Parker, Scudder and Sinason win
2003 undergraduate teaching awards

by Joe King,
Mark McGowan
and Tom Parisi

Their inspiration - and their recognition - come from the students.

Jenny Parker, Joseph Scudder and David Sinason, this year's recipients of Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, now enjoy the university's longest-standing honor. It stands in a class of its own because the nominations and subsequent words of support originate with the young minds on the other side of the classroom.

"It's very special because it's student-initiated," said Parker, an associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education. "That's the most meaningful input I can get."

Initiated in 1966, the awards honor excellent undergraduate teaching in the university, encourage improvement of instruction and promote discussion among members of the university community on the subject of teaching. Nominees must be full-time faculty whose major responsibility is teaching and must have worked at least five full academic years at NIU.

Parker, Scudder and Sinason will be honored at 5 p.m. Sunday, April 13, during the Convocation for Academic Excellence in the Duke Ellington Ballroom. Each receives a check for $2,000.

Here is a closer look at the three.

'Passionate about teaching'

Jenny Parker knows the exact moment her students reach the top of the mountain - and climb over.

Parker, who teaches future secondary school physical education teachers, takes her flock to NIU's Lorado Taft campus during KNPE 466: Field Experience at Outdoor Environments. The students embrace the woodsy setting to learn outside activities for their future students and then spend three days teaching fifth-graders from Aurora, many of whom arrive at Taft with no previous exposure to such a rural place.

"They go into it being students," Parker says, "and they come out of it with a true appreciation of what it means to be a teacher."

A student favorite since arriving in 1995, Parker is known for teaching long classes with a pedagogy focus (none less than three hours) that provide real-world experiences and demand active learning.

Her teaching methods class often meets in the gym, where lectures turn into immediate practice. An oral lesson on volleyball quickly becomes physical when the students walk a few steps to the court.

Parker also engages students in ways to serve the community or coordinate fundraisers (P.E. teachers often must organize "Jump Rope for Heart" or related events). She encourages students to realize their place in the school gym is no longer as the star athlete. Similarly, they must face during her class the possibly uncomfortable truth that not every child or teenager enjoys P.E. class.

"I try to get them passionate about teaching," she says. "It's not about how good you are, it's about how you can teach and reach a student."

Students are quick with praise.

"Dr. Parker expects a lot, and she has a way of getting your best," Daniel Rossi says. "Don't take her class unless you're ready to grow, because she'll make you think. And she'll make you stretch outside your comfort zone. She pushes you and makes you push yourself, and if you ever get pushed too far, she's there for you."

"A high standard of achievement was always set and expected in her classes. Constant feedback and suggestions made it possible for every student to reach that standard, and regular encouragement made it rewarding," adds Jillian Heintz. "I now try to set my standards to her level. To be able to teach in the creative, caring and educating manner that she taught me will be my unending goal."

A native of the tiny Isle of Man, between England and Ireland, Parker taught P.E. in secondary schools in England before coming to the United States on a Rotary Club scholarship.

Parker is proud of her students' choice of careers.

"P.E. gets a bad reputation," she says, "but if you get students to be passionate about physical activity, you affect their health, which affects everything else. To me, it's one of the most important things we teach. My students have a unique opportunity to make a difference."

'Dedicated to students' success'

Antwan Hampton grew up in poverty on Chicago's South Side. Because of his family's occasional bouts of homelessness, he completed school only through the ninth grade. Today, Hampton holds two degrees in communication from NIU, where he works as an instructor. He recently was accepted to a Ph.D. program at the University of Chicago, but instead decided to pursue his law degree at NIU.

How did Hampton do it? Hard work, of course, but he also points to one professor in the Department of Communication as a key to his success: Joseph Scudder.

As he has done with countless students, Scudder took Hampton under his wing. He told him he was bright and talented. He encouraged him to attend graduate school at NIU. And later he pushed Hampton to dream even bigger.

"I got my GED when I was 16, spent some time in the service and then barely had the confidence to go to college," Hampton says. "Being at NIU and having to adjust to middle-class values was a challenge. It's like being thrust into a foreign place. People didn't know how to approach me, but Dr. Scudder had no problem. It's hard to find a mentor when you're so different from people around you. At the time, I didn't even know what a mentor was. He's been more than that to me."

Praise from Scudder's former students isn't uncommon. In his seven years at NIU, the communication professor has been known to challenge students in the classroom and beyond.

Angel Traub once asked Scudder whether he felt she could handle the rigors of law school while raising her two children. He gave her a resounding yes - as well as a glowing letter of recommendation. She still has it.

"Not only was Dr. Scudder an excellent teacher, but I truly consider him a friend," says the Lombard attorney.

Scudder lives in Sycamore and holds a Ph.D. from Indiana University. At NIU, he serves as co-director of his department's high-tech Center for Telematics. And he teaches courses in business and professional communication, research methods, organizational communication and a senior capstone portfolio course.

"Joe is a demanding teacher, but he is especially generous with his time," says Lois Self, communication department chair. "He is dedicated to students' success."

Particularly noteworthy is the senior portfolio course developed by Scudder. It gives students an opportunity to display their best undergraduate work in an employer-friendly portfolio formatted on compact disc. Since the course was launched in 1998, nearly 500 students have taken it. Many say the portfolios helped launch their careers.

Scudder says his students keep him motivated to give his best. "It has been my privilege to work with great students," he says. "The (undergraduate teaching) award is nice, but their success is much more important to me."

Class of discovery

The food packaging world's loss has been the accounting world's gain, and for that, students in the NIU College of Business are very grateful.

So grateful, in fact, that they sponsored the successful nomination of Associate Professor of Accountancy David Sinason for the Undergraduate Teaching Award.

Sinason began his professional career as a packaging engineer working in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries. Looking for career advancement, he decided to familiarize himself with the budget process by taking a couple of accounting courses.

A couple of classes turned into a bachelor's degree, which led to a job as an auditor at a bank and work on a master's degree. That led to a part-time job as an instructor, which turned into a full-time position, all of which ultimately helped him discover a love for teaching.

His affinity for the job is clear to students who sprinkle their evaluations with words such as "passion," "enthusiasm" and "excitement" when describing his teaching style.

"I love teaching and working with young people," Sinason says, "especially when a student who is undecided about their career path leaves my class saying that they have discovered what they want to do."

That is precisely what happened to Deborah Norman.

"I always left his class feeling like I could be a great auditor," she says. "His class instilled in me a great appreciation for the art of auditing. Thanks to his influence I have been an auditor for a public accounting firm for two years now."

Former students also praised Sinason's availability and involvement outside of the classroom.

"He is a caring, devoted instructor. He often took the time to advise me on academic and professional development matters, whether or not he was currently my instructor," recalls Pamela Hector, an honors student who was part of a group of independent study students Sinason hosted in his home.

His commitment to students extends beyond the classroom.

He actively supports the Beta Alpha Psi business fraternity, works as the adviser for the undergraduate honors program in accountancy, and next year will begin serving as the faculty adviser to the Student Accounting Society. He also serves as the faculty adviser for the NIU Hillel, a Jewish student group.

Being involved with students is important to Sinason, who has a son, Matthew, a senior in journalism at NIU. "It makes me more attuned to some student issues and makes me appreciate how things that seem small to us are very important to students," Sinason said.

Chair of Accountancy Greg Carnes, who wrote in support of Sinason's nomination, praised his selection.

"Dave Sinason is a dedicated professor who exemplifies the commitment to excellence and student learning that should be evident for all professors," Carnes said.

3-31-2003