Margaret P. Morgan
UNC Charlotte
"Dr. Morgan is knowledgeable about the subject she is teaching, and she makes sure that all her students understand what is expected of them," writes an undergraduate student. "On days that her students follow easily, she moves quickly; on days that her students are having trouble understanding, she slows down. The thing that I like best about Dr. Morgan is the fact that she knows each one of her students by name and treats us all as individuals."
Her concern for each student is echoed by a non-traditional student, "She was quick to encourage and not afraid to tell it like it is. Her encouragement and guidance helped me to believe in myself, causing me to work harder at accomplishing my goals. I am uncertain if she realizes how much I appreciated her help. I'm also sure I'm not a special case. She appears to treat every student with the same respect and attention that I received from her."
Fortunately for even more students, her sphere of influence is far greater than just the students in her classes. For nine years, she served as Director of Rhetoric and Writing. During this time she influenced the student writing of thousands of students, as she was responsible for the hiring, training, supervision, and evaluation of faculty. Her effect on the professional development of graduate teaching assistants, lecturers, and adjunct faculty is still being experienced by students and instructors: "Meg's gifts of wisdom and insight about teaching are recreated daily in the classrooms of her colleagues and students."
Throughout her career, she has worked to facilitate student learning. She championed efforts to improve the curriculum and teaching of freshman composition courses and implemented new placement procedures for students for whom English is a second language. She organized North and South Carolina writing administrators who now hold biannual meetings. Internationally, she collaborated with colleagues from Germany and Thailand to share information on writing instruction and student support, and taught a writing workshop for elementary school teachers in a South African village.
"I teach writing," she shares, "not how to write stories, or poems, or novels, but how to write technical proposals, instructions, arguments about whatever. I teach theories of technical communication and argumentation. Ultimately, because I believe in my heart that language is our soul and we cannot survive at any level (physically, emotionally, spiritually) without it." She has taught more than 20 courses and directed more than 30 student internships. Through client-based service learning her technical-writing students have supported not-for-profit organizations.
An English Instructor speaks for many, "I have witnessed firsthand the ability of this master teacher to empower students and colleagues to excel in what she does best: teach. I could not be progressing as I am without Dr. Morgan's dedication and availability to: answer questions, respond immediately and intently to difficulties, guide gently and firmly, defend the students' rights to receive appropriate teaching, creatively discern methods for resolving difficulty, and express herself in good humor."