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Excellence in Teaching

Provost’s 2006 Award for Excellence in Teaching by an Adjunct Faculty member

Center for Teaching and Learning - Spring 2006

Debi Duren (Special Education Division, College of Education) won the Provost’s 2006 Award for Excellence in Teaching by an Adjunct Faculty member. Duren received a check for $1,500 from Provost Jem Spectar and was honored at a luncheon on June 6 along with second place finalist Warren Allen (Health and Physical Education Division, College of Education) and third place finalist Gordon Lee (Creative Arts Division, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences).

About the winners:

First place - Debi Duren

She has taught at WOU for past 18 years. She teaches courses in American Sign Language, deaf history and culture, and interpreting. Over the past 4 years she has taught11 different course preparations. She has also developed courses and helped build the program. She earned a Master's in Education, Teacher Preparation: Deafness from WOU.

Students call Debi dynamic, helpful, enthusiastic and outgoing. In addition to her teaching she has performed with the Northwest Theatre of the Deaf and interprets the news for KGW-TV channel 8 in Portland.

Debi says her mission is to introduce students to the language of the deaf community so they may communicate effectively. She has a “no voice rule” in all her classes; students must communicate in ASL, not in spoken English.

Debi demonstrates excellence by her passionate teaching (she loves her subject), commitment (she seeks to help students); and dedication to continuous improvement.

She also mentors other faculty, has helped support the Regional Resource Center on Deafness, and is an advisor to the student ASL club

Second place - Warren Allen

• Has taught at WOU for the past 6 years
• Earned a Master's in Health Education from WOU
• Has taught 14 different course preparations in the past 6 years
• Is a 6^th degree black belt under legendary Chuck Norris
• Is skilled in the martial arts
• Brings professional experience in health education and work in medical school and cardiac rehabilitation
• Warren demonstrates excellence:
• Teaching - He is respected and liked by students. A total of 110 students per term enrolled in one of his martial arts classes. He focuses on the needs of students and offers individualized learning opportunities. He integrates body and mind, east and west, theory and practice. The yin yang on his poster is indicative of his emphasis on balance.
• Care and thought – He is committed to improvement and reflects on his practice. He believes that both how you teach and what you teach is important.
• Collaboration with colleagues across disciplines (i.e., dance and athletics)

Third place - Gordon Lee

• Composer, pianist, arranger, conductor and music educator
• Teaches courses in beginning musicianship, music improvisation and jazz history.
• Has taught at WOU for past 7 years.
• Directed the WOU Jazz Band and taught sight singing and ear training.
• Has directed the WOU Mel Brown Summer Jazz Workshop for the past 6 years. It has grown from 42 to 165 students (expects 200 this summer).
• Has written his own textbook for the Beginning Musicianship class.
• Produced 5 CDs
• His CD “Gordon Bleu” won Best Jazz Recording of 1990 from the Northwest Music Association.

Gordon sees music as spiritual and emotional. He says music is a release, stimulation, consolation, and a joy. He believes that learning about music is beneficial to everyone. He demonstrates excellence by sharing his passion and knowledge with others, opening new worlds and new experiences to students, and building a music education program and reaching out to teens in our community. 

College of Education Western Oregon University
345 N. Monmouth Ave.,
Monmouth, OR 97361
503-838-8471
e-mail: education@wou.edu