Daniel A. Engster, assistant professor of political science
Distinguished Achievement Award: Daniel A. Engster
(May 2, 2002)--Daniel A. Engster, assistant professor of political science in the Department of Political Science and Geography in the College of Liberal and Fine Arts, is the winner of the 2002 President's Distinguished Achievement Award for Teaching Excellence.
While only in his fourth year as a member of the UTSA faculty, he has already demonstrated that his command of political philosophy, teaching methodologies, pervasive caring, communication skills and commitment to the learning process exemplify the meaning of teacher/mentor in the highest sense.
Engster is known as a superior teacher in all of his courses, which is especially notable given their diversity of subject matter.
His classes range from the legislatively mandated core curriculum course in introductory politics to Texas and American politics, ethics, ancient and medieval political thought, contemporary political thought and feminist political thought.
Part of his success in the classroom stems from his use of innovative teaching techniques. He regularly has his students discuss issues from the course readings in small group format. This serves to confront students with questions that relate directly to their everyday lives and assist them in making connections between the theories of philosophers and their own thoughts, value judgments and understanding of society.
Richard Gambitta, chair of the Department of Political Science and Geography, wrote in his nomination of Engster that, "I have seen many high quality teachers pass before me in my over 20 years at UTSA. I put Dan Engster toward the top of that long, prestigious list. No other untenured professor in the department receives the consistently high course ratings as does Dan Engster, and only one tenured professor does."
But teaching is more than getting high ratings on evaluations. Engster's syllabi are strong, informative and demonstrative of the care and time that he takes in grading, consultation and mentoring of students. He challenges students, moving them beyond their normal "first order" learning goals to a level of sustained, stellar productivity.
So impressive is his teaching that Gambitta has asked him to teach in the
inaugural session of the summer law school preparation academy of the Institute
for Law and Public Affairs.
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Distinguished Achievement Award: Daniel A. Engster
Distinguished
Achievement Awards: Robert J. Bayley and Mark T. Leung
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© The University of Texas at San Antonio, 2002