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Dr. Phyllis Artiss

Be it teaching, research, or administration, the hallmark of Dr. Phyllis Artiss's style can be summarized in one word: collaborative. An associate professor in the Department of English and a teacher for 35 years, it was her interest in people, her enjoyment of listening to and learning from others, that led Dr. Artiss to develop a particular interest in collaborative classes. “I learned to go into the class with the awareness that I need to learn from the students,” she said. “Without that, the class is flat. Of course, I take responsibility for the learning environment, but, ultimately, we share and we learn from each other.” When asked to discuss her own merits, Dr. Artiss veers to discussions of the contributions of others, including English Department colleagues Bill Kirwin, Roberta Buchanan, Jean Guthrie, Bill Barker, and Valerie Legge. Dr. Artiss likes to share opportunities, and donated her $5,000 honorarium from this award to the Opportunity Fund to initiate a new scholarship enabling graduate students to pursue learning about teaching and pedagogy.

A native of Nova Scotia, Dr. Artiss has a MA in English from the University of Edinburgh and a doctorate from the University of Texas. She has designed and taught courses in composition, rhetoric, linguistics, critical theory and feminist theory, served as co-ordinator of the Women's Studies Program, and was recently appointed to the Provincial Advisory Council on the Status of Women. Currently, she is working with Education faculty Dr. Roberta Hammett and Dr. Barry Barrell on a SSHRC grant studying the interaction between literacy and computer skills. But perhaps closest to her heart is the passion to teach (what else?) how to teach. “It was helpful to me to discover there is so much to learn about teaching and pedagogy; that it's not just a question of 'you're born a teacher', but that there really is an intellectually-challenging area of research and theory to explore.”

In being nominated for this award, Dr. Artiss has been called by former students Janice Lockyer and Win Mellor-Hay “the kind of professor you meet once in your life and wish you'd met in your first year” and “the best embodiment of teaching through doing versus telling that I have ever come across.” Former student and one-time colleague Jacqueline Howse writes: “She is one of those rare friends whose constant enthusiasm and curiosity regarding my thinking continues to stimulate my learning. In my own teaching, at my best moments, I hope my students see a teacher similar to the one she has been to me.” And how does Dr. Artiss feel? “To me, the best thing about this award is getting all these wonderful letters from students and colleagues! That's the real award.”

For other outstanding teachers, see Distinguished Teaching Awards

Highlights

  • The Division of Community Health received a three-year grant of $128,000 from Health Canada to develop an information system to track the implementation of health promotion programs.

  • The School of Continuing Education developed more than 100 Web-supported distance courses.

  • The School of Continuing Education represented the university at the first World Education Market held in Vancouver in May, 2000.

  • The MUN Chamber Choir performed, among other works, a commission from School of Music graduate Michael Snelgrove at the International Society of Music Educator's Conference in Edmonton.

  • The Faculties of Business Administration, Arts and Science offered two conjoint degrees for undergraduate students.

  • This year saw the first graduating classes of the BA (environmental studies) and the bachelor of nursing (collaborative).

  • The concurrent studies program, approved in 1999, allows high school students with high academic averages to complete university courses. In the fall semester three participants approved by a special admissions committee completed their courses with an A grade.

  • Grenfell's math faculty changed the way Math 1090 is taught at the college, introducing a three-hour lab component. This pilot study provided concurrent remediation in basic math skills. Because all Math 1090 students are required to take the lab, none of Grenfell's students are required to write the Math Skills Inventory.

  • The School of Physical Education introduced its new non-co-op bachelor of recreation degree.

  • Senate approved the establishment of a PhD program in pharmaceutical sciences.

  • Dr. Deborah Kelly, assistant professor of clinical pharmacy, received the Bristol Myers Squibb Award for Excellence in Pharmaceutical Teaching.

  • MUN's School of Pharmacy won the 2000 Canadian Association of Pharmacy Students and Interns (CAPSI) Award of Professionalism for Pharmacy Awareness Week.

  • A group of chemists at Grenfell College received $40,000 to computer-interface experiments in their physical chemistry course. Chemists at the college have attained a reputation across North America for innovative teaching of practical chemistry.

  • The Telemedicine Centre won the 2000 President's Award for the Advancement of Telemedicine, awarded by the American Telemedicine Association. Memorial is a pioneer in the use of telehealth technologies to deliver health and education programming to distant populations, having started its telemedicine program almost 25 years ago.

  • The Centre for Academic and Media Services (CAMS), School of Continuing Education, won four awards for its outstanding video work from the Association for Media and Technology in Education in Canada (AMTEC).