News Release

Local angles: Clinton, Durham, Winston-Salem;
Auburn, Ala.; Eureka Springs, Ark.; Carbondale,
Ill.; Columbia, Md.; Livonia, Mich.; Bohemia, N.Y.;
Brentwood, Tenn.; Milwaukee

CHAPEL HILL -- Students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill honored three faculty members, six teaching assistants and one staff member today (April 11) for excellence in teaching and in service to undergraduates.

Faculty members winning 2005 Student Undergraduate Teaching and Staff Awards were Dr. John R. Covach, associate professor, associate chair and director of graduate studies in the music department; Dr. Michael R. Falvo, research assistant professor of applied and materials science and of physics and astronomy; and Christopher Roush, assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and director of the Carolina Business News Initiative.

Teaching assistant winners were:

· Joseph Daniel Ura, a doctoral student in political science from Brentwood, Tenn., who teaches two political science courses;

· David L. Buehler, a doctoral student in economics from Columbia, Md., who helps teach "Principles of Economics";

· Kathryn Lofton, a doctoral student in religious studies from Milwaukee, who teaches "Social Theory and Cultural Diversity" in her department;

· David John Pizzo, a doctoral student in history from Durham, who teaches "Africa in the 20^th Century;"

· Maureen Rose McClung, a doctoral student in biology from Eureka Springs, Ark., who teaches animal behavior; and

· Philipp Stelzel, a doctoral student in history from Munich, Germany, who helps teach "Western Civilization to 1650."

John Chiavola of Bohemia, N.Y., location manager for Lenior Mainstreet with Carolina Dining Services, received the second Student Undergraduate Staff Award.

"The awards are intended to recognize the university’s outstanding professors, teaching assistants and employees who go out of their way to serve undergraduate students," said Michael Brinkley, a senior from Winston-Salem, who co-chaired the student selection committee with Joel Starling, a junior from Clinton. "The awards offer an opportunity for the student body to say thank you to those responsible for an extraordinary undergraduate experience."

The Student Undergraduate Teaching and Staff awards are the only such awards directed and funded by students. The teaching awards were created in 1989, when students voted to increase their fees to fund the awards. Last year students agreed by referendum to include a staff award. Each faculty member received $5,000, each teaching assistant $1,000 and the staff member $1,000.

Students submit nominations for both awards to a 12-member student selection committee. This year’s recipients were chosen from more than 100 nominations. Committee members visit finalists’ classes unannounced, interview students randomly and interview the finalists to choose the winners. The committee chooses recipients who promote the value of undergraduate teaching by their example; demonstrate concern for students through interaction and approachability inside and outside the classroom; create meaningful learning experiences; and maintain high expectations of students.

Covach, from Livonia, Mich., has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music and a doctorate in music theory from the University of Michigan. He was a Fulbright scholar in Vienna, Austria, from 1987 to 1988 and teaches theory and analysis as well as courses in popular music at UNC. His writings on 20th-century music, popular music and the philosophy of music have appeared in many books and journals.

Falvo, from Carbondale, Ill., received a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and master’s and doctoral degrees in physics from UNC. He recently received a National Science Foundation grant to develop and teach a first year seminar on nanoscience, now offered each fall at UNC. Falvo has been a panelist in the foundation’s Nanoscale Science and Engineering program and given numerous invited talks and tutorials on his research and education efforts.

Roush, from Auburn, Ala., received a bachelor’s degree from Auburn University and a master’s degree from the University of Florida. He wrote "Show Me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication," a business reporting textbook published by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. As a business reporter for the Tampa Tribune, Roush was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the insurance industry in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew.

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Contacts: Students Michael Brinkley, brinkmic@email.unc.edu and Joel Starling, wjstarli@email.unc.edu

News Services contact: L.J. Toler, 962-8589