Ryan O’Leary – Excellence in Teaching 2024

Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies lecturer Ryan O'Leary has been an instrumental part in building solutions to support students in his time at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at Marshfield. His position is split between leading classes and working as an academic success associate in programming through the Tutoring/Learning Center.

While students can make impactful gains by reaching out for tutoring on campus, O'Leary acknowledges that for a host of reasons, those who would benefit still might not seek out tutoring resources. O'Leary and colleagues at the Marshfield branch campus have been working on ways to address college readiness so that more students can find success.

This past year, O'Leary developed two courses teaching study skills, a piloted curriculum in Post-Secondary Learning (PSL), designed to foster a more robust first-year experience on the branch campuses. The Applied Reasoning and Investigating Ideas elective courses satisfy the General Education Program (GEP) requirements in the humanities and critical thinking.

To overcome challenges of retention at the branch campuses, UW-Stevens Point at Marshfield campus executive Anthony Andrews encouraged his faculty and staff to come up with creative solutions for supporting students; strategies that many first-year students were lacking. Taking the challenge to heart, Andrews said O'Leary developed courses that responded to growth areas. Student exit surveys honed in on a need to address crucial skills such as how best to prepare for tests and how to foster community.

"He's the match that lit the fire," said Andrews. "He did it because he felt it was really going to work."

O'Leary shared that he remembers the difficulties he once faced as a non-traditional student in trying to build a community and succeed in his classes as an undergraduate. O'Leary worked to get university leaders behind him and lead the initiative within a year, Andrews said. Those new courses to improve outcomes for students are already effecting change.

When he learned that he was a recipient of the 2024 University Excellence in Teaching Awards, O'Leary said he was pleased to be able to showcase the good work underway at the branch campuses.

"It was exciting and an honor," O'Leary said. "I was especially happy for the ability to represent the branches."

O'Leary earned his bachelor's degree in Philosophy and Religious Studies from UW-Stevens Point. He came full circle, returning to campus for a teaching position after receiving his Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of Iowa and filling in for another faculty's sabbatical leave at UWSP. During his time outside of classes, O'Leary makes himself accessible and strives to connect students to resources.

"I want my classes to be a transformative experience. We talk about some of the tools to be able to really think about the 'big' questions," he said.

Just like the environments his students will find themselves in after graduation, his classes emphasize a deep diversity of religious thought and awareness that the world is complicated. That doesn't mean we can't sit with different perspectives and still work together. O'Leary said he is inspired by the meaningful opportunities for his students to share with one another with respect and take an interest in viewpoints different than their own.

"I have gotten the sense that the students I teach are aware of the problems we are facing, have a responsibility to try to do something, and they really are passionate," O'Leary said.