The University of Denver is known for close faculty/student interactions and mentoring throughout a student’s’ entire time at DU. Building a constellation of mentors starts on day one for students and is vital for a meaningful 4D Experience. Now in its 7th year, the Faculty Career Champion award has become a true example of the ways DU faculty create the 4D Experience for students as they begin to pursue careers and lives of purpose. The Faculty Career Champion student nominated award celebrates these faculty/student interactions and tells the compelling story of how DU faculty impact students’ career and professional development goals in a wide range of ways. Year after year, we continue to be amazed by the number of student faculty nominations and the amount of time faculty dedicate to students. DU faculty are true career advocates for their students. This year 130 unique students nominated 143 faculty members for the Faculty Career Champion award! What is even more astonishing is in the past 7 years we have had over 2300 students nominate over 1000 professors as career champions!
On September 19, 2023, Provost Clark along with university leaders and career services professionals from across campus gathered for the 7th Annual Faculty Career Champion Breakfast in the Burwell Center for Career Achievement to acknowledge, honor, and celebrate the 143 Faculty Career Champion nominees. Each nominee received a Faculty Career Champion letter containing quotes from their student nominator(s), describing how they positively impacted the student’s career and professional development goals.
One student wrote that their professor “is always available to her students, whether it is an academic, professional, or personal issue. She mentors with compassion”. Another wrote, “My professor brought me on as her research assistant and has continuously trusted me even when I was unsure of myself… She has helped me to take on projects and complete tasks under her supervision that I would be doing in the real world, and has overall just helped me to feel so much more confident in my professional and research capacities.” A student thank you video further demonstrates the impact faculty have on student’s career and professional development goals.
From the many compelling nominations, a committee of Career Services leaders from across campus chose three faculty as the 2023 Faculty Career Champions. This was based on several factors including years of being nominated, career integration in the classroom, student nomination statements, and partnerships with Career & Professional Development staff. Congratulations to the 7th annual Faculty Career Champion award recipients:
Undergraduate Faculty Career Champion
Teaching Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy
College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Graduate Faculty Career Champion
Assistant Professor, Franklin L. Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management
Daniels College of Business
Emerging Faculty Career Champion
Assistant Professor, Psychology
College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Thank you to all the nominees, we are deeply grateful for you and your commitment to DU’s students. View a complete list of all the 2023 Faculty Career Champion nominations here.
We would also like to thank all the DU students who nominated 143 faculty this past academic year! Students, please watch for the next Faculty Career Champion call for nominations in winter/spring 2024. An email will be sent to all students through PCO.
If you would like to learn more about the Faculty Career Champion program, please contact Cindy Funk, cindy.funk@du.edu.
