WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 1999

Faculty honored for service, time

By Arnold V. Cruz

On-Line Forty-Niner

Since arriving at Cal State Long Beach in 1968, history chairwoman Sharon Sievers has garnered a few teaching awards here and there. But at the Distinguished Faculty Achievement Awards on Monday, Sievers earned one of the most prestigious honors by being named the 1998-1999 Outstanding Professor.

More than 120 people attended the three-hour ceremony, which took place in the North Campus Library Conference Room. Karl Anatol, provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs, handled the acknowledgments, and President Robert Maxson welcomed the attendees.

Sievers is currently the CSULB history department chairwoman. She spends most of her time doing administrative work, but still finds time to teach.

"It's a very big department," Sievers said. "But I'd still find ways to teach even with a full administrative load."

Qualifications for the award are broad since the Academic Senate changed the criteria. The award used to be reserved primarily for professors who showed outstanding teaching performance in the classrooms. Due to changes implemented by the Academic Senate, the honor is now given to faculty who have showed their effectiveness in other areas.

"The primary emphasis is the quality of teaching and counseling the students," said Keith Polakoff, vice president of Academic Affairs. "But it also includes conducting internships and scholarship work."

Other awards given at the banquet included the Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award, the Distinguished Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity Award, and the Outstanding Staff Award.

Winners of the Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award included Tracy Maples, department of computer engineering and computer science; Elizabeth Ortiz, department of social work; Julie Van Camp, department of philosophy; and Mary Ellen Vogt, department of teacher education.

"This award is based on teaching and doing something above and beyond [expectations]," Polakoff said. "Some teachers use the Internet to teach. Something unusual like that is what we're looking for."

The Distinguished Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity Award was presented to Professor Clorinda Donato from the department of romance, German and Russian languages and literature. Professor Timothy Plax, from the department of communication studies, was also honored.

The award is based on published research and can only be won once at CSULB.