Professor Murray Fulton recipient of Provost’s Award for Outstanding Graduate Teaching

This year, Murray Fulton, Professor at the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, has been recognized for his contributions in the area of graduate teaching.

Murray Fulton

The Provost’s Award for Outstanding Graduate Teaching is awarded annually at the U of S to recognize an outstanding teacher who demonstrates excellence in teaching courses at the graduate level. This year, Murray Fulton, Professor at the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, has been recognized for his contributions in the area of graduate teaching.

 “When given the opportunity to nominate one of our faculty for this award, Murray was an obvious choice,” said Michael Atkinson, Executive Director at the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy. “In the last 10 years, he has supervised 13 Masters students and 12 PhD students to completion, participated in dozens of supervisory committees and acted as a mentor to his students and fellow faculty members.”

Atkinson went on to explain how Fulton has been a leader in implementing new technology to enhance the learning experience. JSGS is a joint partnership between the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Regina, and Fulton has excelled at the challenge of engaging students remotely with the use of technology.

Fulton’s nomination was also supported by many current and former students. In response to one course Fulton had a hand in developing from scratch; one student described the class as an “absolutely amazing course.” The student went on to say, “Dr. Fulton is an inspiring instructor. It is obvious that he loves teaching. When moderating discussion in class he is fair, and really encourages input, but at the same time is clever in his ability to keep things on track and challenge students to actually contribute to the discussion.”

Another former student had a similar experience indicating, “Murray Fulton is one of the best professors I have ever had…. He had a great sense of humour as well as an obvious desire to teach and have his students succeed. This was the best course I have taken so far with the JSGS…and I thought it would be the worst.”

 “My approach to graduate teaching echoes my experience as a graduate student,” explains Fulton in his statement of teaching philosophy. “Indeed, my goal is to have students remember their graduate student days as a time when they made their academic leap; a time when they reached the point where they understood the material well enough that they could begin to create their own models and develop their own insights.”

In recognition of receiving this award, Fulton will receive $2,000 that he will use to support work he has wanted to undertake around innovations in graduate teaching. In addition, he will be recognized at a Celebration of Teaching hosted by the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching Effectiveness.