2006 Chancellor's Excellence Award
Excellence in Teaching - Randi J. Storch
Storch,
who has served the History Depart- ment since 1998, becomes the
47th SUNY Cortland faculty member to receive the Chancellor’s
Award for Excellence in Teaching.
She has a B.A. from the University of Florida and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. Storch joined Cortland as assistant professor and was promoted to associate professor in 2004.
Storch has taught 10 courses, including many at the introductory or survey-level. She has developed several new courses for the History Department, including a skills course that is now a requirement for all majors as well as two graduate courses: Issues in Labor and Working Class History and Issues in U.S. Women’s History.
In the classroom, she regularly uses a multi-media delivery of the subject matter, featuring primary source materials of numerous varieties, to bring historical events to life. These include music, photographs, journal accounts, video streaming and audio clips.
She also employs a variety of teaching methods to engage the students, including formal debates, public trials, role-playing and small group discussions.
On her Course Teacher Evaluations (CTEs), Storch has earned a mean score of more than 4.0 on a 5.0 scale on the quantitative portion for nearly every course she has taught.
“Perhaps what is most impressive about Dr. Storch is her continuing quest to learn within her field,” one student noted. “Nothing is more inspiring than being taught by someone who is so dedicated to their field and continuing their education.
Colleagues cite her syllabi and grading instruments as undeniable signs of a master teacher who is extremely well-organized with clear objectives and expectations. Long-time faculty members consult her when seeking fresh ideas to engage students or acquaint them with methods and skills in history.
An active scholar throughout her profes-sional career, Storch made several trips to Moscow, Russia, to research her planned publications. Storch recently completed a book manuscript on The Communist Party and Chicago’s Workers, which is under review by the University of Illinois Press. She is the author of 10 book reviews and encyclopedia entries.
Since coming to SUNY Cortland, Storch has been awarded eight research grants, including one funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 2002, she was also awarded the prestigious Nuala Drescher Leave Award, reserved for promis-ing scholars in preparation for tenure review.
At the request of the provost, Storch co-chaired the Intellectual Climate Task Force, which aimed to identify ways to improve the intellectual climate on campus in 2001-02.
As the History Club advisor from 1999-2002, she planned day and overnight trips to historical venues across the Northeast, in order to facilitate student connections between their course of study and the real world context outside the classroom. She also worked with club members to develop a “What To Do With a History Major” session now offered regularly through Career Services.
“My primary goal is to teach students how to think like historians,” Storch said, noting that “there is not one right interpretation but . . . stronger and weaker ways to present an argument.”