Recipients of the University Professor Award will be allowed to teach a class they have created.
Any idea on any topic, no matter how crazy, or how impossible, just write it down and bring it to class.
That’s your homework, and it’s not just one assignment, but the basis for an entire class called “What’s Your Idea” coming to Ohio University next spring.
Craig Davis, an associate professor of journalism, who was one of the four recipients of this year’s University Professor Award, created the class.
“It’s a class on how students find their passion,” Davis said. “I want them to learn how to create an idea. I want crazy ideas and ideas that help society.”
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="656ae602-de50-11e4-bed6-d39117240c55"}}
Students choose the recipients of the award, then recipients get to create a class of their own.
Around 40 faculty members, staff and students gathered in Alden Library’s Faculty Commons on Thursday to celebrate the recipients’ dedication to teaching.
“It’s really a list of who’s who of Ohio’s best,” said Howard Dewald, associate provost for faculty and academic planning. “I see this as a very strong testimony on the value that we place on outstanding teaching at this institution.”
Other recipients of the 2014-15 award include Ryan Lee Fogt, an associate professor of meteorology, Paul Jeffrey Mayhew, assistant professor of music education, and Soichi Tanda, an associate professor of biology.
Fogt plans to teach a class called “Antarctic Exploration and Climate,” Mayhew plans to teach a class called “Understanding Nonverbal Communication — For Teachers, Performers and Presenters” and Tanda plans to teach a course called “Biotechnologies in Our Society: Do You Approve or Disapprove?”
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="8374e72c-dbe1-11e4-9a74-afaf0ea0b56e"}}
Joshua Jamerson, senior news editor of The Post, was a part of the University Professor Selection Committee during spring semester.
Mayhew’s course is set to focus on how to interpret nonverbal behaviors and signals to help become more effective teachers, performers and presenters. Tanda’s course will focus on the basic levels of technology and how they are applied to society’s needs.
“I’d like to be a kind of liaison between biologists and non-major students,” Tanda said. “I’m looking forward to seeing non-major students in my class next year.”
Fogt said he typically teaches a course that students are required to take to graduate so he doesn’t always get the opportunity to go beyond the course material.
“This University Professor Award gives me the opportunity to teach students about something I love,” Fogt said. “I imagine many students haven’t been there like I have. I think it is really, really important and could have global impact in the course of their lives.”
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="f5c87e06-df15-11e4-a47e-fbdf69ad9ab0"}}
The award is based on student nominations of professors and has been given to nearly 250 individuals since its foundation in 1970, said Timothy Vickers, director of the Center for Teaching and Learning.
“This is not a popularity contest,” Vickers said. “They’re challenging and they’re setting high bars. They’re mentors.”
Recipients of the award receive a plaque in Chubb Hall.
In the fall, students were able to nominate a professor through an online application process. Then, a committee of students observed candidates in their classes, interviewed them and discussed the course proposals that they will have the opportunity to teach.
“It’s just so rewarding to have students endorse you,” Fogt said.
@kcoward02
kc769413@ohio.edu
