Six receive Provost's Excellence Awards

Five WIU faculty members and an academic adviser have been named 2008 Provost’s Award of Excellence Winners.

Front row, l-r: Jensen; Hemphill; and Provost Thomas. Second row: Poulter; Plos MS ’00; Ferrer; and Hoon ’86 MA ’91.“I’m pleased to present this year’s awards to the WIU faculty and staff who have distinguished themselves in the various areas,” said Provost Jack Thomas.

The recipients, and a sampling of comments from the nominating committee, are as follows:

Excellence in Teaching: Jennifer Plos MS ‘00, kinesiology instructor and athletic training program clinical coordinator. “She serves as a mentor for freshmen students investigating a career in athletic training at the same time she is preparing senior level students to be competent entry-level athletic trainers. Jennifer’s use of strategically integrated course assignments are just a few of her strengths that make her an outstanding teacher.”

Excellence in University/Community Service: Buzz Hoon ‘86 MA ‘91, broadcasting professor. He has been involved in leadership of the multiculturalism division of his national professional organization, the Broadcast Education Association. On campus, he has taken leadership roles within his department and Instruction, a council. “Buzz serves as the sport director for wiutv3, which provides opportunities for students to develop their skills, provides a glimpse of the broadcasting opportunities at WIU for potential students and also provides visibility for WIU Intercollegiate Athletics to the broader community.”

Excellence in Internationalizing the Campus: Leuanda Hemphill, associate professor of instructional design and technology, for her efforts to internationalize learning, teaching, research, presentations and publications. Through her efforts, Hemphill has built international alliances and has enhanced the international experiences of WIU students. “Leuanda often uses global issues in her classes to spark conversation and to expose students to cultural differences.”

Excellence in Scholarly/Creative/Performative/Professional Activities: Efrain Ferrer, physics professor. Ferrer is an expert in the problems and methods of “quantum field theories under external conditions such as temperature, density, and external fields.” His research findings, unveiling the interconnection between a star’s magnetic field and the super-dense phases of its core, has attracted other physics researchers to look more closely at the interconnection of the magnetism of super-dense matter and astrophysics.

Excellence in Teaching in Technology: Mary Jensen, special education professor, for integrating technology into the teaching and learning process. “She continually receives excellent feedback from her students regarding the effectiveness and impact of the use of technology in the coursework, and she has integrated technology into teaching in the field of special education.”

Outstanding Academic Adviser: Ellen Poulter, English and journalism department. “Ellen thoroughly prepares for her meetings with students and continually rates highly on areas of her student evaluations. Her caseload consisted of more than 312 majors in Spring 2008, as well as 226 students working on a minor. Even with that many students, Ellen has been able to remain sensitive to the students’ needs and always goes beyond expectations to help them achieve academic success.”

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