Susan Cherup is a professor of education whose responsibilities include teaching education classes and Encounter with Cultures, observing students in clinical experiences, and advising the Department of Education’s Student Technology Team. She enjoys learning each May from the students and staff in the Todd County Public Schools on Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, where she has conducted a May Term class every year since 1990.

Before joining the Hope College faculty in 1976, Professor Cherup taught in the West Ottawa Public School District just north of Holland, in a range of positions. During her 11-year career at West Ottawa, she taught fifth and sixth grades, special education and adult basic education night courses. During the summers she taught in and directed the district’s Summer Migrant Education Program.

Areas of interest and expertise 

Professor Cherup’s primary professional interests include working with persons with disabilities and integrating technology into teaching, learning and assessment throughout the teacher education sequence. Hope College was in the first group of six colleges and universities in the nation to receive the ISTE/NETS Distinguished Achievement Award for the integration of technology into teacher education. She is devoted to her May Term course where Hope students learn the history and culture of the Lakota Sioux while using their professional skills in a school setting.

Education 

• M.A., endorsement (K–12) in emotional impairments, Western Michigan University
• Endorsement (K–12) in learning disabilities, Hope College
• B.A., Spanish, Hope College

Selected honors, grants and awards

• Vanderbush-Weller Award for strong positive impact on students, Hope College, 2014
• “Writing Over Time in the Special Education Major,” Hope College Frost Center grant, 2012
• “A Multidisciplinary Approach to Health Issues in Cameroon” in collaboration with Hope College Department of Engineering and Department of Nursing, National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance grant, 2007
• “Growing Healthy Families in Nkuv,” teaching modules for classroom use in Cameroon developed with education and nursing students, Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant, 2007
• Appointed to endowed professorship as Arnold and Esther Sonneveldt Professor of Education, 2006 to present
• Distinguished Achievement Award, International Society for Technology in Education, 2002
• Hope Commencement speaker, 1989
• Hope Outstanding Professor-Educator (H.O.P.E.) award, Hope College class of 1988

SELECTED PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS

• “Plug into ISTE [International Society of Technology in Education] and Charge Your Classroom,” presentation at Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning conference, 2018
• “A Story of Digital Accommodations for the Student with Learning Disabilities,” presentation at International Society for Technology in Education conference, 2015
• “The Engineers Without Borders Cameroon Project: Building Value-Based Partnerships,” presentation at Midwest Nursing Research Society conference, 2014
• “An Interdisciplinary Approach to Improving Healthcare in One Small Village: Measuring the Impact of Health Education Modules in Cameroon, West Africa,” with P. Chaponniere and L. Lodge, Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 2013
• “Integrating Technology into Teacher Education: A Model Implemented at One Small Liberal Arts College,” presentation at International Literacy and Education Research Network Conference on Learning (Havana, Cuba), 2009
• “Investment vs. Return: Outcomes of Special Education Technology Research in Literacy for Students with Mild Disabilities,” with C. L. Anderson and K. M. Anderson, Contemporary Issues of Technology and Teacher Education, 2009

Outside the college 

Professor Cherup enjoys time with her husband, Glenn, and they are avid fans of Hope Women’s Basketball. They enjoy attending college events in which Hope students are performing. Many Hope graduates continue to maintain contact with them after graduation. They also support Western Michigan University in a variety of ways.