James Sernoe, the department chair and a mass communication professor at Midwestern State University, recently received the Texas Tech University System Chancellor’s Council Distinguished Teaching Award.
The award shines a light on the dedication and achievements of professors around the MSU Texas campus. Sernoe was selected for the award because of his student-centered teaching style.
Sernoe’s passion for his work and the foundation of mutual respect he establishes with students in his class contribute to student success and confidence, which many students have attested to.
This commitment to his work is further demonstrated through his role as department chair, previous role as interim dean, and his involvement with various groups such as the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Small Programs Interest Group.
While Sernoe had started his career as a journalist with the goal of making an impact, he realized the path he was on wasn’t bringing about those results like he’d hoped.
He said it was then that he decided to pursue teaching so he could make a deliberate difference in the lives of others.
“I thought teaching was something I could do to give back to the world and improve the world and change the world for the better,” Sernoe said.
Sernoe has been teaching the last several decades. He has been with MSU for around 30 years of that time.
Sernoe said he took the job at Midwestern because he believed it to be a place where he could find a sense of community and make a difference in the lives of students and those he works with.
Sernoe said in the years he’s been teaching at MSU, what has stood out to him the most and allowed him to commit so heavily to the job is how devoted the students are to pursuing their education.
He said it’s clear that his students aren’t simply attending college because they feel it’s what they’re supposed to do or because it’s what they were told to do but because they genuinely want to learn about the field they’re pursuing.
Despite his commitment to his job, Sernoe said he was surprised that he received the Distinguished Teaching Award and admittedly thought it was a scam at first. After accepting its reality, he said he felt honored and flattered to have been awarded with it, knowing how many quality teachers are on the MSU Texas campus.
Sernoe’s notable passion for community and making a difference is apparent even outside of his job as a professor.
He said when he’s not teaching, he’s very involved with the Backdoor Theatre group and the Adult Literacy Council, and he has served in multiple positions for both. He said he also enjoys being active and travelling as a means to restore his energy and refresh his perspective of the world around him.
Sernoe said as far as looking ahead at his career, he’s already accomplished much of what he aspired for. He said moving forward, his greatest hope is to continue to inspire his students to grow and reach for their goals.
He is focused on the Student Documentary Showcase coming up just before graduation — something he looks forward to each semester.
“There are always a couple of students up there that I never thought would be there, and it’s very gratifying to think — and it’s not just me, it takes a village — but that there are students who would not have made it without faculty support or faculty pushing them,” Sernoe said.
Beyond positively impacting their educational experience, Sernoe said he hopes to have a lasting impact on each of his students.
He wants them to believe in themselves and believe in what they do when they leave the program.
He noted that the field of journalism has the ability to create significant change — maybe not always on a large scale but certainly in a one’s own community — and he hopes his students understand that as they move into their careers.
“Journalism, what we do in a Democracy, what our mission is and the written word all still matter,” Serno said. “These days in a world of social media and technology and a million voices and a million critics, it’s easy to say this doesn’t matter or this doesn’t make a difference. I think I would be a hypocrite teaching it if I didn’t still believe we can make a difference.”
Recipients of the Chancellor’s Council Distinguished Teaching Award receive a $5,000 stipend and an engraved medallion.
The Chancellor’s Council Distinguished Teaching and Research Awards recognize academic excellence across the TTU System. The honors are the most prestigious awards granted to faculty throughout the TTU System.
The awards are funded by gifts to the Chancellor’s Council, a giving society that supports the chancellor’s priorities across the TTU System. Since the honors were established in 2001, 281 faculty members have received awards totaling more than $1.6 million.
“The Distinguished Teaching and Distinguished Research Awards are the highest honor that our system can give,” TTU System Chancellor Brandon Creighton said. “Since 2001, these awards have recognized faculty whose work transforms classrooms. They are possible because of the investment of our Chancellor’s Council members who continue to help us build and sustain the very best.”
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: MSU professor James Sernoe receives a top teaching award
Reporting by Reanna Gonzalez, MSU Texas / Wichita Falls Times Record News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
