The UNLV Alumni Association recently announced the recipients of this year's Student-Centered Faculty Awards.

The awards are presented each year to six professors who excel in making students the focal point of their teaching efforts.

Professors chosen for the 2001-02 academic year are: Margot Mink Colbert, associate professor of dance; Aimee Govett, clinical assistant professor of curriculum and instruction; Patricia Markos, associate professor of counseling; Henry Selvaraj, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering; Krystyna Stave, assistant professor of environmental studies; and Jean Whitney, professor of legal writing.

In addition, the Alumni Association presented this year's Student-Centered Project Grant Awards to Carol Jensen, director of the Urban Affairs Student Advising Center, and to Walter C. Vodrazka, Jr., transportation systems analyst with the Transportation Research Center.

Jensen received a $1,000 grant, which will be used to help UNLV Honors College students enrolled in the World Religions in Contemporary Form class to present their research papers at the upcoming 29th Annual Western Regional Honors Council Conference.

"The events of September 11 greatly influenced the direction and tone of our class discussions and the degree of engagement in research projects produced during the course," Jensen said. "Some of the excellent papers written by our students dealt with such topics as the Hijab (veil) and Muslim women, Black Muslims and the development of prisoners rights, and the Zionist movement in Judaism. Attending this conference will provide the students with a valuable opportunity to showcase their research and to take their oral presentations to a level of public interaction beyond UNLV."

Vodrazka, who also serves as staff advisor to the UNLV chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), received a $2,000 grant for a "Concrete Canoe" project and another $2,000 for a "Steel Bridge" project.

The grant money will be used to help UNLV's civil engineering students compete against other ASCE student chapters in the annual Pacific Southwest Region "design-and-build competition," which will take place in April.

At the competition, the canoe is judged on its hull design and construction and on its ability to perform in several different races. The steel bridge is judged on its construction and performance. The students must design and build a 20-foot-long steel bridge that is able to span a 14-foot-wide river and hold 2,500 pounds.

"The competition is a great experience for our civil engineering students here at UNLV because it relates directly to the classes that they take and gives them an opportunity to apply what they have learned in their classes to the construction of these bridge and canoe projects," Vodrazka said. "This grant will be of great assistance because one of the main obstacles the student chapter faces each year is funding for this competition."

For additional information about the UNLV Alumni Association's Student-Centered Faculty Awards or Student-Centered Project Grant Awards, contact the office of Alumni Relations at 895-3621.