SUNY Online Teaching Ambassador 2024: Monroe – Brigitte Martineau

Brigitte Martineau is a Professor of Mathematics at Monroe Community College (MCC). She began teaching at MCC as an adjunct faculty member in 2002 and has been a full-time faculty member since 2005. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sciences with a major in Mathematics and a minor in Management from McGill University in Montreal, Canada as well as a Master’s degree in Sciences from Les Hautes Etudes Commerciales, the Business School associated with University of Montreal. She was a Six Sigma Consultant in Montreal prior to moving to Rochester and embarking on her career in academia.  While at MCC, Brigitte has been very active in departmental, college-wide, and professional activities, including being an AMATYC Project ACCCESS Fellow, serving as the Robert A. Fratangelo Mathematics Learning Center Coordinator, and chairing numerous committees, including those for full-time and adjunct faculty searches. Also, she has held several executive positions for the MCC Chapter of the American Association of Women in Community Colleges: Secretary, Treasurer, President-Elect and President. Having taught a variety of courses over the years, she currently focuses on Business Mathematics, College Algebra, and Statistics.

I first started teaching online using the Angel platform during the Spring of 2008 after six years of teaching traditional in-person lectures. Over the course of the last 16 years, I have taught over 80 online sections for three different courses using three different platforms. My involvement started as a need to offer students more options. Additionally, I saw it as an opportunity to try something innovative and different. In the process, I have encountered a welcoming online community, many ingenious colleagues, an outstanding Virtual Campus team at MCC as well as countless grateful students.

Nowadays, most students have experience with online learning. However, many still do not know what it takes to be a successful online learner. I take pride in helping all my students learn how to be the best online learners they can be. It is not an easy task and definitely comes with many challenges, but I am patient and persistent.

Ironically, one of my favorite features of teaching online is ultimately meeting my students either in person on proctored final exam day, or via Zoom when they request assistance with the material. In an ideal world, I would meet with them all prior to the proctored final exam day, but I am still working on that. During the Spring 2022 semester, I was asked to pilot the Brightspace platform on my campus for my online summer course ahead of the full implementation in Fall 2023.  I immediately embraced the opportunity and dove headfirst into training and implementation.

I am grateful for all who have helped me on my online learning adventure. Being nominated as a 2024 SUNY Online Teaching Ambassador is truly the result of a team effort. I am honored to be part of such an amazing community of online learners and leaders.