Briefs

Weiss fellows deadline:Faculty, academic staff, and junior and senior students have until March 3 to submit nominations for the Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellows Award. Established by the Cornell Board of Trustees in 1992, the award recognizes tenured faculty who have a sustained record of effective, inspiring and distinguished teaching of undergraduate students.

Nominations from faculty should include the nominator's own letter, an additional supporting letter from a faculty member or other member of the academic staff as well as letters of support from six undergraduate students. Student nominators should include, in addition to their own letter, one supporting letter from another student, and the names and addresses of four students who are willing to write letters of support.

All nomination letters should make a substantial case for the nominee, addressing his or her specific contributions, including examples that demonstrate:

making distinctive contributions to undergraduate teaching such as challenging and well-organized presentations of the subject, adaptability to the learning needs of students, innovative approaches to course materials, creation of scholarly materials for student use, availability to students outside of class;

influencing students beyond the formal role as a teacher such as advising or mentoring individual students, advising student organizations or groups, serving on teaching and curriculum committees, informal interacting with students; and

helping students such as aiding in case of illness or other emergency, or advising students confronted with difficult problems.

Send nominations to the Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellows Nominating Committee, 315 Day Hall. For further information, call Diane LaLonde at 255-4843.

Eisner book talk:Thomas Eisner, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, will present a book talk in Mann Library, March 3 at 3 p.m., on his latest book, For Love of Insects (Harvard University Press, 2003), which recounts the experiences and insights he has gained from his research on insects. A book signing will follow Eisner's talk. For more information on the talk, call 255-6197.

February 26, 2004