Missouri governor honors UMSL nursing scholar

Pictured, from left, are UMSL Chancellor Tom George; University of Missouri System President Gary Forseel Judith Maserand, teaching professor of nursing at UMSL; and Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt. 197 KB .jpg

Judith Maserang, teaching professor of nursing at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, is one of four University of Missouri System recipients of the Governor's Award for Excellence in Teaching. She received the award April 9 from Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt at the Missouri Counsel on Public Higher Education in Jefferson City, Mo.

"Maserang has been both a mentor and a role model," said Cynthia Billman, teaching associate professor of nursing at UMSL. "She is passionate about students and their learning. She continues to strive and go above and beyond constantly meeting with students outside of class."

The annual award is given to a faculty member who has demonstrated effective teaching, commitment to high standards of excellence and excelled in one or more of the following: effective advising, enhancement of student learning and success, and service to the university community.

Maserang, of Collinsville, Ill., is the first faculty member from UMSL's College of Nursing to receive the award. She joined the college in 1993 as an adjunct assistant professor of nursing and later served as an assistant nursing professor, director of nursing outreach education, coordinator of the RN/BSN program and director of extended nursing. She has written numerous scholarly articles, many of which focused on distance learning, the computer's role in the classroom, new technology, outreach programs and nurse preparation.

Julie Sebastian, dean of the College of Nursing at UMSL, praised Maserang for her incorporation of technology as a part of her comprehensive set of learning strategies, especially as it pertains to distance learning where students are taught at off-campus sites via interactive television or Internet.

"It can be challenging to help students in outreach sites feel as if they are completely connected with the learning environment," Sebastian said. "Maserang's warmth and proactive approach to working with these students helps make those connections affective."

Maserang is a past recipient of the Carl N. Scheneman Excellence in Teaching Award, which is given each year to a University of Missouri Extension faculty member for planning, conducting and evaluating one extension educational activity conducted that academic year. She also has held professorships at Maryville College in Town and Country, Mo. and McKendree College in Lebanon, Ill. Prior to that, she was a flight nurse holding the rank of captain for the United States Air Force Reserves at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois.

Maserang wrote in her philosophy of teaching and learning that she views herself not as "the sage on the stage" but "the guide by the side." She teaches via traditional classroom, clinical site, online course and multiple interconnected interactive television classrooms.

"As an educator, I believe my primary role is to help students learn how to learn," she said. "I strive to use all aspects of the teaching-learning interaction in a way to maximize the opportunity for learning."

-END-