Kansas State University

SPOTLIGHT K-State accolades

Submitted by Jana Fallin

After attending the third annual SPOTLIGHT K-State on March 24 in the K-State Student Union's Forum Hall, faculty members shared these remarks:

• "Congratulations and thank you for a wonderful SPOTLIGHT event yesterday evening. It was engaging, convivial, elegant, collegial, and even magical at times."
• "Bravo on last night's program! It was so inspiring and educational."
• "Last night was an exceptional evening. I loved seeing the passion that the faculty demonstrated during their talks and was deeply impressed by the students who helped close out the show. I also appreciated the opportunity to catch up with colleagues."
• "Thank you for such a great and inspiring night. If last year was a home run, tonight was a grand slam. You all did such a good job and the speakers were simply magical."

SPOTLIGHT K-State 2015 was a celebration of teaching on our campus. The faculty who presented this year were Ashley Rhodes from biology; Sally Bailey from theater; Sonya Britt and Kristy Archuleta from family studies and human services; Roger McHaney from management; Naiqian Zhang from biological and agricultural engineering; Amit Chakrabarti from physics; Laura Donnelly from music, theater, and dance; and Katie Kingery-Page from landscape architecture and regional & community planning. Students who presented were Jordan Thomas and McKenzie Wade, both from anthropology. All who presented were amazing.

A few more commenters said:

• "It just continues to amaze me — the things that our faculty do in the classroom and beyond with so many aspects of student learning. It is wonderful to see it all."
• "SPOTLIGHT left me on such a high. I'm so proud of our speakers. It really makes you feel good about K-State."

If you happened to miss this year's event, you can still watch the videos of the presenters on the Teaching & Learning Center website.

One of the features of SPOTLIGHT is that every person attending receives a free book. "What the Best College Teachers Do" and "What the Best College Students Do," both written by Ken Bain, were this year's selections. Those who attend SPOTLIGHT choose which book they wanted to take home.

This reflection came from a faculty member:

• "OK, I have seen people sitting with their noses in a small book about what good college teachers do. The conversations are thick here about what a wonderful event the SPOTLIGHT was!"

Of course, this is one of our goals, to provide opportunities for our faculty to visit and discuss what teaching excellence is and to continue to learn how we can all improve. Almost 300 people attended, and they can relate to these statements.

Attendees experienced wonderful music played by K-State faculty members Fred Burrack, Steve Dyer, Kurt Gartner, Phil Payne and Brian Niehoff. They experienced an incredible reception with amazing food, beverages and time spent visiting with friends. However, one has to attend to have these experiences. Plans are underway for SPOTLIGHT K-State 2016 and next year's event will be in either late February or early March. Mark your calendars, because you are invited.

Additional commenters said:

• "Fantastic event, beautifully orchestrated and enlightening! Thank you so much."
• "I love SPOTLIGHT and thought it was especially amazing this year! I think SPOTLIGHT is one of the things that really make me proud to be a K-Stater."