The Employee Recognition Committee of Staff Senate would like to congratulate the English Department for the April 2003 Department of the Month award.
During December 2002, the English Department was one of two campus winners of the University of Nebraska at Kearney Department Teaching Award. This is their third consecutive year for this honor.
The English Department embodies the teacher-scholar ethic that is central to UNK's mission. With a number of its faculty recognized as authorities in their respective fields, the department complements its service in the classroom with active engagement in scholarship, conference presentations, book and essay publication, service on journal boards, and other professional service.
In addition to serving students in three majors and a growing graduate program, the English department shoulders a significant role in the General Studies program, teaching composition to close to 1000 students every semester in a writing intensive environment; in addition the department contributes further to General Studies at UNK in over 200 level literature course (teaching over 400 students a semester). In addition, the faculty regularly teach courses in the Honors program and cooperate with Teacher Education by offering composition classes for the education cohort group.
Faculty serve and chair numerous committees across the university including the Honors program, the Center for Teaching Excellence, and the First Year Experience. The English department sponsors the Reynolds Reading Series, which brings nationally known and regional writers to campus for readings, lectures, and classroom visits, as well as the Explorations Lecture series.
For the dedication to students, to colleagues and to the wider UNK community, the University of Nebraska at Kearney is pleased to name the English Department as the Department of the Month for April 2003.