Michelle Trim, associate director of the informatics program and senior lecturer in the College of Information and Computer Sciences (CICS), was selected to receive the college's 2020 College Outstanding Teaching Award.
This award is granted annually to one CICS faculty member who demonstrates excellence and creativity in teaching, a positive impact on their students and a mastery of their subject. The College Outstanding Teaching Award program is co-administered by the UMass Amherst Center for Teaching and Learning.
Since arriving at CICS in 2013, Trim has developed and taught two undergraduate courses, COMPSCI 305: Social Issues in Computing, the college’s junior year writing course, and INFO 101: Introduction to Informatics, as well as a graduate-level course, COMPSCI 590E: Ethical Considerations in Computing. In addition to her work in the classroom, she helps direct the college’s new informatics major which includes advising prospective and current informatics majors.
As a nominating member of the CICS faculty put it, “Michelle is consistently creative in how she constructs her courses and lessons in ways that are engaging and effective... her courses and presented material are crafted carefully and deliberately to reach each and every student.”
Another nominator said, “The impact Michelle has on students is tremendous... informatics majors have mentioned to me about her personal investment in their aspirations and goals. Not only that, a large number of computer science students have mentioned...that they had an excellent experience in [COMPSCI 305] and [it] helped them recognize the importance of writing both from an academic perspective as well as [career preparedness].“
A strong proponent of equity and inclusion in technology, Trim was named a UMass Amherst Teaching for Inclusiveness, Diversity, and Equity (TIDE) Ambassador in 2016-2017. Prior to joining the CICS faculty, Trim held faculty positions at the University of New Haven, Elon University and Lander University. She earned her Ph.D. in rhetoric and technical communication from Michigan Technology University, an M.A. in rhetoric and composition from Miami University of Ohio and a B.A. from Purdue University.