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April 9, 2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

UNC Board of Governors Presents University-wide Awards for Teaching Excellence

CHAPEL HILL – The Board of Governors of the 16-campus University of North Carolina has selected some of its best faculty to receive the ninth annual Awards for Excellence in Teaching. During a recognition luncheon to be held in conjunction with the Board’s May meeting, a faculty member from each UNC campus will receive a commemorative bronze medallion and a $7,500 cash prize.

The 16 recipients, representing an array of academic disciplines, were nominated by special committees on their home campuses and selected by the Board of Governors Committee on Teaching Awards, chaired by Ray S. Farris of Charlotte. The awards will be presented by UNC President Molly Corbett Broad and Board of Governors Chairman J. Bradley Wilson of Cary.

Winners include Thomas McGowan, professor of English, Appalachian State University; Iona Poston, associate professor of nursing, East Carolina University; Venus Eugenia Deonanan, professor of language, literature, and communication, Elizabeth City State University; Soni Martin, associate professor of art, Fayetteville State University; Sandra Carlton Alexander, professor of English, NC A&T State University; Amal Abu-Shakra, associate professor of biology, NC Central University; Mark Anthony Popkin, School of Music faculty member, NC School of the Arts; and David F. Ollis, professor of chemical engineering, NC State University.

Other winners are Margaret J. Downes, professor of literature and language, UNC Asheville; Judy Miller, associate professor of nursing, UNC-Chapel Hill; Gary F. Kohut, professor of management, UNC Charlotte; Russ McDonald, professor of English, UNC Greensboro; Jeffery L. Geller, professor of philosophy, UNC Pembroke; Carol Pilgrim, professor of psychology, UNC Wilmington; Grace C. Allen, associate professor of finance, Western Carolina University; and Gloria King Clark, associate professor of accounting, Winston-Salem State University.

Established by the Board of Governors in April 1994 to underscore the importance of teaching and to reward good teaching across the University, the awards are given annually to a tenured faculty member from each UNC campus. Winners must have taught at their present institutions at least seven years. No one may receive the award more than once.

Thomas McGowan, Appalachian State University

At ASU since 1972, McGowan has taken advantage of his surroundings in the Appalachian mountains to study, teach, and write about traditional storytellers and a variety of other North Carolina artists. Despite his attachment to medieval English literature and rural Appalachia, McGowan was one of the first faculty members in his department to recognize the power of technology, which he uses to support and extend teaching and learning and make his students more independent learners. During his career at ASU, he has served as a leader in state folklore associations, and in 2001, he received the North Carolina Folklore Society’s first award for lifetime service to the folklore society, folk artists, and folklorists, which was named for him.

Iona Poston, East Carolina University

Poston uses a variety of techniques to help engage her students, including case studies, clinical anecdotes, and critical thinking exercises. She has been a leader in incorporating computer technology into nursing education, receiving grants and making presentations on the effectiveness of computer-assisted instruction, and developing effective tools to measure students’ computer competencies. A software program she developed on congenital heart defects is being marketed by the American Journal of Nursing Company to help students grasp complex concepts related to cardiac pathophysiology in children. A faculty member at ECU since 1989, Poston has been recognized with the Excellence in Education Award from the Beta Nu Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau and an ECU Creative Teaching Activities Summer Stipend Award.

Venus Eugenia Deonanan, Elizabeth City State University

Preparing students to be successful in an increasingly global job market, Deonanan attempts to recreate the atmosphere of other countries in her classroom by discussing customs, sports, religion, and political organizations in addition to conventional research projects. To ensure that her students develop language fluency, she led a successful effort to create a state-of-the art language laboratory on campus. A native of Trinidad, West Indies, Deonanan is active in the international Society of Educators and Scholars, as well as in service to the community, volunteering at a local elementary school and working with the Community Prescription Project, which provides medications to elderly and low-income persons.

Soni Martin, Fayetteville State University

Since joining FSU in 1991, Martin has spearheaded revitalization of the Art Education program at FSU and has guided faculty in developing new and revised curricula. She encourages her students to exhibit their work in public and to enter competitions. Martin also fosters a social consciousness in her students, and is herself active on the Public Arts Commission of the Arts Council of Fayetteville and Cumberland County, helping to improve the artistic climate in the community. Martin has received her department’s Teacher of the Year award, the university’s Excellence in Teaching Award, and several service awards. She earned a bachelor’s degree in studio art from UNC Pembroke and a master’s degree in the field from UNC Greensboro.

Sandra Carlton Alexander, NC A&T State University

An A&T graduate, Alexander returned in 1974 as an English department faculty member. She has initiated or supported a number of new campus activities, including the annual English department Poetry Festival and a student literary journal. As director of freshmen advising and the Learning Assistance Center, she received grants to develop an award-winning freshman studies program, a peer-advising program, and a leadership development and success seminar. Alexander has received the Outstanding Teacher Award from the College of Arts and Sciences at A&T and a Women of Achievement Award from the Commission on the Status of Women. She has published two works of fiction and a number of short stories.

Amal Abu-Shakra, NC Central University

Abu-Shakra brings distinguished lecturers from around the country to her NCCU classroom and has forged valuable links with other institutions in the region to provide opportunities for her students. She helped establish the EPA/NCCU Cooperative Research Training program, which funds graduate student research appointments in EPA labs. As a result of their research experiences, many of her students participate in professional scientific meetings and are listed as co-authors on her publications. She has published several articles on science and health training in the community and won an award from the Corporation for National Service-Campus Compact. At NCCU since 1994, Abu-Shakra has received the Excellence in Teaching Award, the College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Achievement Award, the BC Powders Excellence in Teaching Award, and the Alcoa Excellence in Research Award.

Mark Anthony Popkin, NC School of the Arts

Popkin is a founding faculty member of NCSA’s School of Music, where he teaches bassoon and conducting and coaches chamber music groups. His students have gone on to advanced studies at the nation’s top conservatories and universities and perform in orchestras around the world. He has been an advocate for instrumental music in the schools, administering and teaching an Arts-in-Education project in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools that brings colleagues from the School of the Arts into local music classrooms. Popkin has performed with top symphonies around the world, including the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra at Lincoln Center, the New York Philharmonic, and the Chamber Society of Lincoln Center. Popkin wrote Bassoon Reed Making, Repair, and Maintenance, referred to among musicians as "the bassoonists’ bible," and produced machines for reed making that are the standard in the field.

David F. Ollis, NC State University

Ollis has developed several innovative engineering courses during his career at NC State. First-year doctoral students in chemical engineering learn to master the research process in his proposition course. He also piloted a "take-apart" course in which first-year undergraduate students disassemble common products like microwave ovens and bar code scanners to develop an appreciation for the engineering concepts behind their design. This pilot course was eventually scaled up and now includes more than 1,000 students entering the College of Engineering each year. Recognition for his teaching excellence includes induction into NCSU’s Academy of Outstanding Teachers, selection as an Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professor, and receiving such awards as the Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, the United Technologies Excellence in Teaching Award, and the Sterling Olmsted Award from the Liberal Education Division of the American Society for Engineering Education.

Margaret J. Downes, UNC Asheville

Downes co-directs the UNCA Humanities Program, which hosts the highly regarded Asheville Institute on General Education with the Association of American Colleges and Universities. As director of the Key Center for Service Learning, she serves as a strong campus and community advocate of the important role that learning outside the classroom plays in a liberal arts education. She has taught more than 25 different classes since coming to UNC Asheville in 1981 and has assumed a variety of administrative roles, including department chair and associate vice chancellor for Academic Affairs. Downes’ contributions to the university have been recognized with a number of awards, including the UNCA Distinguished Teacher Award and the Feldman Award for Outstanding Scholarship and Service.

Judy Miller, UNC-Chapel Hill

Miller spearheaded the development of UNC-Chapel Hill’s 2nd degree BSN Option, a program that enables students who already have baccalaureate degrees in other disciplines to obtain nursing degrees in 14 months, instead of the 24 months required by the traditional BSN program. The program has been a success; 100 percent of the first 2nd-degree BSN class have graduated, and on standardized educational measures and scores on licensing exams, the 2nd degree students achieved at or above national averages and on par with students in the more traditional BSN program. Miller has been recognized with the Undergraduate Nursing Faculty Award, the Tanner Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, induction into the Academy of Distinguished Teaching Scholars, and the Outstanding Faculty Award.

Gary F. Kohut, UNC Charlotte

Kohut believes that individual and team-writing assignments and role-playing allow students to put themselves in the place of executives facing difficult communication situations, preparing them for the kinds of challenges they will face in their own careers. He has published or presented more than 100 books, chapters, articles, papers, and workshops addressing a variety of pedagogical issues, including student writing and speaking skills, methods of internationalizing the curriculum, peer observation of teaching, and team-writing activities. He has received a number of grants to design more effective peer-observation processes, improve business students’ written and oral communication skills, and help colleagues use technology more effectively.

Russ McDonald, UNC Greensboro

Although many of Russ McDonald’s Shakespeare courses are for advanced undergraduate majors and graduate students, he also has developed a course for first-year students that allows the inexperienced reader more time to confront and master the difficulties of the early modern text. McDonald also wrote the widely used Bedford Companion to Shakespeare to provide information and background material as a framework for reading the texts intelligently. He has received the College of Arts and Sciences Teaching Excellence Award and was invited to give the keynote address at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research in 2002. His impact led a former student to establish the Russ McDonald Fund in Renaissance Literature at UNC Greensboro in his honor.

Jeffery L. Geller, UNC Pembroke

Geller uses his analysis of diverse learning styles to make his courses accessible to all UNC Pembroke students. He provides computerized supplementary material for those who learn most effectively using the computer and assigns students to find materials in the library or on websites about the philosophers they study. Geller encourages students to review materials critically, including his own interpretations, to become more independent learners. At UNCP since 1983, Geller is active in international education on campus, working with international students, serving on the committee for international exchanges, and coordinating a German exchange program.

Carol Pilgrim, UNC Wilmington

At UNC Wilmington since 1986, Pilgrim is an active researcher and serves in a number of leadership roles in professional organizations in her specialty, behavior analysis. Her students regularly attend and present posters at international, national, and regional conferences. Several have won awards for their research, and some have been co-authors on Pilgrim’s publications. She is frequently cited in surveys administered to graduating seniors as a faculty member who has had a significant impact on them. Her achievements have been recognized with the Faculty Scholarship Award, a Distinguished Teaching Professorship, the College of Arts and Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award, and the Chancellor’s Teaching Award.

Grace C. Allen, Western Carolina University

Allen revised the WCU curriculum in financial planning, adding the courses necessary to achieve registration with the Certified Financial Planning Board of Standards and enabling students to sit for the CFP examination. She also has developed a Consumer Education Project for members of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation funded by the Cherokee Preservation Foundation. Through the project, she will develop methods to teach tribal members about financial planning and provide them opportunities for financial freedom. Her students have placed highly in the American Express Planning Invitational, competing against students from much larger universities. At WCU since 1991, her recognitions include the Jay I. Kneedler Professor of Excellence, the College of Business Creative and Innovative Teaching Award, and the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award. She also has received a Distinguished Research Award from the International Academy for Case Studies. She earned her master’s degree in business administration from Appalachian State University.

Gloria King Clark, Winston-Salem State University

Clark teaches the full range of accounting courses, from cost and tax accounting to accounting for government and non-profit organizations. At WSSU since 1995, she worked with colleagues to achieve AACSB accreditation for the business school. She seeks internships for her students and is director of the WSSU/Kauffman Entrepreneurship Internship Program. Many of her students have become successful CPAs working in large corporations or operating their own businesses, and her teaching effectiveness has been recognized with the Wachovia Excellence in Teaching Award and the Innovative Teaching and Learning Excellence Award.

The oldest public university in America, the University of North Carolina today encompasses all 16 of North Carolina’s public institutions that grant baccalaureate degrees and enrolls nearly 170,000 students. UNC campuses support a broad array of distinguished liberal-arts programs, two medical schools and one teaching hospital, two law schools, a veterinary school, a school of pharmacy, ten nursing programs, 15 schools of education, three schools of engineering, and a specialized school for performing artists. Also under the University umbrella are the UNC Center for Public Television with its 11-station statewide broadcast network, and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, the nation’s first public residential high school for gifted students.

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