Newsworthy: Deborah Ward Wins October Spirit of Excellence Award

English Department Office Associate Deborah Ward has been awarded one of four Auburn University Spirit of Excellence awards for October 2005.

“I was surprised," Ward said. "I didn't know anything about it. I think it's an honor. I really enjoy working here, and I was just glad to be nominated.”

The Spirit of Excellence Award was established to recognize Auburn employees for their service to the university. Each month four winners are selected from the pool of nominees, one each from the following employment groups—service/maintenance, secretarial/clerical, technical, and administrative/professional.

To be eligible for a Spirit of Excellence Award, employees must have at least one year of continuous employment at Auburn and a performance evaluation rating that meets or exceeds expectations at the time of nomination. Spirit of Excellence Award winners are nominated by other Auburn University employees and faculty members.

Ward has worked in the Department since March of 2003. She has also worked in the University's Registrar and Accounts Payable offices. She has been an Auburn employee in some capacity for the last 11 years.

She and Kevin, her husband of 25 years, have two sons. Christopher, 19, is a sophomore in Criminology at Auburn and is also a tuba player in the AU marching band. Kyle, 15, is in 9th grade.

In her free time, Ward enjoys a range of activities from reading to whitewater rafting. Although Ward admits she "was scared to death" the first time she tried whitewater rafting, it has become a passion. Every summer she takes a trip to ride the Ocoee River in Tennessee, and she has also tested the waters of the Nantahala River located in the mountains of western North Carolina.

As a monthly Spirit of Excellence Award winner, Ward will be eligible for the Employee of the Year Spirit of Excellence Award, which will be announced and recognized at the annual university Employee Recognition Award ceremony this spring.

Visit the Human Resources web site for more information on nominating an employee for the Spirit of Excellence Award.

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November 16 - Discussion Session for Job Seekers - 4 pm - HC 8009

A discussion session for job seekers on what to expect at a job interview and how to prepare for an interview will be November 16 at 4 pm in HC 8009. Professors Paula Backscheider and Miriam Clark, who will be conducting interviews for the Department at MLA in December, will lead the discussion.

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November 29 - CLA Copyright/Fair Use Workshop and Lunch - 12 pm - HC 3223B

All Department faculty and graduate teaching assistants are invited to a College of Liberal Arts workshop and brown bag lunch on Copyright and Fair Use on Tuesday, November 29 from 12 to 1 pm in HC 3223B (located inside HC 3223).

If you have questions and concerns about the appropriate and legal use of articles in your classes, if you have been wondering whether to post essays in your WebCT course, if you would like to learn more about Fair Use and how you can use it successfully, please attend.

Bring your own lunch—the CLA Promoting Excellence in Teaching and Learning Committee (PETL) is sponsoring this event and will provide drinks and desserts.

Please contact Wiebke Kuhn by email or phone (844-2056) if you are interested in attending.

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January 5, 2006 - Lead Teacher/Co-Teacher Workshop - 9:30 am - HC 3104

A workshop for Department members serving as Lead Teachers and Co-Teachers during the upcoming Spring semester will be on January 5, 2006, from 9:30 am to noon in HC 3104.

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January 5, 2006 - WebCT Basic Training Session - 8:30 am - HC 3242

January 6, 2006 - WebCT Advanced Training Session - 9 am - HC 3242

The College of Liberal Arts is offering two workshops on WebCT next year—a basic training session on January 5 and an advanced session on January 6.

The deadline to sign up for one or both classes is December 2. If you would like to participate, email Darrell Crutchley or Wiebke Kuhn. There are 28 seats available for each workshop.

The basic workshop will give you an introduction that will allow you to start using WebCT when your classes begin. The workshop will cover the basics of creating a WebCT course and linking it to your class roll; adding material to the course; organizing your course so that it makes sense to students; managing your course: backups of individual tools and the whole course; using some of the communication tools; and using quizzes.

The advanced training session will build on the basic workshop but will also be very useful for WebCT users who would like to learn more tools, more tricks, and in general want to gain more experience. The session will include: organizing content; using additional communication tools with an emphasis on HorizonWimba Voice Tools; using WebDAV as a shortcut to transfer files into WebCT; adding students assessment tools; using grade calculations; adding design icons; and using additional tools such as image database and glossary.

For both workshops it will help greatly if you have already created your content (i.e., text files, images files, list of links, PowerPoint presentations) and bring it on a CD, jump drive, or can access it from your email.

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January 10, 2006 - Information Technology Open House - 10 am - HC 3223B

The College of Liberal Arts is hosting an Information Technology Open House on January 10, 2006, from 10 am to 4 pm in HC 3223B (located in HC 3223).

Anyone teaching English classes can stop by for quick help with WebCT, PowerPoint, other software, and classroom equipment.

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TEC Maintenance Announcement

The College of Liberal Arts will be updating all Haley Center Technology Enhanced Classrooms during Thanksgiving Break.

Please remember that this means that any content you or your students have put onto local computers will be erased.

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Conference Announcement - Paula Backscheider

Paula Backscheider was the opening speaker for an international symposium on Early Modern Popular Culture and Genre, 1650-1750, at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor on October 23. Her paper was on the foundation in that period of the paradigms for the study of and attacks on modern popular culture.

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Publication Announcement - Nick Boone

Nick Boone's article, "Openness to Contingency: Huckleberry Finn and the Morality of Phronesis," has been published in the latest issue of the journal Studies in the Humanities.

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Spring 2006 Theatre Schedule

This spring, the Auburn University Theatre Department will feature productions of Shakespeare's Tempest, dance pieces choreographed by AU faculty member Judith Nelson, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

The production schedule with performance dates:

• dAUnce, January 26-29

• The Tempest, March 7-12

• The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, April 12-15 and 18-23

Weeknight and Saturday performances begin at 7:30 pm, and Sunday performances begin at 2:30 pm. Admission is free to Auburn students with valid University ID. Tickets are $18 for faculty, staff, and senior citizens and $20 for the general public.

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Books for Africa Drive

MA student Saiward Pharr is chairing the Graduate School Council's effort to collect books of all sorts for the Books for Africa Drive.

Shortly there will be bins on campus to collect books with a copyright of 2000 or newer. Please donate unwanted/unused books to this program. Every book that is collected is either donated directly to educational programs in Africa or sold by the organization to donate proceeds to educational programs in Africa.  

Anyone who has books they wish to donate or who would be willing to volunteer to periodically check collection bins should contact Saiward for details.

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New Graduate Course on College Teaching

Graduate students interested in teaching at the college level are encouraged to sign up for a new course designed to provide a working knowledge of the central issues in college teaching. The class, Seminar in College Teaching (EDLD 8510), will be offered for the first time this Spring and is open to all graduate students. The class time is Tuesday from 4 to 6:40 pm in HC 3034.

The course will provide an overview of the major issues involved in teaching and learning in higher education through the use of experiential learning, lecture, group and collaborative activities, readings, discussion, case studies, email dialog, student-led discussions, guest instructor presentations, and reflective writing.

View the full course description for more information.

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To include an item in The English Channel, submit text items by Tuesday at 4 pm for publication Wednesday. Submit items by email to Will Brinkley or Betsy Smith or put the information in their mailbox. Please check your submission for accuracy and completion—all calendar items and meeting announcements must include the date, time, and location of the event.

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Last updated November 16, 2005

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Department of English
9030 Haley Center
Auburn University, AL 36849-5203
Phone (334) 844-4620
FAX (334) 844-9027
© 2005 Department of English at Auburn University. All rights reserved.

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