"I want to take this class with a good professor."

"I don't care who I take it with, as long as they can teach."

"Is this guy any good?"

Everyone wants to know who the good professors are. In my position as an academic advisor, I cannot tell you how many times I have heard students say things like this. I usually respond by asking them if they are familiar with the faculty that have been selected as University Professors.

My question is usually met with blank stares.

Let me ask you this: How many of you know what the University Professor Award is? Do you know how the selection process works?

The University Professor Award was created in 1970 to recognize and reward those faculty members who demonstrate excellence in teaching. The unique aspect of this award is that there is no involvement of the faculty or university administration in any part of the selection process. The responsibility for nominating professors and for selecting the winners each year rests entirely with the undergraduate student body.

Each Fall Quarter, you can nominate any professor you feel has done an excellent job of educating you, unless he or she has won the award in the previous three years. It doesn't matter if you have been on campus for four weeks or four years; you can still vote. You can find a ballot in the schedule of classes booklet, at your college office and at the registrar's windows. You can also vote by sending an e-mail to acinoman1 @ohiou.edu. The nomination period ends on the last day of Fall Quarter.

At the end of Fall Quarter, the University Professor Selection Committee, which is composed entirely of undergraduates, will tally the votes and determine the 12 finalists for the award. Finalists are determined by a two-step process that accounts for the total number of votes a professor receives as well as the proportion of votes as a function of class size. This is done in order to give a fair and equal chance to those professors who teach small sections. Therefore, your vote is not wasted on someone that teaches classes of 20 to 30 rather than 500 students.

Over the course of Winter Quarter, the selection committee goes to work. It interviews each of the 12 finalists individually and takes the time observe his or her teaching in the classroom. When the interviews and observations have been completed, members of the committee rank the finalists on their own. These final rankings determine the six winners of the University Professor Award.

University Professors are awarded $2,000 for professional development and are required to teach two courses (or the same course twice) of their own design during the next academic year. The courses appear in the schedule of classes booklet.

For those of you who want to know who the best professors are, I suggest you pick up a University Professor course offerings booklet during pre-registration and read through it carefully. University College releases these booklets each quarter; we include a section that lists all of the previous winners. To date more than 100 professors have been named University Professors since the program began.

To those of you concerned about the quality of your education, the University Professor program gives you a voice that the faculty and administration hear loud and clear. Don't waste it. By taking a few minutes to complete a ballot, you are participating in a process that announces to your fellow students and to the administration who the best educators are at OU.

Better yet, become a member of the University Professor Selection Committee and see to it that the most worthy professors receive the award.

To the rest of you, all I can do is encourage you to vote. If you don't, you have no right to say anything one way or the other about your professors.

Cinoman, University College academic counselor, can be e-mailed at acinoman1@ohiou.edu