'Surprise Patrol' delivers Kemper Award at Edwards Campus in Overland Park

LAWRENCE -- The "Surprise Patrol" caught up with Tracy Russo, an assistant professor of communication studies, while she was teaching a class at the University of Kansas Edwards Campus in Overland Park last night to present her with a $5,000 Kemper Award for excellence in teaching and advising.

Eighteen KU professors have received 2003 Kemper Awards. In all, 20 professors will be honored and $100,000 will be distributed with Kemper Awards by Sept. 15. The W.T. Kemper Fellowships for Teaching Excellence recognize outstanding teachers and advisers at KU as determined by a seven-member selection committee. Now in the eighth year of a 10-year program, the awards were established by a $500,000 fund from the William T. Kemper Foundation-Commerce Bank, Trustee, and $500,000 in matching funds from the KU Endowment Association.

Tracy Russo

As an assistant professor of communication studies, Tracy Russo primarily researches the relationship between instructors and students in online classes. She received her doctoral degree in communication studies from KU in 1995 and joined the faculty the same year. Russo put her research to work when she taught the first completely online class in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She also is director of the Edwards Campus Graduate Program in Communication Studies. In 2001, Russo received one of 30 awards from the Pew National Fellowship for Carnegie Scholars. The fellowship supported her continued research in online education.

One colleague observed her ability to engage her students in discussion. "Tracy knew all the students' names and worked them into her presentation. It was an inspiring example of how to get the students to engage in collaborative learning rather than lecturing them."

[Biography written by Jamie Rentfro]

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