|
Sheri Smith Dr. Sheri Smith joined the Kansas State University faculty in 2002 as an assistant professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning. A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Dr. Smith received a Bachelor of Arts from George Washington University; a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana; and a Ph.D. in planning from Texas A&M University. Her areas of specialization include housing and community development, physical planning, planning theory and urban history and infrastructure. A member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, the American Institute of Certified Planners and the American Planning Association, Dr. Smith currently serves as the treasurer of the K-State Black Faculty/Staff Alliance. The high regard with which current and former students, as well as her peers, hold Dr. Smith is evident from numerous comments in the materials submitted to nominate her for this award. Her energy, enthusiasm and dedication to the students and the profession are evident from the very first time Dr. Smith interacts with students. She possesses the ability to teach topics in a way that encourages learning after formal class time is over. She uses a wide variety of teaching and presentation techniques that deeply engage students in the learning process. She is able to teach both large and small classes of students in a way that engages everyone in a participatory effort to make a point applicable to a "real world" experience. She inspires students to give 100 percent effort to learning because she gives 100 percent effort to teaching. Dr. Smith's courses are among the most progressive and difficult in our curricula. In these courses, she communicates information with skill and an obvious mastery of the subject matter. Her courses serve as models for our college--they stimulate student creativity and critical thinking abilities. Students come to realize that, although difficult, her course materials are a critical part of an education that will provide them with the tools they require to become successful designers. As a practicing planner with excellent academic skills, Dr. Smith is able to help students understand important relationships between their academic pursuits and the professions they aspire to join. She is demanding, yet caring. She provides wise counsel and spends extraordinary amounts of time to help her students succeed. Her students work hard, and she earns their respect. In recognition of her creativity and dedication to the education of future leaders in planning and our related professions, the College of Architecture, Planning and Design is pleased to award the 2007 McElwee Faculty Teaching Award to Dr. Sheri L. Smith. |