Faculty members in the University of Arkansas College of Engineering were recognized at the 2017 Annual Conference and Exposition of the American Society for Engineering Education in Columbus, Ohio.

Ed Clausen, professor and associate department head of chemical engineering, and Norman Dennis, senior associate dean of the College of Engineering, received the Best Overall Zone Paper.  After receiving an award for the best paper at the 2015 Zone III conference, the paper was selected as the best overall paper from the four geographic zones. 

Their paper describes the Clinical Faculty Development Program at the College of Engineering. Dennis and Clausen initiated this program in 2014 to support clinical faculty in the college. In the College of Engineering, clinical faculty are those who possess a terminal degree and are primarily focused on teaching. Dennis explained that these faculty members are often the first professors that students encounter in their discipline, so it is important that this experience is positive.

The program, which Dennis and Clausen modelled after a teaching workshop developed by the American Society of Civil Engineers, takes place a week before classes begin. The two day event includes a teaching demonstration by a master teacher and seven seminars focused on preparing and delivering classroom instruction. The main event, however, is the short class participants deliver to their peers, which incorporates some of the techniques discussed in the seminars.  Participants receive immediate assessment of their class from the workshop leaders and their peers, pointing to strengths and areas for improvement.

This program has been so successful that it has been expanded to now include tenure-track faculty and graduate teaching assistants.

Dennis also received the George K. Wadlin Distinguished Service Award from the Civil Engineering Division of ASEE. This award recognizes sustained and distinguished service to the civil engineering division of ASEE, support of its activities and notable contributions to civil engineering education.

Dennis, who is a University Professor of civil engineering, served as the U of A campus representative of ASEE for 13 years, as the chair of the board of direction for the Midwest section of ASEE and as chair of the Civil Engineering Division. He has also chaired the Committee on Education for the American Society of Civil Engineers, and currently serves as an editor for their Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education in Practice.