After an undergraduate vote and a rigorous screening process, next year's University Professors have been chosen.
Assistant professor of sociology and anthropology Michelle Brown, associate professor in communication studies Daniel Modaff, assistant professor in the School of Accountancy Connie Esmond-Kiger, assistant professor in the School of Communication Studies Jeffrey St. John and professor in the Department of Teacher Education Joan Scanlon McMath received the distinction at a ceremony held in Baker Center Ballroom last Thursday evening, said Tim Vickers, assistant director in the Center for Teaching Excellence.
The University Professor award, which began in 1970, comes with a stipend of $2,000 and the opportunity to design one or two original undergraduate courses. The University College funds the award, Vickers said.
During a fall online vote, undergraduate students nominated professors for the award. Vickers narrowed the group down to 10 professors, all of who must be full-time associate or assistant professors and on contract for the next year. Nominees submit proposals for the courses they would like to teach.
A selection committee composed of undergraduates interviewed and observed classes of the 10 finalists, then selected five winners. Vickers said those names were sent to the Associate Provost's office for final approval.
What distinguishes the University Professor award from others is its focus on teaching and the fact that undergraduate students choose the winners. Nine students comprised this year's committee, said chairman Will Miller, a third-year political science major in the Honors Tutorial College.
Miller said the committee members ask questions about the professors' research, but teaching is the core value of the award. What type of research you do is not going to win you this award; it's all about being in the classroom
he said.
University Professor classes are open to all students, and the committee looks for courses that can be multi-disciplinary.
Modaff, a University Professor in 1997-98, called the award his absolutely best teaching experience up to that point. He also will give this year's graduate students' commencement speech as Outstanding Senior Faculty member.
He plans to teach a course on the communication structure of the Lakota Sioux Indians. He researched three different Sioux reservations during fall 2003 and said the award came at an appropriate time. The willingness of the Sioux to aid him in his research impressed upon him the need to share the knowledge he gained.
The committee's questions consider how professors incorporate research into their teaching, Miller said. Questions also make finalists look critically at what they do in the classroom and at areas that need improvement.
The questions are meant to make them reflect on why they do what they do why they love to teach Miller said.
McMath said she thinks she learned more from the committee during the interview than they learned from her.
They asked some of the most thoughtful questions I have ever heard
she said.
McMath interacts with students through the Book Buddy Program, which she began in 1993 along with late Chauncey teacher Laura Frederiksen. McMath's proposed UP course involves looking at accurate portrayals of children and adolescents in other cultures through literature.
In Brown's courses, she has students take field trips in various criminal justice settings, such as prisons, police cars and courtrooms. In her UP course, Living on the Edge: The Sociology of Risk
students might be asked to reflect on risks they have taken. The course will focus on individual and societal risks after Sept. 11, tying into her research areas of imprisonment and the media.
Esmond-Kiger's proposed UP course, Financial Literacy and You
will involve her research topics of ethics, emotional intelligence and accounting education. Students will participate in a stock market game, which she hopes to incorporate in other classes.
Her intermediate accounting courses are difficult and her students have to be hard-working, she said.
I think it's cool they nominated me despite all that
she said.
St. John could not be reached for comment before the publication of this article.
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Megan Chew
