The Washington State University Richard G. Law Excellence Award for Undergraduate Teaching for 2024 was presented to Tammy Crawford, associate professor of sport management in the College of Education.
The award honors faculty who teach in the University Common Requirements (UCORE) curriculum and help undergraduates progress toward achieving WSU learning goals.
“Dr. Crawford’s application evidences the impressive number of students she has impacted, and how she has developed and refined an innovative student-centered pedagogy that is process-oriented, collaborative, and experiential,” said Ashley Boyd, UCORE director.
She added that Crawford’s work demonstrates her ability to engage students in applying key concepts of equity and justice to their own future careers.
14th Recipient Since 2013
The Law Award was first presented in 2013 to honor its retired namesake, Dick Law. He led the university’s UCORE — then called general education — program from 1990 to 2009. An English professor, he and his wife, Fran, attended the 2024 awards ceremony where Crawford received the award. The Division of Academic Engagement and Student Achievement hosted the event.
Crawford is the 14th faculty member to receive the Law Award. The award committee noted that her application materials reveal the work of a teacher who teaches sport management through a variety of educational tools and by involving students in the process of realizing how their own perspectives influence their understandings of the world. This truly embodies the spirit of general education, said Boyd.
High Praise
At the awards event, comments from Crawford’s nomination materials were shared.
One student wrote, “In her teaching, Dr. Crawford skillfully and empathetically instructs classrooms of 100+ students through units on race, gender, socioeconomics, mental health, politics, and disability. She prioritizes active engagement with her students during her lectures, and frequently asks questions, has students take part in demonstrations, and encourages those who disagree with her to voice their opinions in class. Dr. Crawford offers an accessible and engaging entry point into how structures of power and privilege shape world views and ideologies.” A colleague shared, “Perhaps most notable, 95 percent of students enrolled in the Sport Management 101 class are majoring in something other than sport management. That means that over 5,100 students ‘across the colleges and programs represented on the Pullman campus outside of sport management’ have gained the invaluable skills of understanding and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion from their experience in Tammy’s course.”