Colleen van Lent earns Lecturer in Inclusive Teaching Award

University of Michigan School of Information Teaching Professor Colleen van Lent has earned a Lecturer in Inclusive Teaching Award from the Office of the Provost at U-M. 

UMSI interim dean Elizabeth Yakel made the announcement on Wednesday, June 28. 

“Colleen van Lent is extraordinarily deserving of this award,” Yakel says. “She has been a long-time advocate for inclusive teaching in all dimensions and is the go-to person on the UMSI faculty for addressing accessibility issues in teaching and learning. Colleen exemplifies the criteria for the award, a strong commitment to students and teaching and learning; pedagogy that considers the diverse needs and backgrounds of all students and creation of a learning environment where students feel valued and where all students have equal access to learn; mentoring peers on inclusive teaching; and exceptional service in inclusive teaching at the University."

Colleen van Lent began her career at UMSI in 2008 as an intermittent lecturer and was later promoted to teaching professor in June 2023. Since joining, she has taught courses in programming, accessibility and computing. She is the recipient of a 2020 UMSI Diversity Award for her work on making accessible website design a priority in her classroom. She emphasizes to her students that accessibility is an essential component in any website and must be considered at each step of the design process. Additionally, van Lent is a recipient of a 2015 UMSI award for excellence in instruction. 

She is also the designer and instructor of the MOOC specialization, "Web Design for Everybody.” Coursera Women and Skills Report named her one of the Top 10 Female Coursera Instructors and Top Instructor in technology-based classes in 2021.

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Learn more about Colleen van Lent, her classes and upcoming projects by visiting her UMSI faculty profile.