Janice Receives the University-wide Student Choice Award

Janice holds her award and poses with Chris Ernst,
who nominated her for this honor.

"I want to start by extending my gratitude and appreciation to ASUU and the University itself for sponsoring the Student Choice Teaching Awards. So many faculty here at the University of Utah do such wonderful things for us that to have the opportunity to recognize their outstanding work is something students like myself hold very dearly. Thanks again.

For the ASUU Student Choice Teaching Awards, I nominated Dr. Janice Chambers, and to introduce her and tell of how rewarding she has made my experience at the U, I would like to read for you the nomination letter I wrote to ASUU.

Dear ASUU,

I first met Dr. Chambers the end of Fall Semester, 1998, my first semester of college. She was assigned as my undergraduate advisor for the Civil Engineering Department, and when I walked into her office, the first thing she did was show me a problem she had given on an exam for her graduate level Structural Analysis II course. She explained to me, with words and phrases that were at the time over my head, how the problem was solved. This was before even knowing my name or my reason for stopping by! It was amazing to me how truly excited she was about her profession and teaching. Although I had little clue what she was talking about, her enthusiasm for Structural Engineering was so strong that I walked out of her office deciding that Structural Engineering was what I wanted to study. As I was leaving her office, she said, "Consider working for me when you go to graduate school." Well, it's Spring 2005 now, and as fate would have it, I am her graduate student.

What makes Dr. Chambers such an admirable professor here at the University of Utah is her great concern for her students and their learning experience. I have taken three courses from her and am currently taking a fourth, and whether the students in her courses wanted to or not, they always left her classroom having learned something very substantial. I say that even though I only have received B grades from her. (Her classes are truly rigorous.) She strives to challenge students in ways that make them better thinkers and better engineers, and has always been freely available to us for class or research consultation. She regularly arrives early and leaves late, and even comes in on the weekends, working on lecture notes to make sure they are understandable, thorough, and comprehensive (which they and her lectures always are). Her passion for her work extends well past the general expectations a student has of his/her professors.

The engineering profession places great emphasis on the ethics of its members. One of the fundamental canons of the Engineering Code of Ethics states, "Engineers shall act in such a manner as to uphold and enhance the honor, integrity, and dignity of the engineering profession." Beyond the classroom, Dr. Chambers has on several occasions taken it upon herself to stand up for what is right for the student, even if it may make her unpopular among other faculty. I know this because on some of those occasions, I was that student. Never in my life did I ever expect to see a professor selflessly push so hard for what was right for a student that it actually brought her to tears. This kind of dedication in and out of the classroom is more than what I ever would have asked of any professor, and more than I have seen in any other. When I had completed my work as an undergrad, Dr. Chambers was the one who inspired me to pursue a graduate degree. She remains inspirational to me (and many of my peers) today. For these reasons, no professor I know of at the University of Utah could be more deserving of recognition. I strongly urge you to give Dr. Chambers your most careful consideration for the Student Choice Teaching Award.

Sincerely,

Chris Ernst

"Thank you, Chris, for writing such a generous and thoughtful nomination letter. Thank you, Adam and ASUU, for selecting me for one of these prestigious awards.

Thank you, President and Mrs. Young, for hosting this event in your home and taking time out of your busy day to honor a few of the U of U educators.

Thank you. Dr. Reaveley. for not demanding that I quit using CAL91 as an instructional tool... and for allowing me to make thousands of photocopies and consume hundreds of overhead transparencies for my classes. I encourage the administration to install more electronic projectors in the U's classrooms.

I have always considered educating future structural engineers a tremendous responsibility. Perhaps during my early years of teaching I took it a little too seriously. The first class I was responsible for teaching occurred Fall quarter of 1989. I covered more material in that quarter class than I would now cover in a semester class. I never cracked a joke and balked at the notion that a teacher could also be a friend. I was more nervous for my exams than the students were. During that entire class, the students were dumbstruck and did not ask questions because they were victims of sensory overload.

My course evaluations for that class were so bad that the chair of my department at the time, Dieter Ghemlich (I wish he were here), was compelled to take me to lunch to present to me my awful scores. I was devastated, and Dr. Ghemlich told me to look on the bright side, "You can only improve".

I guess I have!

Thanks again, and congratulations to the other award recipients.