Virginia Tech will give Favorite Faculty Awards to faculty members who have been nominated by students for their excellence in teaching.
The awards are sponsored by the Office of Residence Life, a department within the Division of Student Affairs. The reception will be held April 7 for the student nominators and recipients.
James Penven, the associate director of residence life, said the awards have been put in place for students living on campus to nominate their favorite faculty members.
"We have put the voting in the hands of the students to be able to recognize their teachers," Penven said. "In January, we put out a marketing campaign for students to nominate their teachers on a survey site. Students can do this anonymously because sometimes they do not want their teachers to know that they nominated them."
George Simmons, a pre-dental adviser and biological sciences professor, said he was notified of his nomination through a letter he received in the mail.
"I got a letter from the organization saying that there was going to be a luncheon for all of the nominated teachers," Simmons said. "The student that nominated me was at the luncheon and it was a pleasure for her to nominate me. It was a young lady who became ill in our class one day due to low blood sugar or something of the kind, and I stayed with her until the emergency rescue officers came and made sure she was OK. When she came back to class, I wanted her to sit somewhere where I could keep an eye on her."
Simmons said he was honored when he learned of his nomination.
"The young girl felt like someone truly cared about her," Simmons said. "She was in a class of 400-plus students, so I felt as though she was very appreciative for what I had done for her."
Penven said students are able to nominate up to two professors for the award.
"We have some students that will nominate two people, but we have others that will just nominate one," Penven said. "We have seen several faculty members continually reappear in the nominations, and that truly speaks to the impact that they have had on the students."
Scott Geller, a psychology professor, is a recipient of a similar favorite faculty award given by the alumni association.
"Teaching is the best thing that I have had an opportunity to do," Geller said. "I am grateful to be working with students. I am going into my 40th year as a teacher, and I have received a lot of teaching awards, but even though I have, it is always such an honor that students still appreciate my teaching and they know that I really do care."
Geller said he is inspired to teach future leaders of our country.
"I believe that we have to love teaching because the students we teach are the people who will make our world run," Geller said. "Teaching is the way we leave a legacy. I think we live, love, learn and leave a legacy. I feel that we enable and teach our future leaders of this nation and beyond."
Mike Ellerbrock, an economics professor and former recipient of the award by the Division of Student Affairs, said he is truly honored by the award because he has such a passion about his career.
"I feel that I was nominated by this award because hopefully students realize how much I care about them and about economics," Ellerbrock said. "I love teaching because education builds a better world by building better people. I am all for education at all levels, and I really enjoy teaching Tech students because they are very highly motivated and quite mature individuals."
Penven said the awards banquet is a time for faculty and the students that nominated them to spend quality time together.
"We ask for a student or two to speak about why they nominated the teacher that they did," Penven said. "We typically ask the faculty member to talk about why they have found it worthwhile to invest the time with students that they do. The bulk of this reception is for the faculty to see how appreciated they are because they do not often hear that their work is noticed and really appreciated."
Chris Neck, associate professor of management, said he was also the recipient of the similar award given by the Alumni Association.
"I have won a lot of really great awards on campus, but the one that I give the most value to is the favorite faculty award because it is given by the students," Neck said. "There is no one that knows more about what you are doing in the classroom than the students. If you really try to make the class interesting and exciting, that is something that the students will respond to."
Neck added that the award is the pinnacle of awards he has received.
"I feel a lot of emotions when I think of that award," Neck said. "I feel validation, knowing that I have done a good job. I feel a sense of appreciation, and it is really a motivator for me."
Neck said this is his last year at Tech, so the award was very significant.
"To get the award this year meant the most to me," Neck said. "There is a sadness to leaving here, but the number of students that impacted my life during my time here is amazing.
When I teach someone, I do not teach them for the semester - I teach them for life."