Senior class to vote an favorite College professor

This spring, students will get to vote on the first-ever Senior Class Award for Teaching Excellence. According to School of Arts and Sciences officials, the Class of 2000 will have the opportunity to honor its favorite standing SAS faculty member before graduating. A past anonymous donor proposed the new award after noticing that teaching excellence often goes unrewarded while good research receives special attention, SAS Vice Dean for External Affairs Jean-Marie Kneeley said. "The deans were delighted to act on [the idea]," Kneeley said, adding that SAS approved terms of the gift late last month. Neither the award's exact amount nor the details of the nomination process have been released. Yesterday, SAS Dean Samuel Preston expressed his enthusiasm for the award, which will allow students to "celebrate outstanding teaching" in the College of Arts and Sciences. "It's obvious that students themselves are best positioned to identify the teachers who have made the biggest difference in their lives here," Preston said. He added that SAS is contacting an "appropriate student group" who will hopefully administer the annual award. "[The Student Committee on Undergraduate Education] would be our first choice," Kneeley said last week, adding that SAS has other student groups in mind should SCUE decline to participate in the award process. College junior and SCUE Vice Chairperson Josh Wilkenfeld said that SCUE is "definitely interested in awards of that nature." "When recognition comes from the students, it's an exciting thing," he said, adding that he couldn't discuss what the groups exact involvement with the award would be until SCUE receives further information. SCUE Chairperson Aaron Fidler was unavailable for comment yesterday. Kneeley said that although the University offers other awards for teaching excellence -- including the University-wide Lindback Awards and the SAS-administered Ira Abrams Award for Distinguished Teaching -- the new award is different. "This is the first one that would be awarded by students," Kneeley said. She noted that professors will not be eligible for the award more than once in any four-year period. The student-based award will be presented at the SAS annual teaching award ceremony in April, along with other school-based honors, including the Abrams Award. The new Senior Class Award joins another recently announced teaching accolade based on student recommendation. Earlier this month, University President Judith Rodin announced that she will fund 10 scholarships of $500 for top graduate student teaching assistants nominated by undergraduates.