Dr. Woolsey’s Nomination
| I’m writing to nominate my colleague, Dr. John Woolsey, Director of Faculty and Curriculum Development, for the OSCAR Faculty Mentoring Excellence Award in recognition of the phenomenal work he has done over recent years to support the mentorship of undergraduate research within and beyond OSCAR and the Honors College. His unparalleled achievements in this area have fostered student learning and development and promoted diversity and inclusion in undergraduate research at George Mason University. As a member of the Honors College faculty, I have had the opportunity to witness firsthand the incredible work Dr. Woolsey has done to champion undergraduate research. Some of this has occurred through individual mentorship, while in other cases, it has been through supporting broader structural improvements to support undergraduate research more broadly. For example, in recent years, he has worked to redesign the HNRS 110 Research and Inquiry course and foster a community of faculty who support and mentor undergraduate research in the Honors College. When Dr. Woolsey began working full-time in the Honors College in the fall of 2014, the Honors College had experienced a period of rapid growth, doubling in size over a 5-year period (from 676 enrolled students in the fall of 2009 to 1,249 students in the fall of 2014). Further, the college has continued to grow in the intervening years, reaching approximately 2000 students this spring. This growth demanded a curriculum that could meet the needs of a growing student body with a diverse range of abilities and learning needs. This was a task that Dr. Woolsey met with impressive skill, dedication, and foresight. Dr. Woolsey always works to center students as he mentors undergraduate research. Through the process of enhancing the research focus of the Honors College curriculum and making it sustainable for a fast-growing student population, he has expanded, sustained, and inspired the Honors College Peer Mentor (PM) program. Today, there are approximately 30 PMs each fall who serve as peer leaders for the HNRS 110 Research Methods course. These students, mentored directly by Dr. Woolsey, give back to the community by supporting incoming first-year students in learning about the foundations of inquiry, while also developing as leaders and citizens. Each year, several of the PMs join the Curriculum Development Team in the spring semester. Led by Dr. Woolsey, this group of students work to draw on recent research to enhance specific assignments in the research curriculum. Students who have worked with Dr. Woolsey as Peer Mentors have a variety of rewarding learning experiences. Below I include a few quotes shared by those who have taken part in the program: “Dr. Woolsey is an innovative and inspiring leader who has built an amazing program to help teach undergraduate students the importance of research and the utility of inquiry-based learning. As a PM, I have had the opportunity to work with Dr. Woolsey, and the team of PMs he has assembled, to improve and continue to develop the program to best suit incoming Honors College freshmen. He is always open to great ideas and willing to discuss how the Honors 110 curriculum can be improved. I am looking forward to continuing to work with Dr. Woolsey and the other PM’s to make the HNRS 110 Curriculum a positive and informative experience.” “What’s unique about Dr. Woolsey is that he’s genuinely excited about advancing students’ understanding of research… Last Wednesday, he and I took a few minutes to plan what we were doing in his 110 class that day, and we stumbled on a tool on Web of Science that let you visualize which disciplines are citing a particular source. Dr. Woolsey spent probably a solid ten minutes geeking out about how helpful that would be to helping students get the concept of multiple perspectives and how evidence functions across different disciplines, because that’s how happy he is about helping students. Having known him as a professor, a research mentor, an academic advisor, and supervisor, it’s clear that he views his work as a professor to be first and foremost about his students. That’s the part he prioritizes, and to me it seems like the one he most enjoys, which I think is what helps him have such a profound impact on the people he works with.” “I’ve had the pleasure of working with Dr. Woolsey as a PM for HNRS 110. Dr. Woolsey is extremely committed to making the entirety of HNRS 110 program as stimulating as possible and pushes not only the students, but us PMs, as well, to think outside the box and explore new ideas. He is one of those professors who truly strives to ensure that the 110 curriculum is tailored as best to the student’s needs so that they are further able to use the information they’ve gained outside of 110 setting. Within our PM class, Dr. Woolsey encourages us to take part as leaders in various activities throughout the semester both in the general and Honors College setting.” “Dr. Woolsey is one of the most intelligent, funny, and actively supportive people I have ever met. I don’t think you can find someone else who cares more about getting freshmen engaged in scholarly research to see how it can them find their passions. It has been a pleasure learning from him as a supervisor and an honor to have him as an academic adviser as well. He is the first person I go to whenever I need advice on anything school related and I often come out with great life advice. I really credit Dr. Woolsey in giving me, and so many others, the confidence needed to feel like we belong in our future careers.” Sentiments like these speak to the incredible impact Dr. Woolsey has had in implementing and organizing research mentorship within his everyday practice as a teacher and the broader research curriculum. Finally, as Dr. Woolsey’s colleague, I can speak firsthand to the effort he has made to support other faculty in becoming research mentors. When I was a new Mason faculty member, Dr. Woolsey was one of the individuals who introduced me to the OSCAR office and URSP program. He is always generous in sharing advice and strategies for mentoring undergraduate research, and I’ve learned a great deal from him over the years. This is a role he plays for so many faculty here at Mason through the professional development activities and idea exchanges he facilitates on a frequent basis. For these reasons and more, I’m excited to nominate John Woolsey for this award. |