Teacher-Scholar Award
for Community College Chemistry Teachers
This award was formally established by the Executive
Committee in March of 2009, and $500 was authorized to fund it.
It is the first, and so far the only, such award in the nation.
The award was initiated by Alternate Councilor Harry Ungar of Cabrillo
College in Santa Cruz, and $500 in seed funding was provided by the
NSF-supported ChemEd Bridges project. The deadline for nominations was
July 1. In an impressive ceremony the first award was presented at the
Section's November 19 dinner meeting to Professor Jeanette Medina of
Cañada College in Redwood City, by Dr. Tom Lane, President of
the ACS in 2009.
Section Chair Natalie McClure wrote in the December
Newsletter: We had an
inspiring dinner meeting in November. This was the inaugural
presentation of the Section's newest
award. Dr. Medina received a plaque, as well as a check for her and
another check for her department. Dr. Medina is both a scholar with 14
publications in refereed scientific journals, and an educator who
understands what students require to learn chemistry. She seeks to
provide those experiences and services for her students that not only
enrich their education but also help remove the stress of those factors
that get in the way of learning. She prepares high school students by
designing events that keep their teachers current in chemical sciences.
An unusually large number of
students took advantage of our "free dinner for students" policy;
students were there not only from Cañada College, but also from
San José State University, Santa Clara University and U.C. Santa
Cruz. Eileen Nottoli and Paul Vartanian, Chair and Chair Elect,
respectively, of the
California Section, attended. Finally, President Tom Mohr and
Vice President Instruction Sarah Perkins of Cañada College were
there.
Because of his extensive involvement with community
colleges, it was particularly appropriate for President Tom Lane to
present the
award. As a student he attended a community college. After he received
his Ph.D. and became an industrial chemist, he taught at his local
community college as an adjunct instructor. He has served on, and
chaired, its board of trustees. He and his wife have established
two scholarship funds for community college students.
ACS President Tom Lane, Jeanette
Medina,
A small part of the large group
that attended the and Harry
Ungar
presentation dinner meeting
An article describing the award and the ceremony
appeared in C&E News on December 21, 2009 (p.49).
The process
A committee composed of Harry Ungar, Bonnie
Charpentier and Howard Peters took the initiative and responsibility to
promote and carry out the Award. Written and oral communications with
other community college faculty were carried out by Ungar. Community
college faculty work in a culture that is different from that in a
university or four year college or in industry. It is important that
these teachers are addressed in a style that is compatible with their
culture and values.
Eligibility and Criteria
The SCV Section's territory includes the five
counties around San José, California in which there are 13
community colleges. Any chemistry faculty member from one of these
colleges, either active or retired, is eligible for the award. Since
the award is for a lifetime of achievement it makes sense to include
emeritus faculty.
The title "Teacher-Scholar" emphasized that
activities above and beyond excellent classroom teaching are central to
the award. The activities used to evaluate nominations are as follows.
* Excellent teaching in the lab
and classroom
* Extensive mentoring and
encouragement of students toward academic success
* Collaborations with local high
schools and four-year colleges and universities, leading to more
student transfers and better articulation
* Educational innovation,
evaluation and dissemination
* Published articles and books
related to chemistry education
* Supervision of undergraduate
research
* Participation in grant-funded
projects promoting innovative teaching methods and undergraduate
research
* Exceptional contributions to
the college's chemistry department
* Public
outreach
* Contributions to the local
community, for example through the K-12 system
Anyone can nominate a person for the award; the
nominator does not need to be a faculty member. To ensure impartiality
those on the committee or on the panel of judges are not allowed to
nominate anyone nor to be considered for the award.
Soliciting Nominations:
Because the award is still almost unknown to the
chemical community it was surprisingly difficult to attract the two
nominations that we received. Disseminating information about the award
and recruiting those who might make nominations are critical steps to
the success of the project. We began by compiling an e-mail list of all
eligible active faculty members from the various college's web sites
and sending them a description of the Award and an invitation to become
a nominator. We were unable to reach the emeritus faculty other
than a few that we knew personally. We found that e-mail alone did not
generate any nominations. Phone calls were made to some colleagues and
this method yielded two nominations with two more promised for next
year.
ChemEd Bridges provides professional development
opportunities to expand the horizons and enrich the careers of
community college chemistry faculty, encouraging more of them to become
teacher-scholars.
Harry Ungar,
Chair
Community
College Teacher-Scholar Award Committee
