Nominations closed last Friday for the Lucas-Hathaway Teaching Excellence Awards, honors that Dr. Dana Baer, provost, described as “like the Emmys or the Grammys or the Oscars.”
“I think it’s always important to recognize and congratulate people for work that is well done,” said Baer. “Oftentimes, faculty are doing work that is not always recognized or obvious, so it is nice to take time and recognize those people that are adding something distinctive to their teaching.”
Recipients will receive a commemorative plaque and $1,200 award, funded by the Lucas-Hathaway Charitable Trust. The Lucas-Hathaway Teaching Excellence Awards are given annually to three faculty members.
After receiving nominations from students, faculty, staff and alumni, a committee consisting of three past winners, the provost and a student representative make the final decisions. The three awards spotlight different categories: a history of teaching excellence, teaching excellence in an introductory course and teaching excellence for a non-full-time faculty member.
Baer said separating the awards into three categories helps bring attention to the distinct challenges that faculty members face and overcome.
She said the Lucas-Hathaway Awards are a rare
opportunity to really highlight part-time faculty members who don’t spend as much time on campus.
“We’re able to break out that bunch of folks and recognize what they do,” Baer said. “Because it’s not easy to be a part-time faculty member. They’re coming and going; they don’t interact with the faculty or students as much.”
Baer also said that teaching introductory subjects poses specific challenges, especially for senior faculty members. But in many ways, Baer said, these introductory courses are the most important for students. She said it is important to recognize those professors that regularly entice students to pursue a particular path or vocation.
“Those are really foundational kind of classes,” she said. “Whether it’s [PSY] 105 or an intro history course or an intro sociology course…you’re really laying the foundation for later learning. And you’re also, in those classes, you’re lighting a spark.”
By the same token, faculty members who receive the history of teaching excellence award are recognized for their consistent energy in the classroom, despite years of teaching the same subject.
“Someone who has been teaching a long time could teach the same old thing in the same old way,” said Baer. “But this award is recognizing that person who has been teaching for a long time, or over a period of time who still is so enthusiastic about his or her subject matter that it’s recognized.”
In past years, winners of the awards have been announced at commencement; but this year, Lucas-Hathaway Awards will be announced as part of Waynesburg University’s Charter Day celebration. Baer said the awards perfectly encapsulate the university’s mission.
“It’s important that we’re recognizing these at Charter Day this year, which is a change from what we’ve done before,” she said. “Because it really speaks to the significance of these awards, the meaningfulness of the awards, the connection to the history and the foundation of the mission.”
Baer said the award recipients embody a number of qualities that represent the purpose of Waynesburg University, which is why recognition is so critical. They are more than professors and instructors. They are leaders.
“Energy. Commitment to the mission. Commitment to students. Selflessness,” said Baer. “If you think about your best teachers, they’re the ones who are going to come alongside you and guide you to where you want to be or where you can be.”