UIS faculty members receive awards for teaching and service; tenure, promotions and sabbaticals announced

The University of Illinois Springfield held its annual Faculty Honors Reception on Tuesday, May 1, 2018. Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost Dennis Papini presided over the ceremony honoring faculty members who have been recommended for tenure and/or promotion, been awarded sabbaticals, or granted emerita/emeritus status. Four major awards – the Pearson Faculty Award, the Spencer Faculty Service Award, the Burks Oakley II Distinguished Online Teaching Award and the Faculty Excellence Award - were also presented.

The Faculty Excellence Award was given to Lan Dong, associate professor of English & modern languages. The award recognizes mid- and late-career colleagues who best exemplify the ideal of the teacher-scholar and whom the faculty recognizes as role models, based on sustained accomplishments in teaching and scholarship at UIS. The award is funded through the generosity of Wilbur and Margaret Wepner.

In her 11 years at UIS, Dong has published two monographs, three edited books, sixteen book chapters, ten journal articles, and multiple essays in refereed encyclopedias and online resources. She also has a work published in Chinese. Her reputation in Asian American scholarship is well known. She exemplifies the teacher-scholar model.

“She is an excellent and demanding teacher who maintains high academic standards and has received praise from her students,” said members of the faculty review committee. “She is an attentive teacher and always provides her students with precise and prompt feedbacks. She particularly excels at mentoring student scholarship.”

Two of her recent students have journal publications, and many others have presented their work at conferences and symposiums. Dong’s students have also been very active in the annual UIS Student Technology, Art, & Research Symposium.

In 2012, she was invited to Hong-Kong to conduct a seminar on Asian American culture. She is an active public servant in her field. She has been serving on editorial boards, reviewing essays, assessing proposals for major awards, and organizing conferences.

The Pearson Faculty Award for outstanding teaching was presented to Holly Kent, associate professor of history. The award recognizes a faculty member whose performance exemplifies UIS’ commitment to excellence in teaching and who stands among the very best teachers on campus. Such a teacher both informs and inspires students, giving them the knowledge and values with which they may become productive and enlightened citizens. The award was established by a gift from Emmet and Mary Pearson, longtime benefactors of the campus.

Kent’s teaching areas are women’s studies, history and more specifically fashion history. The review committee noted Kent’s excellence in teaching, as evidenced by student evaluations, the enthusiastic support of her peers, and her cross-disciplinary approach.

“She serves as a generous mentor to both colleagues and students,” said members of the faculty review committee. “Dr. Kent’s courses are rigorous and engaging, a result of her innovative pedagogical strategies.”

In recognition of Kent’s unique scholarship and teaching excellence she was chosen as a COPLAC representative to collaborate and develop a multi-campus, multi-disciplinary course entitled “Fashion as an Agent of Social Change Since 1900”. The review committee characterized Kent’s cumulative record of teaching excellence as embodying qualities of Leadership lived.

The Spencer Faculty Service Award was given to Ranjan Karri, associate professor of management. Honoring Robert Spencer, founding president of Sangamon State University, this award recognizes faculty who best exemplify the ideal of the “professor-citizen” through public service and service to the academic community.

Karri came to UIS in 2006 and has made significant service contributions to the university, his profession, and the wider community. At the university system level, he is currently a member of the University Senates Conference and Discovery Partners Institute Academic Executive Committee.

At UIS, Karri has been a member of and active leader on numerous campus committees. He has chaired eight UIS committees such as the campus Senate, Graduate Council, the Promotions Committee, and Sabbatical and Awards Committee.

Karri is a member of the board of directors for the International Family Enterprise Research Academy and the Midwest Academy of Management in addition to membership on the editorial boards for the Journal of Cooperative Management and the Family Business Review.

Further service to his profession includes reviewing articles for numerous journals and chairing academic conference sessions. Karri’s community service is also impressive with two highlights being the development of a reorganization plan for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and advising the strategic planning of the Lincoln Public Library.

Layne Morsch, associate professor of chemistry, was honored with the Oakley Distinguished Online Teaching Award. The award was established by Burks Oakley II, who helped launch UIS’ online programs and was also in attendance at the event The Oakley Award recognizes UIS faculty members whose performance exemplifies the institution’s commitment to excellence in online teaching.

Morsch came to UIS in 2008 and is a cutting edge innovator in his online and blended chemistry courses. His philosophy of creating an active and engaging learning environment for students is complimented by his commitment to utilizing new technology. For example, to increase his students’ digital literacy, Morsch has them create infographics to present their arguments in a visual way and public service announcement videos.

He was one of two professors asked to pilot test the newly developed ChemDraw app, a chemical structure drawing software, and he also pilot tested two chemistry learning games that allow students to physically interact with three dimensional chemical structures. Morsch utilized iPads to incorporate electronic lab notebooks that allow students to add pictures and videos from their experiments to their lab reports. He is currently using a flipped teaching style in his organic chemistry classes where students watch 140 video lectures that he created over the course of the academic year at home, and then class time is spent actively solving problems and engaging in discussions.

Morsch has disseminated what he has learned from these teaching innovations in publications and he has given numerous presentations at national conferences. In 2015, Morsch was named an Apple Distinguished Educator. In this capacity he advises Apple’s education team about the use of technology in higher education and works with colleagues across the U.S. and in Canada to implement new teaching techniques using technology. Morsch also created a public iTunes U course for the two organic chemistry classes that he teaches that currently has over 19,000 subscribers. He exemplifies UIS’ commitment to excellence in online teaching and learning.

The inaugural Harry and Deborah Berman Sabbatical Award was presented to Yona Stamatis, UIS associate professor of ethnomusicology. Stamatis will research and compile data on rebetiko music in Greece, providing a meaningful contribution to the ethnomusicology disciplines; and write the proposal and sample chapter on a book tentatively titled "Rebetiko Nation: Making Music in Crisis" for submission to an academic press. The sabbatical award will be used toward expenses in Athens, Greece.

Recommended for tenure and promotion to associate professor were Travis Bland, Public Administration; Dorine Brand, Public Health; Richard Funderburg, Public Administration; Kenneth Owen, History; Dathan Powell, Art, Music, & Theatre; Yona Stamatis, Art, Music, & Theatre; and Lucas Vespa, Computer Science.

Carol Jessup, Accountancy, was recommended for promotion to full professor. Leonard Branson, Accountancy; Ronald McNeil, Business Administration; and Ted Mims, Computer Science, were awarded emeritus status.

Sabbatical leaves have been recommended for Heather Bailey, History; Meagan Cass, English & Modern Languages; Shane Harris, Art, Music, & Theatre; Holly Kent, History; Jason Pierceson, Political Science; Dathan Powell, Art, Music, & Theatre; Yona Stamatis, Art, Music, & Theatre; and Benjamin Walsh, Management.

All promotion, tenure, sabbatical leave, and emerita/emeritus status recommendations are subject to approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees.