Each year the University Professor's program gives students a chance to recognize five outstanding Ohio University professors.
The 2006 recipients designed their own courses, open to all majors, many of which began this quarter. This year's winners are Michelle Brown, sociology and anthropology; Connie Esmond-Kiger, accounting; Daniel Modaff, communication; Joan Scanlon McMath, education; and Jeffrey St. John, communication.
Each received $2,000 to teach a class of their own design for two quarters. This is the highlight of being a University Professor, Brown said. It permits teachers to make a dream course. We get to step outside of the requirements to develop other topics of interest.
Three University Professor courses are offered this quarter - Esmond-Kiger's Financial Literacy and Personal Governance
Modaff's Lessons from the Lakota and St. John's Public Memory and Public Sphere. Brown's Sociology of Risk and Scanlon-McMath's Diversity Through Children's Adolescent and Young Adult Literature will join as offerings and run through Fall 2006.
Each Fall Quarter, students nominate faculty members via online ballot to be considered for the award.
It gets students thinking about what makes good professors good said Tim Vickers, associate director of OU's Center for Teaching Excellence, which coordinates the program.
The 12-member University Professor Student Committee (UPSC) reviews the finalists.
It is rigorous
Brown said of the UPSC interview process. (It's) designed to get at a teacher's philosophy. The provost approves the committee's final selections.
More than 100 faculty members have been recognized since the program started in 1970.
It's the most exciting thing that could happen to me
Esmond-Kiger said. It couldn't be more special.
University Professor classes are different from regular courses because the professor can control the size and course design, Brown said. Non-major students are able to sign up for these courses. I've got people from all over campus. It's wonderful
Modaff said. This diversity enhances the class, Esmond-Kiger said. I have 10 accounting majors
and the other half
the students are non-business majors
she said. I put them on teams together. This gives the accounting majors the opportunity to explain concepts to the general public - something they will have to do for their future career, she said. Students in University Professor courses said the experience is rewarding. We jumped right into the topic
said Kristin Meyer, a senior accounting major taking Financial Literacy. There is emphasis on the learning process instead of the final answer.
Because the course has never been studied before, the students and teacher are experiencing the course topic together, Esmond-Kiger said.
Although Vickers said he couldn't disclose the number of students who voted in the fall, the numbers aren't as high as he'd like.
I'm open to ideas to increasing participation
Vickers said.
The UPSC, which is made up of student volunteers, will be meeting soon to begin the selection process for next year's University Professors. Students on the committee feel privileged to be a part of the process, said Noelle Zalac, chair of the UPSC.
Each professor has obviously been nominated by the student body for a reason
