2009 Distinguished Teaching Award Winner

Sean Clancey
Students in chemical engineering have said very good things about Clancey. Included among the accolades is, "Of all the classes I've taken, I look forward most to Dr. Clancey's class because it is always exciting and fun."

When Clancey was a graduate teaching assistant in the humanities department during late 80s/early 90s, earning a PhD in Rhetoric and Technical Communication, he didn't expect to end up in the chemical engineering department. Then fate stepped in. Clancey says he joined the chemical engineering faculty in the mid-90s when a call was sent out for instructors to take over CM 3410, Technical Communication for Chemical Engineers. He says he "inherited" the class from former faculty member Betsy Aller, who is now an associate professor at Western Michigan University. "I was lucky enough that she brought me over here," he says.

In addition to CM 3410, Clancey teaches a Perspectives section, "Creating the 'Drug Fiend': Drugs and Drug Policy in the United States." In both classes, he centers his curriculum on assignments to help students hone their speaking and writing skills.

In CM 3410, each student is required to give three talks, which are videotaped, and extra credit is given to students who turn in memos that analyze their own speech performance. And in his Perspectives section, students are expected to produce 20 formal and 20 informal pages of writing, as well as give at least two oral presentations.

Students surveyed in CM 3410 say, "He has helped me to understand all aspects of public speaking" and "He has taught me to become a better speaker and interviewer."

On the importance of technical communication in chemical engineering, Clancey says, "When engineers go out into the world, they learn that the ability to communicate technical information is absolutely essential to their careers, that they're rated heavily on their communication skills. For the most part, students are fully aware that they need to work on their written and technical communication. And it's becoming more important every year."

Clancey takes a hands-on approach to teaching students how to write because "you learn communication by communicating." He says, "I do some lecturing, but I'm trying to reduce the amount of that."

During a typical class period, students revise samples of writing found in the genre of chemical engineering and defend their edits.

It's clear that Clancey's affinity for teaching extends beyond report writing and public speaking, however.

When asked why Clancey deserves the Distinguished Teaching Award, several students comment along the lines of, "He puts great effort into learning about, as well as connecting with, each and every student."

Clancey says he accomplishes this simply by learning his students' names--he learned the names of all 94 students in his classes last semester within the first month. "I think it's one of the most important things an instructor can do. One way to achieve 'buy-in' with students is to get to know them and listen to what they say."

Clancey says that outside the classroom, his involvement in extracurricular activities is very rewarding. He's the academic advisor to Delta Upsilon, for which he garnered the Exceptional Student Advising Award in May 2001. For the past three to four years, he's been coadvisor to the Consumer Product Manufacturing Enterprise, which has won five first-place awards since 2000.

What does Clancey like best about teaching? "The students themselves," he says. "College students are fun to work with. They are bright, hardworking and entertaining, and they tend to understand the importance of communicating. And you get to see students learn and improve their abilities, and that's a wonderful thing to see."

Komar Kawatra, chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering, says he was pleased to learn that Clancey was chosen to receive a Distinguished Teaching Award.

"Sean is very dedicated to Technical Communication for Chemical Engineers, and he also manages to make it entertaining," says Kawatra. "Plus, he's a huge Green Bay Packers fan!" He also highlights Clancey's involvement in the Enterprise Program.

Article by Karina Jousma, Tech Today assistant editor