Excellence in Open Education Award

William Kleindl

The Excellence in Open Education Award is presented to William Kleindl, an instructor in the Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences. This award recognizes a faculty member who has made a significant impact in affordable and accessible educational resources for students. The award includes a $2,000 honorarium.

Kleindl teaches courses related to wetland ecology and water resources to hundreds of students each academic year. Across sections of those courses, students collectively saved more than $12,000 during the 2023 fiscal year thanks to Kleindl’s efforts to capitalize on open-access resources, said department head Bob Peterson.

Kleindl provides students with freely available reports and materials to help them understand how we use, protect, impact and restore water resources as part of semester projects, wrote Peterson. Kleindl’s commitment to open education minimizes student debt and ensures equal access in the pursuit of learning outcomes. 

Kleindl has also produced six instructional videos about water resources with more in production, which are available for free online and used in several MSU courses across the land resources and environmental sciences curriculum.