Accolades for Sept. 6, 2011

September 6th, 2011 - Filed under: Accolades

Rehabilitation Counselor Education Program Renewed

The Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE) has renewed the accreditation of the rehabilitation counselor education program in the College of Education through the 2017-18 year.

“Accreditation by the CORE assures that our rehabilitation counseling program provides quality instruction and field experiences for students pursuing master’s degrees in rehabilitation counseling,” said Dr. Jamie Satcher, professor of counselor education.

“Our graduates are eligible to sit for the national certified rehabilitation counselor examination, and in many states, graduation from a CORE-accredited program also means that our students are eligible to begin the process for becoming licensed professional counselors.”

Dr. Jim McLean, dean of the College, said, “The College of Education is fully accredited for every program we offer. This includes our overall accreditations with the Southern Association for Colleges and Schools (SACS) and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) as well as our specialty areas.

“I am pleased that rehabilitation counseling has again demonstrated its high standards and quality with its reaccreditation by the CORE.”

Accounting Professor Receives National Educator Award

Dr. Ed Schnee
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Ed Schnee is no stranger to winning.

As the Hugh Culverhouse Professor of Accounting at the Culverhouse School of Accountancy, Schnee won the School of Accountancy’s Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award in 1990. And he received the American Tax  Association Outstanding Service Award in 2004.

Last month, he won the 3.0 division championship in the Pritchett-Moore Men’s City Invitational at Indian  Hills Golf and Tennis Club, the largest tennis tournament in West Alabama.

But his selection earlier this month for the Outstanding Tax Educator Award by the American Taxation Association
has a special meaning for Schnee.
The award is named in honor of the late Dr. Ray M. Sommerfeld, long-time professor of accounting at the University of Texas at Austin. Sommerfeld, the first  recipient of the award, earned a reputation as a pioneer  of tax education and provided a lifetime of service to students, colleagues and the profession of taxation. Sommerfeld was an avid sailor, and the award that now sits on Schnee’s office bookshelf is a representation of a billowing mainsail.

“Ray really changed the course of tax education both from a research and a teaching point of view,” Schnee said. “Ray also found time to assist any faculty member, and not just those at his institution. He was sort of a mentor to many of us.”

The award, presented in cooperation with the Ernst & Young Foundation, recognizes outstanding contributions by a faculty member teaching taxation at a recognized academic institution and is based on teaching, research and service.

In making the award, the ATA awards committee considers contributions to curriculum or program development (including related research and/or superior teaching), participation in student activities, service to an academic institution, participation in professional activities, and activities furthering taxation as an academic field of study and research.

Schnee said receiving the Sommerfeld award “means that my attempt to emulate and apply the knowledge I gained from Ray has succeeded to the point that my colleagues have been able to recognize it and that my striving toward excellence has been recognized.”

Making the award even more meaningful was the presenter, Alabama graduate Dr. Hughlene Burton, now an associate professor of accounting at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Schnee, who received his bachelor of business administration degree from City College of New York, his MBA and doctorate from Michigan State University, teaches accounting seniors and master’s students and has been the coordinator for the Culverhouse School of Accountancy Master in Tax Accounting program for the past 26 years.

That means that Schnee has sent more than 400 students with master’s degrees in tax accounting out into the business world.

Schnee acknowledged that his reputation as a teacher is “tough but fair.”

“My job in the classroom is to incorporate policy, history and business planning,” he said. “I have tried to maintain consistent standards for the entire time I have been here. In doing so, I provide my students with the knowledge and ability to succeed in practice.”

“Today’s students are much more knowledgeable in technology, but they have not been challenged as much in the reasoning and communicating areas,” he said. “Critical thinking is essential.”
Schnee said he is concerned that MTA programs around the country are in danger of being discontinued.
“Because of financial reasons, more and more schools are eliminating the tax program. We offer something very special and different for our students,” he said.

Bryant Professors of Education Named

Dr. Carol Donovan and Dr. Matt Curtner-Smith received the 2011-12 Paul W. Bryant Professors of Education awards, which are given annually by the College of Education to faculty members who exhibit excellence in either teaching or research.

Dr. Carol Donovan
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Donovan, professor of elementary education, was honored for her accomplishments in teaching. Curtner-Smith, professor and department head of kinesiology, was honored for his accomplishments in research.

Donovan is the current coordinator for the Literacy Education Programs in the College. She is the former director of the Belser-Parton Literacy Center and co-director of the Longleaf Writing Project. Donovan publishes and presents research on children’s writing development. She was recently awarded the 2010 Jerry Johns Outstanding Educator in Reading Award from the International Reading Association. Donovan earned her bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and doctorate from the University of New Mexico.

Dr. Matt Curtner-Smith
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Curtner-Smith has more than 80 publications and 60 presentations from the United Kingdom to San Francisco. Curtner-Smith earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Exeter, England; his master’s degree from Colorado State University and doctorate from the University of Northern Colorado.

The Coach Paul W. Bryant Endowed Professorship was established by Robert “Bud” Moore, along with other friends, to honor the memory of Paul William Bryant. Bryant, also known as Coach Bear Bryant, inspired many student  athletes to pursue teaching as a career. Bryant, who made a career of teaching young people, promoted excellence within faculty of the College of Education at The University of Alabama.

DeBruin is Capstone Hero

Susan DeBruin, a library assistant at the health sciences library at UA, was named a Capstone Hero for the assistance she rendered to neighbors and UA students the night of the April 27 tornado.

DeBruin and her husband Derek, who was named with her as the award recipient, had their apartment damaged in  the storm, but ventured out to assist others in the immediate aftermath.

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