University Common Requirements (UCORE)/general education professors Hillary Mellinger and Jesse Spohnholz were presented with the Richard G. Law Excellence Award for Undergraduate Teaching for 2025 for their outstanding efforts.
The award commemorates the high value placed on the faculty who teach UCORE courses across the university.
“Recipients of this prestigious award are nominated because they help undergraduates from all majors progress toward achieving WSU Learning Goals and Outcomes — especially students from outside the professors’ particular fields of expertise,” said William B. “Bill” Davis, vice provost for academic engagement and student achievement. He oversees the division of the same name, which hosted the awards celebration on April 22 where more than 20 awards, including the Law Award, were given.
“In their recommendation letters, Doctors Mellinger and Spohnholz were commended for their impressive UCORE teaching accomplishments and are most deserving of this honor,” said Corey Johnson, UCORE interim director.
Joining Davis and Johnson on stage to present the awards were Dick Law, the award’s namesake, and Karen Weathermon, longtime UCORE committee member. Law retired in 2009 after leading the WSU general education program since 1990.
Recipients of this prestigious award are nominated because they help undergraduates from all majors progress toward achieving WSU Learning Goals and Outcomes — especially students from outside the professors’ particular fields of expertise.
Bill Davis, vice provost for academic engagement and student achievement
Washington State University
Mellinger, assistant professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, is credited with thoughtfully integrating WSU undergraduate and UCORE learning goals and outcomes into her courses. Davis noted that her efforts to learn about each student and provide personalized messages to each of them at the end of each term are remarkable. He also commended Mellinger for her success at leveraging technological tools to create an interactive classroom.
Her primary UCORE course is CRM-J 205, “Advancing Justice: Addressing Power and Inequity in the Justice System,” that enrolls around 250 students each semester.
Spohnholz is a professor of history and teaches History 105, “Roots of Contemporary Issues.” He served as Roots of Contemporary Issues director for nine years and engages in a host of UCORE assessment projects.
Johnson described him as having been a central figure in the history of UCORE to date. Davis emphasized Spohnholz’s commitment to putting the needs of students at the center of the teaching enterprise.
“Through his participation in the First-Year Focus living-learning community, he learns the names of all of his students and holds office hours in residence halls, practices that allow him to tailor his teaching strategies to his students, to assess their comprehension of concepts, and to establish personal connections with them,” said Davis.
Mellinger and Spohnholz bring to 16 the number of UCORE faculty who have received Law awards since 2013.
