BGSU lecturer to receive national honor

Fink, a lecturer in the Bowling Green State University College of Technology, is among this year's five recipients of the award, given by the largest professional organization in technical communication. The presentation will be made May 11 at the international society's annual conference in Baltimore, Md. "

I think being rewarded for teaching by former students is as good as it gets," said Fink, who was nominated by Jennifer Giordano, a 1997 BGSU graduate whom Fink influenced outside, as well as in, the classroom.

The Jay R. Gould Award, named for a former professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., "is truly the most prestigious award that STC gives to faculty members," noted Sandra Harner, assistant to the president of the society for academic and research programs.

In addition to innovation and creativity in teaching, award criteria include mentorship of students "above and beyond" the classroom, extending after graduation into their careers, she explained. "

Bonnie is known for her contagious enthusiasm for the profession of technical communication and for STC-both of which are now evident in the lives of the students she has touched," added Harner, who also directs the technical and professional communication program at Cedarville University.

Eligibility requirements for award nominees include at least 10 years as members of the society-Fink was named an Associate Fellow of STC in 2001 and is current manager of its Secondary Education Outreach Committee-and at least 15 years in post-secondary education, where she has taught since 1988.

Fink, who earned her bachelor's degree in education at BGSU, taught secondary English and communications for 18 years before joining Bowling Green's English department faculty as an instructor in 1988. That December, she received her master's degree in English, with a specialization in scientific and technical communication, from the University.

She continued to teach in the English department until 2001, and from 1998-2001, was coordinator and adviser for the undergraduate program in scientific and technical communication.

In 1998, she won the BGSU Undergraduate Alumni Association's Master Teacher Award and the President's Award for Academic Advising. The following year, she was the University's December commencement speaker.

While Fink was adviser to the BGSU Chapter of STC from 1991-01, the chapter won the society's Student Chapter Achievement Award five times.

Now in the College of Technology, Fink teaches distance learning classes, as well as a Technology Systems in Societies course, in the Visual Communication and Technology Education department. She is also developing an online, degree-completion program for working adults and new courses for firefighters and EMS personnel and for library science students. In addition, she has an Ohio Board of Regents grant to design and implement information literacy training for technologists.

(Posted March 05, 2004 )