read this in The Post - Athens, Ohio

Thursday, May 28, 1998

BY MEGHAN AFTOSMIS
FOR THE POST

To honor students’ service to the community, the Graduate Student Senate and the Office of Student Activities honored two graduate students with the Outstanding Graduate Master’s and Doctoral Student Leader awards May 20.

The Master’s student recipient was Michelle Kaczor, a second-year graduate student in the environmental studies program. The Doctoral recipient was Robert Westerfelhaus, a student in the School of Interpersonal Communication.

The selection committee reviews applications for the student leader awards based on academic excellence. involvement in the university and Athens communities and rapport with faculty, staff and peers, according to the application.

The committee, which was made up equally of graduate students and professors, consisted of representatives from seven academic colleges, said Carrie Railing, chairwoman of the review committee and Graduate Student Senate vice president.

Typically at this time, an award for Outstanding Graduate Faculty also is awarded. But this year a recipient was not chosen because of a smaller amount of applicants.

Faculty awards are chosen based on their contributions to graduate education, their teaching effectiveness, their contributions to supervised research by graduate students and their personal accomplishments, according to the application.

The committee members received less than 10 percent of the applications usually submitted, Railing said.

The committee deemed it unfair to base the Outstanding Graduate Faculty award on such a small number of applicants compared to past years, she said.

The faculty applications received were never reviewed nor discussed by the committee, but will be resubmitted for consideration next year, Railing said.

The committee did receive enough nominations for the student awards, although still a smaller amount than usual. The low numbers simply made the decision easier, she said.

"Everyone felt very satisfied with the winners," Railing said. ‘There was no question in our minds."

Kaczor, who will graduate this summer, said she was happy and surprised when her name was announced as the recipient of the award.

One of her co-workers at the Institute for Local Government Administration and Rural Development nominated her, but she did not know about the nomination until the day he mailed the application, she said.

"I didn’t know before that," Kaczor said. "It was a very nice thing for him to do."

Combining her education with community service, Kaczor said her reward lies in the satisfaction of doing something she sees as good, not in an award.

"I have worked hard toward bettering the environment and community I live in as much for myself as for any one thing," she said. ‘The bottom line is that I would have done my part whether or not I was recognized for it formally"

The bottom line is that I would have done my part whether or not I was recognized for it formally.

—Michelle Kaczor, second-year graduate student

Westerfelhaus also combines his education with community service through his work with the Multi-cultural Reading Commission through the Ohio Dominican College in Columbus and the Athens County Approaches the Millennium Project.

He also has found a way to bring the university and the community closer together through the "Meeting and Conference Planning" class that he teaches in the School of Interpersonal Communication.

In the class, students interview Athens residents about the town and put together a film show. This way, the class has learned a lot about the community, Westerfelhaus said.

Westerfelhaus also maintains a 4.0 grade point average as a doctoral student and teaches two classes. He has written more than 30 conference papers and publications.

He also was nominated for the Graduate Associate Outstanding Teaching Award in 1996.

But Westerfelhaus said he still was excited and humbled by the award bestowed on him.

"I’ve worked hard as a grad student," he said. "But I know a lot of other students who are just as deserving."