By KIM HILL
Special to The Eagle
The struggle in the Texas Legislature to craft a budget that fits the state's needs and yet is within the limited, expected revenues has sparked much debate about which governmental expenses are wise and which are not. One focus of that debate has been on the value of the research activities of state colleges and universities. Advisors to the governor and the boards of regents of The University of Texas and Texas A&M University systems have argued that research activities detract from the educational missions of those institutions - and have gotten considerable attention because of that advice. In contrast, the presidents of the latter two institutions, and of other state colleges and universities, have argued before the Legislature and in the press that university research programs bring significant economic returns to the state and that they actually enrich the educational missions of their institutions.
I offer another kind of evidence for how university research and teaching are compatible. Every April the Association of Former Students at Texas A&M and the University bestow Distinguished Teaching Awards on a select few faculty. The accomplishments of these faculty members speak directly to the compatibility of research and teaching.
The guidelines for nominations for these teaching awards set high expectations and merit quoting in full:
"This award recognizes, encourages, and rewards superior classroom teachers -- the individuals whose command of their respective discipline, teaching methodologies, pervasive caring, communication skills, and commitment to the learning process exemplify the meaning of teacher/mentor in its highest sense. This award is designed to distinguish those teachers who maintain high expectations of their students and ensure academic rigor in their courses. These teachers recognize their responsibility in motivating their students and contributing to the overall development of their students as learners and future professionals."
These are highly competitive awards. Many are nominated; few are winners. Nominations can be made by students or faculty, but letters of endorsement from current or former students are required for all the nominations and are critical in the selection process. The initial pools of nominees are screened within Colleges, and those selected to go forward by the College committees are then evaluated by a University-wide Selection Committee that chooses 10 winners each year.
So what kinds of faculty win these awards? Consider this year's winners. All ten are distinguished research scholars. Seven of the ten hold the rank of Professor, the highest faculty rank, the attainment of which requires a substantial research record. Six of the 10 hold named research fellowships, professorships, or chairs -prestigious awards that go to a very few faculty because of exceptional research achievements. Several have been editors of leading research journals in their fields. Some currently direct research institutes or other large research enterprises. Many have raised substantial grant monies for their research programs.
The list of this year's winners includes Nancy Amato in computer science and engineering, whose research includes the computerized assessment of biological processes; Daniel Jennings in industrial distribution who studies corporate entrepreneurship and a series of related topics; Joyce Juntune in educational psychology, whose research is on intelligence, gifted students, and child development; John Penson in agricultural economics who has published widely on the economics of agriculture; Courtney Schumacker in atmospheric sciences, whose research is especially concerned with tropical weather patterns; Christopher Pope in physics and astronomy whose expertise is in the theoretical study of high-energy particle physics; Alina Sorescu in marketing, whose research includes the study of marketing innovations and the financial value of marketing; Ryland Young in biochemistry and biophysics, whose research examines bacterial viruses with the hope to create new antibacterial antibiotics; and Asghar Zardkoohi in management, whose expertise is especially in the effects of the government regulation of business. I am, I must add for completeness, this year's 10 teaching award winner. I am a professor in political science, and my research evaluates the quality of the democratic process in the United States.
Many current and former A&M students who read this op-ed essay will remember one or more of these individuals from their time at the University because these research scholars all are regularly in the classroom. Consider, then, how these scholars demonstrate the compatibility of scholarship and teaching. They all have exceptional research records as well as exceptional teaching credentials. Indeed, one has to suspect that these scholars routinely bring their research expertise into the classroom to educate their students - in information, too, at the frontier of knowledge.
And isn't that exactly what we'd like university professors to do in the classroom?
* Kim Hill is the Cullen-McFadden Professor of Political Science at Texas A&M University.
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