Southeastern NEWS
Southeastern Louisiana University
Public Information Office
SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
publicinfo@selu.edu
Date: 5/22/96
Contact: Christina Chapple 108
Editors: Photos accompany release
SLU PROFESSORS HONORED FOR RESEARCH, TEACHING, ARTS, SERVICE
HAMMOND -- Four Southeastern Louisiana University professors and a staff member
have been awarded the university's most prestigious honor -- the President's Award for Excellence
in research, teaching, artistic activity and service.
The awards were presented at the university's March 18 commencement exercises to Gary
Shaffer, associate professor of biological sciences, for research; William Robison, professor of
history, for teaching, and Harriet Vogt, artistic director of Fanfare and associate professor of
music, for artistic activity. Professor Anne Ferguson, head of the College of Basic Studies' Junior
Division, and Judy Couvillion, Human Resource academic staff coordinator, received the newly
created President's Awards for faculty and unclassified staff service.
Since joining Southeastern's biological sciences faculty in 1990, Shaffer, who specializes in
wetlands ecology and statistics, has received 30 grants and contracts totaling $1 million and has
another $1 million in research grants pending. He has published ten refereed journal articles and
has been invited to speak at universities and conferences throughout the country and world.
Shaffer, who earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of California-
Santa Barbara and his doctorate from Louisiana State University, was named "lead ecologist" for
the state of Louisiana by the 7,000-member Ecological Society of America and developed
"Project CYPRESS," an inservice program designed to bridge the gap between scientists and
teachers. Project CYPRESS has been continually refunded by the Louisiana
Systemic Initiatives Program and reviewers have consistently said that it could serve as a
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PRESIDENT'S AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE -- Add One
national model for science education reform.
Robison, who joined the Southeastern history and government faculty in 1983, is past
recipient of the College of Arts and Sciences' Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching and
recently was named the Fay Warren Reimers Distinguished Teaching Professor.
A specialist in British history, he has taught some 20 different history courses at
Southeastern and is co-editor of the "Historical Dictionary of Stuart England" and author of more
than a dozen published articles. The Louisiana State University graduate coordinates his
department's graduate program, was instrumental in a recent revision of the history department
curricula.
Fellow history professor and two-time President's Award winner Michael Kurtz said
students consider Robison "the kind of teacher whose courses are worth taking, not because they
are easy, but because of his genuine enthusiasm for his subject and because of his genuine concern
for students."
Vogt has a lifetime involvement in the arts as a teacher, performer and presenter. A
graduate of North Texas State University and Oklahoma City University, lived, worked and
performed in Europe for a number of years before joinint the Southeastern music faculty as a
professor of voice in 1973. She became artistic director of Fanfare, the university's annual arts
festival, in 1988 after helping to establish the festival two years earlier.
Under Vogt's tireless leadership, Fanfare's goal of developing audiences and bringing
quality programming to students and the region has met with steadily increasing success. In 1995,
Fanfare's tenth anniversary season, the festival had an estimated $500,000 impact on the
Hammond-Ponchatoula area and attendance jumped 41 percent. Attendance exceeded 30,000,
including more than half the Southeastern student body and 2,800 elementary students. Several
universities have used Fanfare as a model for developing their own arts festivals.
"Harriet Vogt's contribution to the artistic environment of not only this community but the
entire Southern region is unmatched," said her fellow music department Excellence Award
winners.
Ferguson, who has been a member of the Southeastern faculty for 19 years, began her
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PRESIDENT'S AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE -- Add Two
career at Southeastern as a member of the education faculty. A graduate of the University of
Southwestern Louisiana and the University of Arkansas, she entered the field of administration in
1985, when she joined the College of Basic Studies to head the Developmental Education
department. As department head, she designed an automated advising system that allows faculty
advisors instant access and accurate tracking to students' academic records. Also in 1985, she
received the first President's Award for Excellence in teaching. Ferguson became head of the
Junior Division, the entry level division for all entering freshmen and transfer students, in 1989.
She is a former vice president of the National Association for Developmental Education and
president of the Louisiana Association for Developmental Education.
In nominating her for the service awards, colleagues cited her commitment to academic
advising and student and faculty mentoring. "Students need to feel that success is possible and
Anne is always there to support and encourage them to keep reaching," said Enrollment Services
personnel, who also praised her work in both recruiting and retaining students.
Couvillion joined the Southeastern staff in 1967 as a typist clerk in the Publications Office.
She transferred to the President's Office in 1980 and became the university's first Equal
Employment Opportunity Officer in 1986. When the university's human resource efforts were
consolidated in 1988, she was named academic staff coordinator and is responsible for
maintaining all records of faculty and unclassified employees.
"Judy epitomizes the expression 'service above and beyond the call of duty,'" said Human
Resource director Jesse Roberts"Those who deal with her remark on her friendliness, willingness
to serve and knowledge of Southeastern...She is always willing to 'go the extra mile.'" Couvillion
also is a past president of "Les Mesdames," a campus organization for faculty wives and female
faculty and administrators, and, along with her husband, director of Student Publication's Vic
Couvillion, served as advisor for the university cheerleader squad.
"Ms. Couvillion," said outgoing Provost Ron Zaccari, "dedicates her entire professional
and personal existence to furthering the development and future of Southeastern."
The President's Award for Excellence recipients receive a cash award and plaque and will
be recognized at the university's fall Faculty Convocation.
-SLU-