The Rutgers ECE Department is proud to announce that graduating ECE senior Justine Catli will receive the Champion of Teaching and Learning Award at the 7th Annual Chancellor-Provost’s Student Leadership Awards Gala on May 4th, 2022. This award is for "a student who has taken full advantage of their collegiate experience by engaging inside and outside of the classroom while creating learning opportunities for their peers.” Awardees are selected among all undergraduate students at Rutgers-New Brunswick.
Throughout her time at Rutgers, Justine has been deeply involved in peer learning and mentoring. She is a leader and tireless advocate for all students in the ECE Department and in the School of Engineering more broadly. In addition to working extensively with the Rutgers Learning Centers as a Learning Assistant, she has organized new extracurricular workshops with industry sponsors and developed the IEEE Social Good Hackathon, now in its second year. Justine is currently the President of Rutgers IEEE, leading their many activities. She previously created and held the new position of External Vice President to build bridges with other student groups, the ECE Department, and industry. She has also been active in recruiting students to ECE through our Open House, Admitted Students’ Day, and Intro to Engineering. The impact of her work will last long after she graduates: due to her advocacy, the School of Engineering is working with the Learning Centers to create an anti-bias training workshop for all Learning and Teaching Assistants that will be implemented beginning in Fall 2022.
As stated in the criteria for the award, Justine has made a strong impact in the area of teaching and learning while fostering learning opportunities through peer mentoring or leadership,
dedicated time, resources, or efforts beyond what is expected of her position, upheld the values of peer instruction such as student-centered active learning, an inclusive and safe learning environment, and a well-developed pedagogical approach to peer instruction. The ECE Department is lucky to have such a committed advocate and educator among our students.
Congratulations to Justine on this well-deserved honor!