The annual UCSA Lecturer of The Year Awards, brought to you by the UCSA Education and Advocacy Office, are a chance for students to vote for their favourite lecturers on campus who deserve recognition for their efforts.

For more information on Lecturer of the Year, contact the Education Coordinator.

It was our pleasure to run the annual UCSA Lecturer of the Year poll during Term 3.  As always, students were quick to step up and vote for their favourite and well-deserving lecturers.  Friday, August 3^rd, the bulging ballot boxes were collected and tallied along with our full online voting inbox, so there was no lack of nominations!  The UCSA was pleased to host its yearly award ceremony on August 22^nd – a chance to wine and dine the top nominees and create a little suspense before announcing the winners.  There, we shared with the lecturers some of the more – shall we say, ‘creative’ – comments we received about lecturers: ‘Damn him for being so interesting’ , ‘Brilliant red pants’ , ‘There was a cool exploding custard demonstration’ , ‘He let me do my research presentation in roller blades’ , and ‘Santa suit makes everything better’.  We can only assume that someone out there knows what these comments mean. 

More rewarding than even the most bizarrely funny comment were all the comments that articulated what students truly love in a lecturer.  Comments that were repeated on nominations were things about lecturers who are approachable and have a good attitude towards students, go the extra mile to help students understand the subject matter and lecturers that are encouraging.  Students wrote that they like lecturers who are organised, explain things clearly and are knowledgeable in their field.  Almost half of the nominations we received indicated that students like lecturers who care about their subject, are passionate about what they are teaching and have a sense of humour.  Things like, ‘His enthusiasm was contagious’ and ‘Her passion towards the course makes you want to learn’ came up over and over again.  It’s great to hear how an enthusiastic lecturer can make such a difference to the interest of a student.

So, we’re pleased to announce the 2007 winners:

College of Science: Described as cool, funny and interesting and boasting student comments such as: ‘The best grumpy old man’ and ‘Great lecturer, great teacher, great man’ – the winner is Mark Byrd from Psychology. 

School of Law: Described as engaging, humorous and easy to understand and boasting student comments such as: ‘Has an utterly sick yet brilliant sense of humour –makes crimes on Monday morning bearable’ and ‘Not afraid to be crass or blatantly random’ – this years’ winner is Chris Gallavin. 

College of Engineering: Described as exciting, approachable and all around great and boasting student comments such as: ‘Wicked Lecturer’ and ‘Easy on the eyes’ – this years’ college winner for the second time around is Pedro Lee from Civil Engineering.

College of Education: Described as interesting, caring and passionate and boasting student comments such as: ‘Great supportive teacher’ and ‘Makes you want to try hard to succeed’ – the first winner for the new College of Education is Huhana Carter from Maori, Social and Cultural Studies in Education. 

College of Business and Economics: Described as witty, interesting and organised and boasting student comments such as: ‘Funny, witty and he’s HOT’ and ‘Solid character’ – this years’ winner is Steve Agnew from Economics. 

College of Arts: Described as enthusiastic, engaging and articulate and boasting student comments such as: ‘He rocks a silver mop’ and ‘He’s the prince charming of the Classics department’ – this years’ winner two-years running is Patrick O’Sullivan from Classics. 

Overall Lecturer of the Year 2007: This lecturer received more votes than any other lecturer in the poll.  Students didn’t just write a comment or two on the nominations – they wrote virtual novels praising the dedication and the enthusiasm of this lecturer.  It’s clear this person has made a continual effort to be approachable, supportive, and encouraging to students.  This year’s Lecturer of the Year goes to Huhana Carter from the College of Education!

Thanks to everyone who voted this year!  Remember that the UCSA is YOUR organisation first and foremost and we’re dedicated to representing your views, whether on great lecturers or any other university issues.  This year we were pleased to be able to offer 3 Westfield Gift Vouchers to students who voted in the poll.  Their names were drawn randomly from the hundreds of nominations.  Congratulations Sarah Hill, Deborah McFarlane and Hannah Mason – our student voucher winners!  Lastly, thanks to the University Bookshop for providing our winning lecturers with enviable perks!