April 8, 2008
CONTACT: Beverly Makhani, WSU OUE
Communications Director, 509-335-6679,
makhani@wsu.edu
Mary Wack, WSU Vice Provost for Undergraduate
Education, 509-335-8044
Jeannie Holt, OUE Administrative Assistant,
509-335-8044, jmholt@wsu.edu
WSU Undergraduate Education Presented 38 Awards to Students, Faculty for Excellence in Teaching and Learning in 2008
PULLMAN, Wash.—The Office of Undergraduate Education (OUE) at Washington State University presented 38 awards to undergraduates and professors at its first annual awards presentation Tuesday, April 8, 2008, in the atrium of the Smith Center for Undergraduate Education.
“Our goal is to promote student success through a variety of programs, and to support faculty excellence in teaching and learning,” says Mary F. Wack, vice provost for undergraduate education and head of the OUE. “Some of the awards are new, and some have been presented in the past. We plan that in years to come, all of these prestigious awards will be widely known for publicly recognizing some of the most innovative and outstanding members of the WSU undergraduate academic community.”
Awards were presented by five OUE units.
The Writing Program
The Harold and Jeanne Rounds Olsen Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Writing (in the WSU-required junior Writing Portfolio) was presented by Writing Program Co-Director Diane Kelly-Riley to 10 undergraduates:
- Emily Cox, an Honors College student
- Renee Edwards, a philosophy/pre-law major
- Stephen Houmes, a neuroscience major
- Alex Mann, a landscape architecture major
- Janelle Robinson, a marketing major
- Christina Shima, an animal sciences major in Honors
- Rajat Singh, a neuroscience major
- J.J. Tomash, a social sciences major and Honors student at WSU Vancouver
- Lisa Waananen, a communications major and Honors student
- Kristen Friedrich, an English major at WSU Vancouver
The Harold and Jeanne Rounds Olsen Writing in the Disciplines Faculty Service Award (for service evaluating junior Writing Portfolios) was presented by Kelly-Riley to five faculty members:
- Jerry Gough, from history
- Phil Gruen, from architecture/construction management
- Courtney Meehan, from anthropology
- Rory Ong, from comparative ethnic studies
- Jeff Sellen, from general education
The Harold and Jeanne Rounds Olsen Award for Exemplary Writing in the Major Course award was presented by Writing Program Co-Director Lisa Johnson-Shull to one faculty member:
- Denny Davis, from the Engineering Education Research Center
The Stanley P. Williams Award for Writing Center Tutor Excellence was presented by Johnson-Shull to four students at three levels:
- Mitch Kelly, a theatre arts/English major
- Renee Walker, an English/history major
- Antonie Bodley, a master’s student in literature
- Lacretia Taylor, a communications major
General Education
The inaugural World Civilizations Faculty Excellence Award was presented by Wack on behalf of General Education Program Director Richard Law to:
- Ken Faunce, from general education
Learning Communities
The Eric W. Bell and Susanne L. Spangler Learning Community Excellence Award was presented by Director Karen Weathermon to six faculty and staff members:
- Jeff Sellen, from general education
- Pamela Lee, from fine arts
- Misty Luminais, from anthropology
- Gabriella Reznowski, from libraries
- Bryon Burleigh, from residence life
- Meagan Autrey, from residence life
The Common Reading Excellence Award was presented by Weathermon to four faculty and staff members:
- Trevor Bond, from libraries
- Leslie Jo Sena, from English
- Phil Mixter, from molecular biosciences
- John Nugent, from residence life
Honors College
The Honors College Faculty Address Award was presented by Interim Dean Libby Walker to:
- Michael Delahoyde, from English
The Honors College Faculty Thesis Advisor Award was presented to:
- Tom Dickinson, from physics
Undergraduate Research
The inaugural Undergraduate Research Excellence Award was presented to three pairs of student/faculty research partners by Director Dave Bahr:
- Julie Smith, a chemistry, materials and mechanical engineering major
- Dave Field, a materials and mechanical engineering professor
- Danielle Druffel, a civil engineering major
- Amit Dhingra, a horticulture professor
- Brina Lewis, a biology major
- Laura Lavine, an entomology professor