Each year RWC acknowledges some of the best and brightest staff, faculty and alumni who have left their marks of excellence on our college and our community.This year, English Professor Mike Roos received the Distinguished Teaching Award for full-time faculty.
Roos admits to “wearing many hats at RWC,” Dean Barbara Bardes said about him at the Award Ceremony April 19, “and he also acknowledges that he’s sewn them himself. What he means is that he’s created or taken on voluntarily many of the tasks he’s now charged with. For instance, the British Studies Program and the first-class student newspaper, to name just two of his pet projects.”
He started the British Studies Program in 1997 from several impulses. One was an appreciation of the value of study abroad. In 1972, as a student at the University of Evansville, he spent a term at Harlaxton Manor about 100 miles north of London. The program has grown from humble beginnings five years ago to an enrollment this year of 24 students and two faculty members.
The program has also branched out from its English base to include time in Ireland, and this year, in France.
Professor Philip Luther, Chair of the English and Communication Department, says he “can think of no better tribute to Mike than to say that he has taken our teaching mission well beyond Blue Ash!”
Roos also serves as Advisor to the student newspaper, The Activist. Although he didn’t start the school paper, he revived it in 1987, after a period of years where the College did not have a paper. The Dean said that , “actually, ‘activist’ is a fitting characterization of Mike. He seeks out new teaching styles and techniques, new opportunities to get involved in and new projects to make more work for himself.”
The Dean also said that Roos was an early appreciator of technology’s potential for instruction. “Long before it was fashionable, he created a personal website that students could access for their classes,” she said. He also pioneered using electronic bulletin boards for out-of-class discussions.
The personal nature of teaching is Roos’s source of happiness. “I enjoy seeing the students grow and learn,” he says. “I recognize that I’m a perpetual student, too, so I feel connected with them on that level. If I can communicate my own joy in learning, it might give the students a spark for theirs.”
Professor Ruth Benander points out that he also extends this personal connection to the subject matter. According to her, Roos is able to “present erudite material to students just learning to read literature in such a way that they can make a personal connection to the subject.”
Mike has completed numerous papers on popular culture topics, as well as numerous songs and a recently finished novel.
“I love it here,” Roos says. “The bottom line is I’m incredibly lucky to be here and have the opportunities to do these interesting things. My only worry is that accepting this award means they’re ready to ship me out to pasture.”