April 4, 2022
Advisor Forum presents April Charlie Award
The K-State Advisor Forum announces Derek Clements, assistant professor of architectural engineering and construction science, as the recipient of the April Charlie Award.
Clements was nominated for this award by his colleague, Ray Buyle, for the outstanding work he does for his students and fellow advisors in his department.
Clements is an advisor for both architectural engineering and construction science students as well as a full-time, tenure-track assistant professor. Buyle wrote, “Derek avails himself of professional advising development opportunities and has become one of our "go-to" faculty for all things related to student advising. He is a knowledgeable, personable and dedicated advisor who advocates for his students and is well respected by his students and peers. In addition to his academic advising and teaching responsibilities, Derek is very active with our departmental student organizations.
“During COVID, and on very short notice, Derek created our department's virtual enrollment platform for our faculty to utilize for use in our department's pre-enrollment process. This has historically been a two-night face-to-face assembly-line process for our department's students to meet with their faculty advisors at mid-semester to line out their course schedules for the following semester. Derek worked closely with our faculty and staff to develop this virtual platform utilizing a combination of Canvas, SignUp Genius, Zoom, a network shared drive and the scheduling needed to make this a user-friendly portal for students, faculty, and staff. The process worked so well that our faculty elected to continue using this portal even after we returned to fully face-to-face instruction. Students, faculty and staff all found it to be a much more efficient use of their time without sacrificing the interpersonal aspect of meeting in person.”
Buyle added, “Derek also works with new student orientation and enrollment, is active with undergraduate student research, serves on multiple departments, college and university committees, and is engaged in regional and national professional association committees as a licensed professional engineer. He is a tremendous example of meeting and exceeding our university's land grant mission of educating students by preparing them to be outstanding professionals in their careers.”
The Advisors Forum thanks Clements for his work with students and fellow faculty of the architectural engineering and construction science department and congratulates him on this award.
For more information on the Charlie Award or to learn how to nominate someone, please visit the recognition page on the Office of Student Success website. Nominations are accepted year-round and can be received from anyone across campus. Once a nomination is received, it remains an active nomination for one full year. One award is given out at the beginning of each month. The Advisor Forum Committee makes the decision and delivers awards.