CSUCI Professor of English wins statewide award for excellence in the classroom

CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) Professor of English Mary Adler will accept the California Association of Teachers of English (CATE) Award for Classroom Excellence on Friday, March 3 during the CATE annual convention in Monterey.

“Mary is a longtime board member of both local and state English teaching associations,” said Southland Council of Teachers of English President Jennifer Silver, who nominated Adler.

“Her conscientiousness and dedication to her students and to the profession is unparalleled. It is an honor to know her and extend our gratitude.”

Adler, who has nominated and selected award recipients as a Southland CATE board member, was delighted to be nominated and selected herself. In the past, she has nominated one of her CSUCI colleagues, Associate Professor of English Georgina Guzmán, who won the award in 2018.

“As the English major student advisor, Mary has been instrumental in helping our English majors graduate in a timely manner,” Guzmán said. “She is a patient listener and takes the time with each student to help them plan out their coursework and craft a path for success.”

This award is especially meaningful, Adler said, because it comes from her peers. 

“I’ve been thinking about the importance of mentorship,” Adler said. “It’s what we strive to do for our students, and yet being recognized and encouraged by our peers for the work we do is also an important way for teachers to mentor and support one another.”

Adler was hired in 2003 to be CSUCI’s English education advisor and coordinator and to build the English education program. After working in the dean’s office for three years and serving as chair of English for three additional years, she is now re-immersing herself in teaching creative writing, expository writing and second language acquisition for undergraduates who plan to teach English, to name a few of her courses.

“One thing I try to do for students who plan to become teachers is to model the kind of teaching and learning I hope they will practice,” Adler said. “They learn as much from watching us teach as from the content of what we teach.”

Exploring writing and understanding literacy and the role language plays in our global society is a field Adler loves sharing with students. Now that she’s stepped away from her administrative roles, she’s looking forward to more time back in the classroom.

“It’s good to come back to my roots,” Adler said. “It was always one of my greatest joys to teach.”