FSU Faculty Members Honored

Four Fairmont State University faculty members were honored at the recent 31st Annual Academic Awards Celebration.

Dr. Francene Kirk, Associate Professor of Communication and Theatre, was named the 2007-2008 recipient of the William A. Boram Award for Teaching Excellence. Dr. J. Robert Baker, Professor of English, was named the winner of the Harold & Roselyn Williamson Straight Award for Faculty Development. Dr. Donna Long, Associate Professor of English, received the Excellence in Academic Advising Award. Richard Wade, an adjunct faculty member in the College of Science and Technology, was presented with the Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Award. The faculty awards are supported by gifts to the Fairmont State Foundation, Inc.

William A. Boram Award for Teaching Excellence

The Faculty Development Committee selected Dr. Francene Kirk as the winner of the 23rd annual Boram Award in recognition of her outstanding achievement as demonstrated by her sustained, energetic and successful commitment to teaching. The award is sponsored by the Faculty Senate and given in honor of FSU's many faculty members who have demonstrated unusual dedication and accomplishment in teaching.

"I am pleased to work in an institution that values teaching, and I am humbled and honored to receive an award that is given in honor of Dr. Boram," Kirk said."I was fortunate to be able to talk with Dean Peters, Dr. Boram's successor. Dr. Peters remembers Dr. Boram as a highly respected scholar and administrator and as someone who gave back to the community through his work with Fairmont General Hospital and local government.

"I am grateful to my colleagues who challenge me to be a better artist and to my students who challenge me to be a better person. I am also grateful to my family. I have been inspired by my grandmothers -- Mary Post Davis who attended Fairmont Normal School in 1917 and Frances McCue Wilfong who always valued education. Finally, I am grateful to my husband, Jerry Kirk, who values what I do and encourages me to do it well."

Kirk teaches communication, puppetry, children's theatre, creative drama and theatre education for the School of Fine Arts. Since coming to FSU in 2000, Kirk has directed numerous plays and musicals for the Masquers season and for Town & Gown, including "The Wizard of Oz," "Seussical," "A Christmas Carol" and "Oliver."

Kirk has mentored three undergraduate research projects and facilitated the creation of "A Sense of Place," a theatre piece created by students and faculty based on events of the 1940s. "œA Sense of Place" was performed in the style of an old-time radio variety show and was part of the Masquers 2006-2007 season.

She had also coordinated the tours of outreach performances of two children's plays. The first was "Tales of Trickery: Three Indonesian Folktales," which was performed at the Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences in Charleston. The second was "Wiley and the Hairy Man." The production, which included American Sign Language interpreters as performers, was presented at the West Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind in Romney and for elementary schools in Nicholas and Webster counties. In addition, her work with Town & Gown often focuses around productions for and with children. She was honored for her work in Theatre Education by the City of Fairmont Arts and Humanities Commission.

Kirk has presented workshops for teachers throughout the state on the use of drama in the classroom, as well as for the Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Conference, Southeastern Theatre Conference and American Alliance for Theatre and Education. She recently coordinated the Mountain State Storytelling Institute funded with a grant from the West Virginia Humanities Council.

A former public school teacher, Kirk served as the Coordinator for Fine Arts at the West Virginia Department of Education for two years. During this time she spearheaded the WV AIM Professional Development Needs Assessment Project, an extensive statewide survey of fine arts teachers' professional development needs funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Kirk was also the principal writer for the Arts Action Resource Kit, an informational guide designed to help parents, teachers, artists and community leaders advocate for arts education in their local schools. The resource kit was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, West Virginia Commission on the Arts, West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts and The Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation and was sponsored by Arts Advocacy West Virginia.

Kirk earned her B.A. from Glenville State College and her master's degree from West Virginia University. She received her Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with content emphases in Theatre and English in 1998 from WVU, where she collaborated with Professor William French on a summer institute for teachers on teaching Shakespeare through performance pedagogy sponsored by the West Virginia Humanities Council. She has also presented workshops on using drama and play writing in the language arts classroom at two national conventions for the National Council of Teachers of English.

Harold & Roselyn Williamson Straight Award for Faculty Development

The Harold & Roselyn Williamson Straight Award for Faculty Development is intended to honor or to encourage outstanding, innovative or otherwise distinctive teaching or scholarship at Fairmont State. Nominations and applications are invited and received by the Faculty Development Committee and the Center for Teaching Excellence, with final selection of the recipient for an annual cash award to be determined by faculty representatives to the committee.

Dr. J. Robert Baker, Professor of English, has been a member of the English faculty since 1994, has directed the Honors Program since 2000, received the Boram Award in 2001 and served as Dean of the West Virginia Governors' Honors Academy from 2005 to 2007. He edits FSU's main scholarly publication, The Occasional Papers, received a grant from the Higher Education Policy Commission to help internationalize campus and has mentored undergraduate students in their own research. Baker has published over a dozen essays and has made more than 25 professional presentations.

Dr. Christina Lavorata, Associate Provost, presented Baker with the award and gave the following comments: "The heart of what won J. Robert Baker this award were statements from his students and colleagues such as these: Dr. Baker goes above and beyond. He is just as interested in seeing the process of the papers we write as the final product. He mentors each student through the writing process. I cannot imagine the amount of time he spends because his door is always open and usually filled with students asking his advice. He is beyond a shadow of a doubt the most prepared and organized teacher I have ever encountered." Another student wrote: Joining the Honors program is the best decision I ever made and Dr. Baker plays a big role in that. I know that any of us can go to him whenever we need help or need to talk about something. He is not only a great mentor but also friend."

Excellence in Academic Advising Award

The Excellence in Advising Award is presented to honor demonstrated excellence and commitment to the significant force that academic advisors play in the education, personal development and success of their advisees. It is offered as a tribute but also as encouragement to all faculty advisors to persist in their efforts to help students achieve.

Dr. Donna Long, Associate Professor of English, was presented with her award by Pamela Stephens, Coordinator of Academic Advising.

In addition to Long's assigned advisees in English Education, she advises students in the Academic Advising Center and during New Student Orientation; she chairs the departmental advising committee; and serves on the institutional advising committee.

Long was nominated by both a colleague and a student who agree that her accessibility and dedication to students is "truly amazing." According to her colleague, "Donna believes strongly in our students' abilities and it shows in her work with them in the classroom and in her advising sessions. She does a remarkable job of advising students for the short term, while keeping future offerings in mind. She takes time with students and shows that she cares about their success at Fairmont State as well as in their careers."

The student's nomination confirms that "Dr. Long goes above and beyond the call of duty." The student said, "She has allowed me to contact her during times other than her office hours and has physically dropped off papers to other offices for me so that I would not have to take off from work."

Outstanding Adjunct Faculty

Richard Wade, an adjunct faculty member for the College of Science and Technology, was honored with the Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Award. Dr. Anthony Gilberti, Dean of the College of Science and Technology, presented Wade with the award.

"Adjuncts are the unsung heroes of any institution. Some take the worst teaching hours, days of the week and some of the largest class sizes within a program of study. They do so without complaint and with a smile on their face," Gilberti said. "Why do they do this for the institution? They do so, because like all faculty, they love teaching and giving back to society. Fairmont State University greatly appreciates the efforts of all of our adjuncts. We simply could not function without their quality instruction and dedication to students."