Spotlight on… The University Writing Awards

The Ruth and Ted Braun Awards are presented in the categories of General Education, Graduate Programs, and in each of the five colleges to promote excellent writing across the curriculum. This year two prizes were available in the College of Health and Human Services: one for students in Health Sciences, Kinesiology, or Occupational Therapy courses, and one for students in Nursing or Social Work courses. Two prizes were similarly available in the College of Arts and Behavioral Sciences: one for students in Art, History, Modern Foreign Languages, Music, Philosophy, Rhetoric and Professional Writing, or Theatre courses, and one for students in Communication, Criminal Justice, Geography, Political Science, Psychology, or Sociology classes. Volunteers from all five colleges judged this year’s entries. The group was organized by Kim Lacey, associate professor of English

The Braun Awards were established by Ruth and Ted Braun. Longtime supporters of SVSU, they created these awards with the belief that no student can be successful in his or her academic career without writing competence and that no SVSU graduate should enter the workplace without such proficiency.

The Brauns’ support of SVSU extends far beyond these writing awards Both have served on the SVSU Board of Control and the SVSU Foundation Board of Directors. The Board of Control’s chairperson from 1995–1997, Ruth Braun has been active in community service: she has served on the State Board of Education and the Saginaw School District Board of Education, as the president of the Junior League of Saginaw, and as the chairperson of the Board of Trustees of Saginaw General Hospital. Hugo (“Ted”) Braun was a partner in the Saginaw law firm Braun Kendrick Finkbeiner PLC. A recipient of an honorary Doctor of Laws from SVSU, he was a longtime supporter of the school; among his other volunteer work for the university, he served on the Foundation Board’s Finance & Investment Committee. Like his wife, he was much involved in other community organizations; he was president of the Harvey Randall Wickes Foundation, and United Way of Saginaw County honored him with its Outstanding Volunteer Award.

The writings of past Braun Award winners are available online at www.svsu.edu/ writingprogram/writingawards/braunawards/.

The Diane Boehm Writing Awards for e-Portfolios were first awarded in 2015. Established by Diane Boehm, founder and former director of the SVSU Writing Center and the SVSU University Writing Program, the awards recognize the creative and effective integration of writing and multimedia by SVSU students via the medium of e-Portfolios. Entries are judged according to a portfolio’s ability to do the following: present a student’s capabilities in an engaging, professional, and comprehensive manner; include artifacts and documents that demonstrate deep learning appropriate to the student’s class or chosen major; include perceptive self-reflection; demonstrate creative use of multimedia; and be easy to navigate and aesthetically effective based on the capabilities of the software or program. Coordinated by the University Writing Committee, the Boehm Awards are given for portfolios made for the classroom or for a workplace application.

The Tyner Prizes are awarded to students in English courses to recognize writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. The Tyner Prizes are named after Raymond Tyner, a former member of the English Department. Professor Tyner came to SVSU in 1968 and was long affiliated with The

Green River Review. Faculty in the English Department nominate student work for these prizes. Tamara Migan, lecturer of English, chaired the selection committee in 2022, and prizes were awarded in the categories of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction Matthew Chappel won for his creative nonfiction Rewilding (A Process of Healing) and for his poetry collection In the Heart of the Thumb. Megan Draper won for fiction for her piece called “A Hundred Dozen.”

The Seitz Creative Writing Scholarship was created by Jim and Melissa Seitz to acknowledge excellence in the writing of poetry and/or fiction. The scholarship, worth $1,000, is awarded annually. A graduate of SVSU, Melissa Seitz is a retired member of the English Department much respected by her students and colleagues. During her time at SVSU, Melissa served as both student editor and faculty advisor of Cardinal Sins. The 2021–2022 Seitz Scholarship was coordinated by Tim Kenyon, a lecturer in the English Department. This year, Megan Draper won for a collection of fiction.

The First-Year Writing Awards recognize outstanding writing in the beginning composition courses taught at SVSU. The First-Year Writing Program at SVSU strives to ensure incoming freshmen have a solid introduction to writing at a collegiate level. This program includes two comprehensive writingcourses: WritingSkills (English080) and Composition I (English 111). The First-Year Writing Committee was chaired in 2021–2022 by Sherrin Frances, professor of English, and the following students were recognized with awards:

• English 080: Emily Lavoie for the essay “Happiness”

• English 111, Research: Robert P. Powers for “Vaccine Mandates: Constructional or Unconstitutional”

• English 111, Analysis: Miranda Smithfor “The Past, Present, and Future of Political Cartoons”

• English 111, Narrative: Stephanie Strong for “Conceptions about Writing”

• English 111, Multimodal: Madolyn Glocksine for “An Analysis of ‘The Empire’”

• English 111, Wolff-Harmon Award: Krzysztof Hejno for “Cooking Recipes Analysis”

The Ming ChuanMultilingual Writing Awards wereawarded for the first time in 2018 and were established by Dr. Robert S. P. Yien. A longtime supporter of SVSU, Dr. Yien joined SVSU in 1970 and was a recipient of the Franc A. Landee Teaching Excellence Award, he served as the vice president for Academic Affairs, and he has been instrumental in the success of Ming Chuan Universityat SVSU. Theseawards recognizewriting excellence byinternational studentsat SVSU. One award is for students in the English Language Program; the other award is for students who have moved into courses that are required as part of their degree. These awards are coordinated by the University Writing Committee.