UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

Aaron Wootton

Hancock, Wootton to Share Outstanding Teaching, Scholarship Thoughts, Feb. 12

Christin Hancock, history, and Aaron Wootton, mathematics, the 2019 Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching and Outstanding Scholarship recipients, will share their thoughts in a joint session on Wednesday, February 12, from 3 to 5 p.m., in the Clark Library classroom (room 211). Hancock’s talk is titled “Teaching about the past with an eye on the (feminist) future,” and Wootton’s talk is titled “So, you’re a mathematician. What on Earth do you do?”

All staff and faculty are invited to attend and light refreshments will be provided. For more information, contact the Teaching and Scholarship Committee at tas@up.edu.

Woot Woot, Aaron Wootton!

Mathematics professor Aaron Wootton has been awarded the Distinguished Teaching Award for the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) Pacific Northwest Section. Winners of the section award are automatically nominated for the national MAA Deborah & Franklin Tepper Haimo Award, given to nominees who are widely recognized as extraordinarily successful in their teaching, who have had an influence in their teaching beyond their own institution, and who foster curiosity and generate excitement about mathematics in their students. The Pacific Northwest Section includes all institutions of higher education in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, and the Northwest, Nunavut, and Yukon territories.

Wootton has been teaching math classes spanning the entire undergraduate curriculum for 21 years. The success of his teaching comes down to his willingness to listen carefully to his students and colleagues and adapt his teaching methods accordingly. He teaches classes offering students multiple formats to help in their learning, creating a safe and comfortable learning environment, and by regularly communicating with them to learn about their individual needs and concerns. For example, he requires that every student picks up each of their tests from his office in person. Though these meetings take up a tremendous amount of time (200+ meetings per semester), every minute is time well spent as it allows him to build an honest and trusting relationship with his students, and it provides him with the opportunity to identify and help students who are struggling.

Outside of the classroom, to pique student interest in mathematics, Wootton created a course in cryptography and drafted an accompanying 200-page textbook. Nationally, Aaron is recognized as the founder and series editor of the book series Foundations for Undergraduate Research in Mathematics (FURM, published by Springer Verlag). To date, FURM has released one volume with two further volumes in press. He is a member of the Mathematics Calculus Consortium, a group of educators ranging from high school teachers to faculty from world-renowned research universities. Since joining the Consortium, he has been involved in the completion of four new edition textbooks, all of which are published by Wiley, and are strong sellers throughout the world.

2018-2019 Faculty Awards Announced

The University of Portland 2018-2019 Faculty Awards were presented on Tuesday, May 7, at the Faculty Awards Dinner, with the following results:

  • The James Culligan Award, established in 1953 in memory of a dedicated servant of the University and presented annually to a faculty member in recognition of distinguished service, was presented to Sr. Angela Hoffman, OSB, chemistry. Winners of the Culligan Award wear the medal with their academic regalia, as a sign of the University’s highest faculty honor. Sr. Hoffman’s citation includes “With deep respect and great admiration, we recognize a professor whose tireless efforts to lessen the suffering of people stricken with cancer are nothing short of heroic. A research chemist, distinguished teacher and mentor, and consecrated religious, this professor has long exemplified the ideals and mission and holy work of our University.”
  • The Deans’ Award for Faculty Leadership, presented annually to a tenured faculty member who exemplifies, in an extraordinary way, the qualities of teaching and scholarship described in the University’s Articles of Administration for appointment, advancement in rank, and tenure, was presented to Lisa Reed, Pamplin School of Business.
  • The Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching, presented annually by the University’s Committee on Teaching and Scholarship to a faculty member who is a particular exemplar of the University’s commitment to superb teaching, was presented to Christin Hancock, history.
  • The Faculty Award for Outstanding Scholarship, presented annually by the University’s Committee on Teaching and Scholarship to a faculty member who presents unusually significant and meritorious achievement in professional scholarship during the past two academic years, and whose work substantively enhances the effectiveness of his or her classroom teaching, was presented to Aaron Wootton, mathematics.
  • The Faculty Award for Outstanding Service, presented annually by the University’s Committee on Teaching and Scholarship to a faculty member who is an exemplar of the University’s commitment to service, was presented to Bill Barnes, Pamplin School of Business.

Sr. Carol Dempsey, OP, theology; Larry Larsen, performing and fine arts; and Norah Martin, philosophy, each received the Christie Award as well.

For more information contact the provost’s office at x7105 or staten@up.edu.

 

 

Faculty Development Day Program Available

The program for Faculty Development Day, scheduled for Tuesday, May 9, is now available through the Committee on Teaching and Scholarship Moodle website or here. To save paper, the committee encourages faculty to download a copy of the program in advance so they can use it to orient themselves between sessions using their mobile devices. A limited number of paper copies of the program will be available on the day of the program.

For more information contact Aaron Wootton, mathematics, at tas@up.edu.

Faculty Development Day Proposals Welcome

The Committee on Teaching and Scholarship is calling for interested faculty to submit proposals for panels and presentations as a part of Faculty Development Day on Tuesday, May 9. Proposals on a wide variety of topics are welcome including those which support the theme for Faculty Development Day.

This year’s theme is “Building Bridges of Dialogue: Making Sense of Our Catholicity in a Globalized World.”  At the heart of a Catholic university’s mission is its commitment to building bridges of dialogue. What strategies and practices can the University’s different disciplines employ to further this bridge building to meet the demands of a globalized world, where diverse cultures, religions, and peoples intersect?

Please send panel proposals to committee chair Aaron Wootton, (tas@up.edu) by Friday, April 21.

Butine Faculty Development Fund Spring Cycle Winners

The Committee on Teaching and Scholarship (TAS) has determined award recipients for the 2016-2017 Butine Faculty Development Fund Spring cycle, according to committee chair Aaron Wootton, mathematics. This spring’s Butine award recipients are:

  • Vail Fletcher, Conference Funding: International Environmental Communication Association Conference; $1,997
  • Ted Eckmann, Conference Funding:  Joint Meeting of the Japan Geoscience Union and American Geophysical Union, $2,000
  • Tara Prestholdt, Research Project: The effects of EÑSO on nudibranch diversity and abundance in Oregon, $1,500
  • Nicole Hanig, Research Project: Social Justice Issues in Art Song Repertoire, $650
  • Joseph Jefferson, Conference Funding: Texas Music Educators Conference and the International Trombone Festival, $2,000
  • David Taylor, Conference Funding: International Botanical Congress, $2,000
  • David De Lyser , Conference Funding: National Conducting Symposium, $1,200
  • Ami Ahern-Rindell, Conference Funding: World Symposium on Lysosomal Storage Disorders, $1,500
  • Deanna Julka, Conference Funding: Summer Institute for Educators, $2,000
  • Allie Hill, Conference Funding: Northeast Modern Language Association Conference, $871.29
  • Jakob Kotas, Conference Funding: SIAM Conference on Optimization and the MAA Pacific Northwest Section Meeting, $2,000
  • Lindsay Benes, Research Project: Validation of Bag Valve Mask Rate and Volume,           $600
  • Amber Vermeesch, Conference Funding: Western Institute of Nursing’s 50th Annual Communicating Nursing Research Conference, $1,764
  • Andrew Nuxoll, Conference Funding: Artificial General Intelligence Conference, $1,600

For more information contact Wootton at tas@up.edu.

Submit Butine Proposals Through Moodle

wootton-copy-1The Committee on Teaching and Scholarship cordially invites all regular faculty to submit proposals to receive funding from the Arthur Butine Faculty Development Fund. Faculty can download Butine application materials, review selection criteria, and consult the timeline for applications through the Teaching and Scholarship Moodle site. Submission of post-Butine reports, new Butine applications, and all supporting letters are also through the Moodle site. The committee’s deadline for submission through Moodle and the applicants’ respective department chairs (if CAS) and deans is no later than noon on Friday, February 10 (it is the applicant’s responsibility to be aware of any different internal department or school deadlines). Please note also that applicants must discuss their Butine proposals with their respective deans prior to submitting applications for consideration.

Please contact Aaron Wootton (TAS@up.edu) for further information.

Butine Faculty Development Fund Awards

wootton-copyThe Committee on Teaching and Scholarship (TAS) has determined award recipients for the 2016-2017 Butine Faculty Development Fund Fall cycle, according to committee chair Aaron Wootton, mathematics. Butine award recipients are:

  • Alfrey, Lauren: “Geek Girls: Race, Gender and Power in the Tech Industry,” $3,300
  • Barber, Halina & Amber Vermeesch: “Road Less Traveled: Stressors and Coping Strategies Unique to Undergraduate Nursing Students,” $1,776
  • Chakrabati, Saikat: “A security framework for resource constrained IoT devices,” $5,000
  • Coida, Olivia: “Mechanical Model of the Respiratory System,” $3,000
  • Eckman, Ted: “Understanding Distributions of Industrial Odors in North Portland,” $5,000
  • Eshleman, Andrew: Funds to attend the American Philosophical Association Pacific Division Conference, $1,150
  • Gates, Alice: “Enhancing scholarship and teaching in Policy Practice,” $4,550
  • Hancock, Christin: “Unspeakable: Sex, Madness, and the Malarial Treatment of Syphilis in Middle America,” $4,060
  • Hill, Allie: “Gender and Memory of East German Every-Day Life,” $3,313
  • Hoffman, Sr. Angela: “Study of products made by bacteria isolated from soil taken from Pollentia, an ancient Roman city on Mallorca,” $3,038
  • Ilosvay, Kimberly: Reflection and Research, $3,000
  • Jones, Kevin: “Testing the Applicability of the Circle of Courage Youth Development Model for Undergraduate Social Work Education,” $3,343
  • Kotas, Jakob: “A Robust Framework for Airline Scheduling,” $3,000
  • Krautscheid, Loretta: “The effect of trans-disciplinary educational strategies on student nurse resilience and moral distress,” $2,936.50
  • McRee, Nick: Funds to attend the 12th International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, $1,500
  • Meiser, Jeffrey: “The Moral Factor in War: Combat Effectiveness from Chosin to Mosul,” $3,000
  • Reyes-Giardiello, Giannina: “Researching masked-social activism in Mexico City,” $850
  • Viljee, Shazib: “Analysis of Charcoal Samples for Composition and Energy Content,” $1,809
  • Warshawsky, Matthew: “May Your Divine Inspiration Call Me in the Desert’: New Jewish Identity in the Baroque-Era Poetry of the Iberian New Christian João Pinto Delgado,” $3,000

For more information, contact Wootton at x7377 or tas@up.edu.

 

Teaching Award, Scholarship Award: Nominate Now

wootton-copyThe Committee on Teaching and Scholarship is accepting faculty nominations for the 2016-2017 Teaching Award and Scholarship Award, according to committee chair Aaron Wootton, mathematics. These awards are an opportunity for the University community to celebrate publicly two of its own for outstanding achievements in teaching and scholarship. The committee will accept nominations until noon on Friday, February 3, by e-mail to tas@up.edu. Submission of supporting materials by nominees will be due by noon on Friday, March 24. Visit the Academic Senate resources pages for information regarding the nomination process and materials that will be needed (password required). Contact Wootton at tas@up.edu for more information.

Submit Butine Proposals through Moodle

wootton copyThe Committee on Teaching and Scholarship invites all regular faculty to submit proposals to receive funding from the Arthur Butine Faculty Development Fund. Faculty can download Butine application materials, review selection criteria, and consult the timeline for applications by visiting this link. Submission of post-Butine reports, new Butine applications, and all supporting letters are now done through the Teaching and Scholarship Moodle site at this link.

The deadline for submission through Moodle and the applicants’ respective department chairs (if CAS) and deans is no later than noon on Friday, October 7, 2016. Please note also that applicants must discuss their Butine proposals with their respective deans prior to submitting applications for consideration.

The Committee on Teaching and Scholarship will host two workshops to review the Butine application process: Monday, September 5, 4-5 p.m., and Thursday, September 8, 11 a.m.-noon, both in the Engineering Conference Room (Shiley 232).

A final reminder: All interim or completed project reports of previously funded proposals are due to Teaching and Scholarship through Moodle, as well as the appropriate dean, no later than October 1. Report forms can be downloaded from the website listed above.

Please contact Aaron Wootton, TAS chair, at TAS@up.edu for further information.