MCIE Award for Support of Students with Disabilities

Professor Tasneem Khaleel, Ph.D.

Professor Tasneem Khaleel is an extraordinary educator, who has set the standard for excellence among her peers and captured the hearts and impacted the lives of her students through exceptional teaching and caring.

For four decades, Professor Khaleel’s leadership in the Department of Biological and Physical Sciences has been innovative and visionary, influencing generations of science students.

Her absolute passion for supporting her students as well as MSUB’s mission have been recognized with numerous honors and awards. But, this year Dr. Khaleel is the recipient of an award she says she is proudest of—the inaugural Faculty Award for Exceptional Support of Students with Disabilities.

Tasneem’s positive nature and friendly manner are a welcoming presence, explained by her student nominator.

“Dr. Khaleel’s guidance has helped me adapt to college life. She patiently taught me how to use lab equipment and spent extra hours in the lab helping me with my assignments. I have talked to other students with disabilities, and they agree that she goes the extra mile to assure they have a fair chance,” her student nominator said.

“This reward is very meaningful to me,” she said. “These students are special to me. Anybody can teach an ‘A’ student—they just need pointed in the right direction. But to bring a student who has no confidence in their abilities due to his/her disability, who has to compete with the ‘A’ students in class, and to have the courage to come to class everyday. I think this is the biggest reward of teaching.”

She adds that she thinks it takes more courage on the part of the student than that of the instructor.

“The least the instructor can do is be supportive and give these students the self assurance they need to perform. Nothing is beyond their abilities.”

She is an example of someone who does not treat her role simply as a checklist of duties, but a mentor who uses her position to educate, inspire and encourage those around her.

As one colleague notes, "Tasneem is an exemplary educator and leader: She is innovative, she thinks about teaching and learning far beyond her own discipline, and she inspires others to do the same."