Photo by Chris Myers

The Rotunda

April 22, 2004

By Matt Kelly

Five graduate students at the University of Virginia will receive Faculty Senate Dissertation Year Fellowships valued at about $20,000 apiece.

The students are Cheryl P. Stuntz, of Potomac, Md.; Wendy L. Morris, of Chappaqua, N.Y.; Thomas W. Simpson, of Olean, N.Y.; Jordan G. Barr, of Charlottesville; and Timothy Brelinski, of Skamania, Wash.

Each fellowship will consist of funding for the student’s final year of doctoral work. The award of approximately $20,000 covers the cost of tuition, fees and health insurance, and includes a stipend. The fellowships are funded by the Office of the Vice President and Provost, the Curry School of Education and the College of Arts & Sciences.

The Faculty Senate, which administers the program, based this year’s award on excellence in scholarly achievement and outstanding performance in teaching.

“As a research university, U.Va. regards teaching as a key component in the scholarly agenda of its graduate students as well as its faculty,” said Faculty Senate Chairman Robert E. Davis, a professor of environmental sciences. “With a long tradition of excellence in teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate level, the University is committed to the idea that the best researchers can be, and often are, the best teachers. Ideally the two activities go hand in hand.”

Stuntz, a student at the Curry School of Education, Department of Kinesiology, is working on a thesis titled “Social Goal Orientations in the Physical Domain: Links to Moral Functioning and Psychosocial Variables.”

Morris, a student in the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, Department of Psychology, is working on a paper titled “The Positive Effects of Consciousness-Raising on the Self-Esteem of the Stigmatized.”

Simpson, a student in the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, Department of Religious Studies, is writing a thesis titled “Mormons Study ‘Abroad:’ Latter-Day Saints in American Higher Education.”

Barr, a student in the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, Department of Environmental Sciences, is writing a paper on “Carbon Sequestration by Riverine Mangroves in the Florida Everglades.”

Brelinski, a student in the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, Department of Classics, is writing a thesis on “Mirror in the Plot: A Study of Patterns of Repetition in the Odyssey.”

Among the selection criteria were overall effectiveness as an instructor in lectures, discussions, studios, problem-solving sessions, laboratories or mentoring; command of the subject area; skills in organizing, developing and presenting material in class or in other pedagogical venues; and the capacity to motivate and inspire students.

This is the second time the Faculty Senate has offered the fellowships.