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 |  The Elon College Faculty and Student Excellence Awards for 2008 were presented on May 8, 2008 The Excellence in Teaching Award recognizes a faculty member who exemplifies the Elon teacher-scholar -- outstanding in the classroom, current in the discipline, and committed to the intellectual development of students. Elon's mission statement calls for "a rich intellectual community characterized by active student engagement with a faculty dedicated to excellent teaching." The selection committee looked for excellence in the classroom as tangibly demonstrated by teaching and administrative evaluations for the preceding three years. Equally important were intangible factors such as inspiring students in the discipline, embracing ways to engage students in active learning, being available to students outside the classroom, being known as an excellent academic adviser, and having a willingness to teach where needed.
We are honored to present the Excellence in Teaching Award to three Elon College Faculty.
Kirstin Ringelberg (Department of
Art). Kirstin is a truly inspiring teacher and
mentor. Her way of working with students exudes
everything Elon University values in a
Scott Windham (Department of Foreign
Languages). Scott is a model of excellent and
innovative foreign language teaching. He challenges students
to perform at a level beyond what
Cindy Fair (Department of Human Services).
Cindy is an outstanding teacher; known for her energy,
creativity, and rigor. Her students are consistently
enthusiastic on two points: how much The Excellence in Service/Leadership Award recognizes a faculty member who richly contributes to the ongoing welfare and betterment of the College, the University, and the profession. We value the many service and leadership roles performed by faculty. The teacher-scholar document calls on faculty to "dedicate their talents, experience, and leadership skills to activities that sustain, develop, and improve the entire institution." We value presence on campus, noting over time who does the big and little tasks that make us a better College. The selection committee focused on the tangible results of service for the preceding year. Equally important were intangible factors such as a willingness to volunteer one?s time when needed, to carry new ideas to reality, and to engage in shared governance. We are honored to present the Excellence in Service/Leadership Award to three Elon College Faculty.
Ayesha Delpish (Department of Mathematics).
While Ayesha is an outstanding teacher and scholar, we
recognize her today for her excellence in service and
leadership. Ayesha has notable
Brian Digre (Department of History and
Geography). In a number of important ways, Brian has
made lasting and significant contributions to Elon
University. While it would be difficult to list all
of
Prudence Layne (Department of
English). Prudence exemplifies the
definition of excellence in service and leadership.
Over the past year, she has committed her efforts to several
tasks that The Excellence in Scholarship Award recognizes a faculty member whose scholarly work has made a significant intellectual impact. Elon's teacher-scholar model describes scholarship as "the most fundamental form of professional activity." We value the scholarship of discovering new knowledge, integrating knowledge, applying knowledge, and developing pedagogical innovations. The selection committee considered tangible evidence of peer-reviewed research and creative activity that was published or presented during the preceding year. Equally important were intangible factors such as supporting the scholarly endeavors of colleagues, advancing the University's reputation, and mentoring students in undergraduate research. At Elon, a professor cannot be measured by the articles published, to the exclusion of the lives inspired. We are honored to present the Excellence in Scholarship Award to two Elon College Faculty.
Lynn Huber (Department of Religious
Studies). In addition to being an outstanding
teacher and active member of Elon’s faculty, Lynn is an
active, committed, and nationally recognized scholar.
Megan Squire Conklin (Department of Computing
Sciences). During her six years at Elon,
Megan has gained international recognition for her creation,
development, and leadership of a project Congratulations to each of the award winners!!!! Each of the departments will now present their Student Excellence Awards. The presenter will briefly describe the award and read the names. I ask that the students come forward to receive their award. We will go in the order presented in the program.
To further honor all of our recipients and celebrate our excellence, I have arranged for a special performance. At CELEBRATE! last year, one of our very own faculty – Richard Gang …also know as Pudge when not performing in an equity theater – pulled together some of our very talented students and put on a great concert. I am delighted that Pudge …. and his students were willing to perform for us today for this special event. Please join me in welcoming Pudge and the Oaktones…and the Satin Sheets.
Elon College Faculty excellence Awards for 2007. Elon College Faculty excellence Awards for 2006. |
Teacher/Scholar.
Kirstin’s teaching foundation is the extensive and
sophisticated knowledge of her field, including the most
cutting-edge works and methods. With this knowledge,
Kirstin then crafts ways to engage students in these very
challenging aspects of art history. Kirstin’s
assignments, examinations, and, more importantly, her lively
class discussions make the most of her students’
enthusiasm and even their frequent resistance to new art and
approaches. In fact, Kirstin has a unique ability to
harness student resistance, using that energy to first
engage, then challenge, and finally to transform. Never
content to stay in the confines of the classroom, Kirstin has
led students to study abroad in places as far flung as
France, Italy and Japan. In these teaching and
mentoring situations, she has brought out the best in each
student, providing an ideal level of challenge and
encouragement so that each one can reach her or his fullest
potential. Kirstin has been so enthusiastic and
successful as an instructor that she deserves the
lion’s share of the credit for the marvelous success of
the university’s Art History major, a degree that will
have six graduates in only its first year. She
has continued to use her teaching talents as well as expand
and hone them by teaching the very challenging team-taught
courses for the Honors program. She is also in
demand for a variety of important campus programs, including
Women and Gender Studies, American Studies, and
African-American Studies. Perhaps the greatest things
that can be said about Kirstin is that her faculty colleagues
look to her as a source of insight and encouragement to
improve their teaching and students seek her out for the
inspiring challenge she provides.
Kirstin, thank you for your excellence in
Teaching.
would seem
possible at their stages of linguistic development. Yet
with Scott’s guidance and encouragement, his students
produce remarkable results. One example of Scott’s
unique approach to the teaching of language as well as the
outstanding achievement of his students, is The Germany
Project. The Germany Project is a web-based, multimedia
"encyclopedia" written by German students at
Elon. This work has inspired other faculty to attempt
similar projects. Colleagues are continually amazed at
the quality and quantity of work that Scott’s students
are able to produce and at the remarkable integration of
cultural studies and language development in his
courses. Scott incorporates technology into his classes
on a daily basis. He uses PowerPoint, audio, internet
and visual resources to enhance his language classes, and he
teaches his students to use these components in their class
presentations and assessments. In addition, Scott
continues to develop his courses through enthusiastic
participation in CATL workshops and has mentored Fellows
students who have participated in SURF. Scott’s
unique approach to teaching, which challenges students to
integrate linguistic development and growing cultural
awareness of the German-speaking world, has led to increased
interest in German Studies at Elon. He helped develop
the German Studies minor and a study abroad relationship with
Heidelberg University. Student comments emphasize his
enthusiasm, his organization, his energy, and the challenging
nature of his classes. Students consistently cite Scott
as one of the best faculty members at Elon, not just in the
department of Foreign Languages. Scott,
thank you for your excellence in Teaching.
work
they do in her courses and how much they’ve learned in
the process. They often even add that her courses are
fun. As a classroom teacher, Cindy is a virtual
wellspring of innovative ideas. These range from her
“famous” Cinderella and the Fairy Godmother Skits
to engage students in the application of theory, to
simulations of complex community meetings, to the use of
academic service-learning and community based research.
Cindy was one of a core group of faculty who developed the
Elon College Fellows Program. In this program she
teaches a Fellows section of the Global Experience and
co-leads the Winter Term Fellows course that studies in
Washington, DC. Within this program and through her
work in the upper-division Fellows seminar, she provides a
carefully designed and scaffolded experience for students,
providing a model for learning to think like a social
scientist. Cindy has mentored numerous student research
projects on a wide array of topics, some springing from the
students’ interest (such as a project on Munchhausen
Syndrome by Proxy) and some closely connected with her own
research on children affected by HIV/AIDS. Her research
students have presented at highly competitive conferences in
social work and human services as well as at NCUR, have
co-authored articles with her for publication, and won
impressive fellowships to graduate schools. Cindy also
has a strong record in the scholarship of teaching and
learning. She has presented and co-authored an article
on undergraduate research, conceptualizing this experience as
a “cognitive apprenticeship” for students.
Finally, Cindy is currently a CATL Scholar working on a
project to enhance the academic depth and rigor of student
internships. Cindy, thank you for your
excellence in Teaching.
contributions
to the University in many areas, including the Lyceum
Committee, the Graduate Council, the Philips-Perry Black
Excellence Awards Process, the African/African American
Studies Committee, and the Georgeo Scholarship selection
committee. Ayesha was also instrumental in designing
and implementing the new Statistics minor at Elon. Her
outstanding leadership was critical in the development of new
classes, advocacy on campus, creation of an innovative
case-study pedagogy, and recruitment of students into the new
statistics minor. Ayesha currently serves as the Statistics
program coordinator and teaches General Statistics,
Statistics in Application, and an online section of
Statistics. Last summer she ran a three-day workshop
for faculty on the new Statistics in Application class, which
was crucial for instructors who taught the class for the
first time in the Fall semester. Ayesha has received
both CATL and SAS grants to support her teaching and program
development. She recently led the department’s
successful job searches for two new statisticians, showing
remarkable enthusiasm, initiative, and attention to detail in
the process. Ayesha has also mentored a SURE student and
co-mentored two students in their Senior Seminar mathematics
research projects. Finally, not only has Ayesha given a
tremendous amount of excellent service to Elon, you might say
she has given her entire life. Ayesha is the
faculty-in-residence in the International Pavilion. She
organizes cultural and social events and serves as the
faculty mentor for the 22 students who live with her in the
pavilion. It would be hard to over-estimate the impact Ayesha
has had on her students, the department and the University.
Ayesha, thank you for your excellence
in Service-Leadership.
the
ways he has made the University better, three examples of his
leadership and service come to mind as deserving special
mention. First, Brian has singlehandedly forged a lasting
relationship with people and institutions in Ghana that has
enabled our students to have a deeper, more global
educational experience. Literally hundreds of students
have had their horizons broadened and their perceptions
challenged through Brian’s Winter Term course in
Ghana. Most of us speak enthusiastically about the
importance of being a global citizen, but there are very few
who have done more than Brian to actually accomplish that
worthy goal. In addition, perhaps more than any other
single individual, Brian has been responsible for developing
and nurturing the International Studies major, making it one
of the most successful interdisciplinary program on
campus. The international studies major currently ranks
in the top 5 majors within Elon College with respect to
numbers of students. The interdisciplinary nature of this
major makes the job of being its coordinator especially
difficult, since faculty members participating in the program
are essentially on loan from their home departments. A
more domineering person would probably not be so successful
under these circumstances, but thankfully this attribute
represents the very opposite of Brian’s
personality. He is known as an easy-going,
thoroughly decent person whose commitment to democracy
engenders the spirit of cooperation on which his program
depends. Finally, Brian has proven to be a successful grant
writer, serving as the principal investigator for two
successful Department of Education grants. The first
helped Elon to establish the thriving International Studies
major and African Studies, and his recent success promises to
do the same in Middle Eastern and Arabic Studies. The
obvious theme here is that Brian’s dedication and his
willingness to go beyond what is expected of him have made
Elon University a much better place and providing new
opportunities for our students.
Brian, thank you for your
excellence in Service-Leadership.
clearly
display her dedication to the growth and improvement of
Elon. Prudence has served on numerous committees,
including, co-chair of the Multicultural Expansion Committee,
the Disabilities Committee, the International Studies
Committee, the Phi Beta Kappa Committee, theFund for
Excellence Committee, the Perito Award Committee, and the
Women’s and Gender Studies Committee. Last summer she
led an IDD-sponsored workshop for twenty faculty members on
creating a successful summer online course. Prudence
also serves as Director of the African American/African
Studies Minor. In this significant role, Prudence has shown
excellent leadership and administrative savvy. She has
grown the program dramatically, to one with more than 50
students, and 23 graduates this spring. Prudence has
created several amazing courses for the English Department
and for the African/African American Studies program.
She has also created and led the study abroad course to South
Africa, as well as expanded the Call of South Africa into a
designated service learning course. In the department,
Prudence helps put together events to showcase faculty
scholarship, and she gives students and faculty a chance to
get to know each other better through readings, social
events, orientations, and open houses. Finally, Prudence uses
her service at the University to raise awareness about
diversity issues in our campus community and to provide
opportunities for faculty, students, and staff to understand
these issues in terms of their pedagogy, scholarship,
recruitment, hiring and retention policies. Her
department chair indicates that Prudence may have
accomplished more in three years than many do in a career!
Prudence, thank you for your excellence in
Service-Leadership.
Her
past year’s professional activity illustrates such
excellence. In this last year, Lynn’s first book,
“Like a Bride Adorned”: Reading Metaphor in
John’s Apocalypse, was published. In her book,
Lynn “argues that Revelation's persuasive power
resides within the text's metaphorical nature.” She
“articulates a method for exploring how Revelation
employs metaphor to shape an audience's thought”
and “engages one set of conceptual metaphors in
relation to Revelation's literary and social-historical
milieu.” Her work’s significance becomes
clear when one learns that an entire panel at her
professional organization’s annual meeting was
dedicated to a discussion of her book. During the same year,
Lynn published four articles. One, “Sexually Explicit?
Re-reading Revelation’s 144,000 Virgins as a Response
to Roman Discourses,” was accepted as an extended and
opening article in the Journal of Men, Masculinities, and
Spirituality. Two co-authored pieces on using visual art
to teach biblical texts were published in the edited
collection, Teaching the Bible through Popular Culture
and the Arts. One article, an introduction to the
different ways that visual art might be used in a biblical
studies classroom, was also published in the Society of
Biblical Literature Forum. In addition to these
publications, Lynn led the organization of a panel,
“John’s Apocalypse and Cultural Contexts Ancient
and Modern,” for the Society of Biblical
Literature’s annual conference, and presented a paper
on medieval readings of Revelation’s violence as part
of that panel. For the same professional organization, Lynn
has been elected as a steering committee member for one of
the organization’s units. Reflective of Elon’s
teacher-scholar model, anyone who might walk into
Lynn’s classroom would see the intimate connections
between her scholarly engagement and her teaching.
Lynn, thank you for your excellence in
scholarship.
called
FLOSSmole. FLOSS stands for “free, libre, and open
source software.” Open source software refers to
programs whose source code is made available to the public
for modification and distribution free of charge and without
the restrictions typically placed on software developed in a
closed commercial environment. FLOSSmole is a team of
software developers who write programs to gather and analyze
data about open source software projects and then freely
provide the results back to the FLOSS research community.
Under Megan’s leadership, the project has continually
grown in size and reputation, and she currently co-leads an
international team of 14 developers and over 100 active users
and contributors. Megan received two recent grants from
the National Science Foundation. A $100,000 grant from NSF
titled “A Data and Analysis Archive for Research on
Free and Open Source Software and its Development.”
Storage and processing of large amounts of data
obviously require space and computing power, and Megan also
received from NSF five terabytes (5000 gigabytes) of storage
on a network known as the TeraGrid, considered to be the
largest, most comprehensive distributed cyber-infrastructure
for open scientific research. Megan had several refereed
publications and presented her research at international
conferences in the United States, Ireland, and Italy.
Megan was also recently appointed to the Editorial
Review Board of the new International Journal of Open Source
Software & Processes. Megan’s scholarship extends
beyond computer science to the scholarship of teaching and
learning. She is currently a CATL scholar with a focus on
expanding teaching and learning about technology and society
and the history of computing, by using an immersive,
historical role-playing game from the "Reacting to the
Past" series to explore the impacts of invention and
technology on society. Megan, thank
you for your excellence in scholarship.
