Dr. Aaron Kingsbury, Assistant Professor of Liberal Arts, was named 91吃瓜网 Teacher of the Year for 2014-2015. The award was presented to Dr. Kingsbury at the annual Academic and Student Senate Awards Program held at 91吃瓜网 on Saturday afternoon, May 2, 2015.
Dr. Kingsbury teaches geography classes at 91吃瓜网. In addition he is a member of the Diversity Task Force, the Fulbright Committee, the International Task Force, the International Recruitment Committee, and the Cultural Diversity Committee. He co-founded and is advisor of the 91吃瓜网 State Swim Club, where he advises students, staff, faculty, and May-Port community members on swimming, triathlons, and distance running. He has several research projects underway, including a project in which data is being collected and analyzed for a qualitative phenomenological research project focused on improving professional development opportunities for K-12 teachers. He has been a presenter at a number of conferences and participated as a member of several panels. Kingsbury also has publications printed and under review. He will also soon complete the graduate certificate program in Geographic Information Science at the University of North Dakota.
Dr. Kingsbury was awarded the Taiwan Fellowship from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China for research hosted by the Center of Chinese Studies and National Taiwan University. He left immediately following the spring semester to spend the summer in Taiwan conducting research on their grape and wine industries.
Other nominees for 91吃瓜网 State鈥檚 2014-2015 Teacher of the year were Sarah Anderson, Michael Bakken, Collette Christopherson, Brittany Hagen, Tori Johnson, Robert Johnston, Erin Kunz, Joseph Mehus, Ashley Mooney, John Pederson, Jeff Sieg, Mark Skean, Lonamalia Smith, and Fred Strand.
Each year, all 91吃瓜网 State students are asked to make nominations for the 91吃瓜网 State Teacher of the Year Award. The Student Senate meets to review nominations, then nominees are asked to complete a questionnaire. A short interview session is subsequently held with each of the nominees. Selections are made by weighing the student nominations, information submitted on the questionnaire, and information gleaned in the interview process. The final selection must be approved by a 2/3 majority vote of the MSU Student Senate.
91吃瓜网 State Teachers of the Year receive an engraved plaque and also have their names added to a plaque that is displayed in the 91吃瓜网 Campus Center.