)<\/span><\/h3>\n

      Erin Maurelli, visual art and design\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Early Career Teaching Award\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

      Alex Fink, social work<\/span><\/p>\n

      Excellence in Teaching Award (Full-Time Faculty)<\/span><\/h3>\n

      Jennifer Bankers-Fulbright, biology<\/span><\/p>\n

      Distinguished Service to the Community Award<\/span><\/h3>\n

      Amy Nelson, nursing<\/span><\/p>\n

      Excellence in Service to the University Award<\/span><\/h3>\n

      Michelle Ullery, nursing<\/span><\/p>\n

      2025-26 Staff Awards<\/span><\/h2>\n

      Department of the Year<\/span><\/h3>\n

      Residence Life<\/span><\/p>\n

      Outstanding Newcomer<\/span><\/h3>\n

      Zinnia Coy: Program Manager for Food Initiatives<\/span><\/p>\n

      Outstanding Staff<\/span><\/h3>\n
        \n
      • Diane Syler, assistant director of student accounts<\/span><\/li>\n
      • Julie Frozlan Ferralez, director of academic advising<\/span><\/li>\n
      • Minasie Theophilos, custodian<\/span><\/li>\n
      • Marcus Carrigan: program associate, Strommen Center for Meaningful Work and Center for Global Education and Experience<\/span><\/li>\n
      • Ellie Olson, director of wellness and counseling<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Congratulations to all the 2025\u201326 award recipients!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Late spring and early summer are packed with celebrations as departments, student groups, and the whole Augsburg community come together to lift up the incredible Auggies in each year\u2019s graduating class. In between student events, faculty and staff also gather to cheer on their colleagues at the end of each academic year. These festive gatherings <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":14592,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-around-the-quad"],"wps_subtitle":"The annual faculty and staff awards recognize creativity, commitment, and outstanding teaching.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14591"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14591\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14595,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14591\/revisions\/14595"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}