Nominations are now being accepted for the Vanderhill Award for most outstanding Honors professor.
Each year, hundreds of Honors students participate in classes that that amaze, inspire, or change them. The Vanderhill Award is given to one outstanding Honors faculty member each year. Students nominate the candidates for the award, and a student committee determines the recipient of the award.
“Because teaching Honors is so distinctive and different from the way most faculty are trained to teach, faculty are able to develop their skills in ways that are only possible elsewhere with great difficulty. The winners also get the opportunity to attend the next annual meeting of the National Collegiate Honors Council, to meet others engaged in similar kinds of professional development,” Dr. James Ruebel, Honors College dean, said.
Honors faculty come from many departments on campus. Ruebel said that recognizing professor’s outstanding achievements is important not only to the Honors College but also to the professor’s home department. The professors themselves can see recognition of their achievement in the Honors House where there is a plaque that bears the names of past recipients.
Students who have taken an Honors class with a professor they think deserves recognition may pick up a nomination form from the front desk of the Honors House or DeHority. The form is also available online here. Nominations are due by Friday, February 6.