The Coffman Chair for University Distinguished Teaching Scholars helps professor launch new program.
Most college graduates can think back to their time on campus and remember a professor who made a positive impact on their college experience and their life after college. Dr. Gregory Eiselein is one such professors for many K-State students. He has been named the Donnelly Professor of English, is a University Distinguished Teaching Scholar, and in 2013, he was named the CASE/Carnegie Kansas Professor of the Year. Besides inspiring students in his American literature, cultural studies, world literature and literary theory classes, Eiselein is also the director of K-State First, a program to help first-year students establish a great foundation for the rest of their college career. Philanthropy helped make this important program a reality.
“It was the Coffman Award that I received in 2008 that served as a catalyst to get K-State First off the ground,” Eiselein said.
The Coffman Chair for University Distinguished Teaching Scholars was created in 1995 and is awarded annually to one faculty member who is recognized as a leading teaching scholar. During that academic year, the chair holder is to advance the interests of undergraduate teaching and learning.
“The university saw a gap in engagement between seniors and first-year students,” Eiselein said. “I saw an opportunity, which the Coffman Award gave me a chance to pursue.
“Philanthropic support for K-State makes a palpable and measurable difference,” Eiselein said. “It fuels the teaching innovations that are helping to make us a top 50 public research university. These are the innovations that are changing, in very concrete ways, the lives of our students. Their experiences at K-State set them up for success after graduation and prepare them to take control of their destinies, moving into the world with a sense of purpose or mission.”
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