Instructor Awards (2010-2011)

Dr. Gary Lewicki

Gary showed so much care to each and every student.  He would have no problem answering and explaining any question during class, and also extend his time outside of class.  I look to him if I have any problems with my personal or professional life, as he is a great tutor and role-model.  Overall, a great guy.
–Student from Gary’s class.

 A lifelong Connecticut resident and UConn alum, Dr. Gary Lewicki has worked in higher education for three decades.  In the early 1980s, he served as an academic advisor in our liberal arts and sciences advisory center.  After five years, he moved on to the Connecticut Department of Higher Education where he spent the next decade as a researcher and fiscal analyst.  He returned to the University in 1996 as Assistant Vice President of Financial Planning and Management, working with the Chief Fiscal Officer and the President’s Office. 

For the past decade, Dr. Lewicki has served as Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Planning and Management, where he has focused on recruitment, retention and graduation issues at university, statewide, and national levels.  During this time he has also taught First Year Experience courses in both the fall and spring semesters, sometimes teaching two sections for a semester, for a total of 31 classes! 

In his personal philosophy of teaching an FYE class, he writes, “Teaching FYE, in my opinion, is an opportunity to provide students with equilibrium while they adjust to their new academic, social, and personal environment at this large research university.  The opportunities implied by the three words LARGE RESEARCH UNIVERSITY are abundant programs and services; access to the cutting edge knowledge;  and, a broad array of experiences from which to choose.  The challenges are as readily apparent: huge lecture halls; faculty whose rewards are tied more to research productivity than teaching effectiveness; and, so many choices for students to make.  Our responsibility as FYE instructors is to be proactive and reactive to the both the opportunities and challenges, and, most importantly, to let them know that we care. We personalize the college experience for them and help them feel like an integral part of the UConn family.

It is an honor and a privilege to meet with these students every week and help them grow, and I learn from them as well.  Many keep in touch, some come back to mentor in my classes.  Who says large research universities have to be impersonal?” --Dr. Gary Lewicki

Dr. Peter Nicholls

Dr. Nicholls gave each of us time and attention. He asked each of his students how things were going and checked in regularly. It made my transition so much easier knowing that at least one person, other than my parents, was rooting for me.  
–A student in Peter’s class.

Dr. Peter J. Nicholls arrived at the University of Connecticut in 2005 as Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs.   The Provost is the University’s chief academic officer and is responsible for all academic programs at the main campus in Storrs, at the five regional campuses, at the Law School, and at the Medical and Dental Schools. 

Dr. Nicholls received his doctorate in mathematics from Cambridge University in England in 1970 and a Bachelor of Science degree in the same subject from London University in 1967.  His research is in Pure Mathematics and he has published a total of 27 scholarly articles in major refereed journals world-wide. 

During the Fall 2006 semester, Dr. Nicholls taught his first FYE faculty seminar, “What’s the Password?” in which he provided first-year students with an in-depth look at the history of codes and ciphers.  In Fall 2009, he switched the topic to “A Brief History of Time.”  In this course, he provides a historical perspective on the measurement of time.

In relating the philosophy he has developed for teaching a FYE class, Dr. Nicholls writes, “The letters FYE stand for “first year experience,” and that really says it all.  In this course the instructor has the opportunity to meet in a small group with freshman students and to introduce them to the academic life of the University of Connecticut.  This will usually be the smallest class experience that the student has, and I view it as a great opportunity for the student to get to know an instructor, and to get to know other students as well.

“The course that I teach will have academic content, but of course there will be no pre-requisites and one cannot assume any specialized knowledge.  But the subject matter is almost irrelevant – The point is that the students will get engaged in the understanding process that is at the heart of academic enquiry.  I get the students to work together and individually on projects and I insist that they come in to visit me during office hours to explain their ideas.  During these meetings I like to keep tabs on how they are doing, not only in their academic studies, but also in the assimilation to UConn.  Sometimes it can be a help to the student just to have a sympathetic ear, or perhaps to get advice on how to deal with a situation that is new to them.  A good introduction to the academy given by an instructor who enjoys the class is the most important aspect of the FYE course.”

– Dr. Peter Nicholls.