This Essential Education Symposium is your opportunity to dive deeper into Michigan Tech’s Essential Education program, ask questions, explore best practices, and build meaningful connections across campus and beyond.
Whether you’re directly involved in teaching Essential Education (EssEd) courses or simply want to better understand how this initiative impacts our university community, this symposium was designed for you. With training sessions, panel discussions, and collaborative working sessions, there’s something for everyone—from seasoned faculty to new advisors to campus partners and staff.
Keynote Speaker - Shane Sutherland
Shane Sutherland, Founder, CEO and Chief Mischief Maker at PebblePad, a position held since April 2004, where responsibilities have evolved from hands-on contributions to a leadership role focused on team support, product advocacy, and community engagement. Prior experience includes serving as a Principal Lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton from 1999 to 2007, where progression from Lecturer to Senior Lecturer occurred due to leadership in Technology Supported Learning. Additionally, Shane was the Regional Coach for the Royal Yachting Association from 1998 to 2004, promoting sailing education, and held the title of Sub Officer within the Defence Fire Service from 1988 to 1999. Shane Sutherland earned an MA in Quality Management from the University of Wolverhampton between 1990 and 1997.
PebblePad's mission: "To create products which inspire educators to design learning experiences that empower students to develop and share their unique talents and attributes for lifelong success."
Symposium Schedule
Check out the 2025 Essential Education Symposium list of sessions:
Symposium Registration Open
Get checked in and enjoy breakfast before the opening remarks.
Location: Memorial Union Building (MUB) Ballroom A
Opening Remarks
Speaker: Dr. Rick Koubek, President, Michigan Technological University
Location: MUB Ballroom A
Why Essential Education
Speaker: Maria Bergstrom, Humanities
Location: MUB Ballroom A
Session A - Training
Title: Question Assumptions, Communicate Quantitatively - Strategies for Teaching and Assessment
Location: MUB Alumni Lounge
Presenters: Mike Meyer, Physics and Teresa Woods, Mathematical Sciences
Description: The presenters will orient attendees to a growing collection of materials related to the Essential Abilities "Question Assumptions" and "Communicate Quantitatively." Faculty teaching a course in which one of these Essential Abilities will be assessed will see what support that is available and weigh in on what additional resources might be helpful as they make plans for the Fall 2025 / Spring 2026 academic year.
Session B - Panel
Title: Profiles of Incoming Students and Current Graduates
Location: MUB Ballroom B 2 & 3
Moderator: Steve Patchin, Office of the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education (APUE)
Panelists: Cassy Tefft de Muñoz, Center for Educational Outreach; Sarah Maday, Nexteer; Jim Desrochers, Career Services; Kacy Wickenhauser, Wolverine Power Cooperative; and Bobbi Wood, ThermoAnalytics
Description: What are the character traits, strengths, and needs of the generation (referred to as Generation Alpha or Generation Zoom) entering college? From an employer's perspective, what trends are they seeing in recent college graduates, their strengths, challenges, and skills they could improve to increase their achievement in the workplace? Hear insights from our panel with unique perspectives.
Session C - Workshop
Title: Coaching Students to Success in Essential Education
Location: MUB Ballroom A
Presenters: Travis Wakeham, Biological Sciences; Liz Fujita, Career Services; Melissa Michaelson, Career Services
Description: The Essential Education program is designed to prepare students for success, both personally and professionally... But how can we help students navigate the program to maximize their benefit? During this session, we will discuss how to encourage students to reflect on their range of goals, interests, and skills to make decisions about their curriculum and career. We will discuss how you can structure your interactions with students to incorporate the essential abilities and coach them to success!
Session A - Training
Title: Getting Started with PebblePad
Location: MUB Alumni Lounge
Presenter: Nancy Barr, APUE
Description: Participants will learn about the two options for interacting with PebblePad in their
courses. One option is less complex for students, while the other is less complex
for faculty. Bring your laptop!
Session B - Panel
Title: Building Community Partnerships for Essential Education Experiences
Location: MUB Ballroom 2 & 3
Moderator: Val Gagnon, College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science
Panelists: Meghan Jaszczak, Copper Shores; Rachael Pressley, WUPPDR; Austin Ayers, KBIC NRD; Jill Fisher, Keweenaw Land Trust; Melissa Maki, 31 Backpacks; and Beth Squires, Chassell Township Schools
Description: In this panel session, representatives from local community organizations will share their experiences and insights on partnerships with Michigan Tech educators. For those interested in building and strengthening partnerships, panelists will discuss 1) first steps to make connections, 2) primary elements of beneficial partnerships, 3) experienced challenges, and 4) essential guidance for educators.
Session C - Workshop
Title: Don't Panic, It's Organic! Strategies for Embedding Essential Education Minor Themes in Your Course
Location: MUB Ballroom A
Presenters: Maria Bergstrom, Humanities and Kelly Steelman, Psychology and Human Factors
Description: If your Essential Ed course is part of one or more Essential Ed minor, how can you possibly engage with the minor themes along with your primary course content? Don’t worry, we’ve got you! Join us for an ideation session where we will map several Essential Ed minor themes onto a variety of courses and develop ideas for simple strategies to help students draw out the connections. Discover how the minor themes can help you explore interdisciplinary threads and increase student engagement with your content. Whether you're teaching in Essential Ed or not, your input will be valuable as we ideate together.
Session A - Training
Title: Engage, Reflect, Storytell
Location: MUB Alumni Lounge
Presenters: Darnishia Morris, Pavlis Honors College; Laura Fiss, Pavlis Honors College; Chris Hohnholt, Pavlis Honors College
Description: In this interactive session, participants will engage in various reflective strategies that will stimulate their thinking about reflection and contribute to their own toolbox when interacting with students. “Tell me about a time when…”’
Session B - Workshop
Title: Welcoming Challenge: Talking About Failure
Location: MUB Ballroom B 2 & 3
Presenter: Maria Bergstrom, Humanities
Description: One of our new Essential Abilities is Welcome Challenge. How can we as a campus community “walk the talk” in this ability? What could our students learn from us if we were to get comfortable talking about failure? Come prepared to hear about failures in the development of Essential Ed (and what we learned from them), talk about your own experiences, and brainstorm ideas for helping students grapple with failure in ways that help them build resilience.
Session C - Workshop
Title: Community Partner & Faculty Mixer
Location: MUB Ballroom A
Facilitators: Cassandra Reed-VanDam, APUE and Erin Barnett, Keweenaw Community Foundation
Description: Looking to build an Essential Education Experience with a local community partner, and/or interested in learning more about what local organizations are doing? Join this interactive workshop to meet community partners and share ideas of what a class partnership could look like.
Lunch
Location: MUB Ballroom A
Keynote Speaker - Shane Sutherland - Founder, CEO, and Chief Mischief Maker of PebblePad
Topic: The Power of ePortfolios Around the World
Description: Folio Thinking is a reflective practice that encourages deeper learning and self-assessment by collecting, organizing, and reflecting on learning experiences. It helps individuals understand their progress, identify areas for improvement, and share their learning story effectively. Hear stories about how this pedagogy has been applied at different institutions.
Session A - Training
Title: The Success Toolkit: Developing Practical Activities for MTU's First-Year Seminars
Location: MUB Alumni Lounge
Presenters: AJ Hamlin, Engineering Fundamentals and Maria Bergstrom, Humanities
Description: How might we launch new Michigan Tech students with the skills they need for success? Learn more about our Michigan Tech first-year seminar modules and how we are helping students develop competencies that support both learning and well-being. Participants will have a chance to suggest activities to support the seminar modules and will also leave with ideas for how to promote student success in their own classes.
Session B - Panel
Title: What is an ePortfolio?
Location: MUB Ballroom B 2 & 3
Moderator: Nancy Barr, APUE
Panelists: Chris Plummer, Visual and Performing Arts; Jennifer Nish, Humanities; Amber Kemppainen, Engineering Fundamentals
Description: This multidisciplinary panel will explore the different ways ePortfolios can be used to demonstrate and assess learning. Participants will hear and see examples of ePortfolios in individual courses, such as for projects, and in degree programs, where they help students connect experiences and coursework to their professional growth.
Session C - Workshop
Title: Build-a-Minor Workshop: Centering the U.P. in an Essential Education Minor
Location: MUB Ballroom A
Presenter: Kelly Steelman, Psychology and Human Factors and Cassandra Reed-VanDam, APUE
Description: Based on suggestions from campus stakeholders, we are interested in building an Essential Ed minor around our unique location. The campus community is invited to join this working session to help us generate ideas for a U.P.-focused minor. We will work from the ground up, from suggesting topics and themes to identifying existing classes and crafting a wishlist of potential future offerings. Participants from any campus unit or organization are welcome to join this work!
Closing Panel with Industry Leaders
Title: What is the Value of Essential Education to Current/Future Students/Employers
Location: MUB Ballroom A
Moderator: Cody Kangas, Career Services
Panelists: Michelle Scherer, College of Engineering; LaReesa Wolfenbarger, College of Sciences and Arts; Sarah Maday, Nexteer; Kacy Wickenhauser, Wolverine Power Cooperative; and Bobbi Wood, ThermoAnalytics
Description: This talented panel will explore what skill sets our graduates will need in future job markets. What are the trends, and how is Michigan Tech positioning itself to develop these trends in our current and future graduates? How will higher education need to change to meet industry and job market demand?
Awards and Recognition
Presenters: Maria Bergstrom, Humanities; Kelly Steelman, Psychology and Human Factors; and Alex Guth, Office of the Provost
Location: MUB Ballroom A
Description: Join us to celebrate the accomplishments of all those involved in planning and implementing Essential Education. Stick around for door prize drawings as well.
Questions? Please email essential-ed-l@mtu.edu for more information.