OXFORD, Miss. – The Center for Excellence in Teaching and
Learning at the University of Mississippi has awarded its
first graduate instructor/teaching assistant award to a
student in the Master of Fine Arts in creative writing
program.
Ryan Bubalo of Blue Springs, Mo., was presented $1,000 and
a trophy for his exemplary instruction in freshman English.
He was selected by a joint committee of the CETL advisory
board and the UM Graduate School. The award is funded by
the UM Foundation
“Through the Elsie M. Hood Award, the university annually
acknowledges the excellent teaching of a faculty member
campuswide,” said Johnny Lott, CETL director. “With the
establishment of this honor, we wanted to recognize the
importance of the teaching role performed by graduate
students.”
“It’s an honor because I know how many dedicated, talented
instructors there are at Ole Miss – people every bit as
deserving of this as myself,” Bubalo said. “I think my
favorite thing about teaching has been the interaction with
the students.”
Bubalo came to Oxford because of the university’s MFA
program in fiction writing. “The quality of the work I
heard (during a monthly reading series) and the community
of writers that I saw convinced me that this was the place
to come to study the craft,” he said.
In a letter of recommendation for the award, an English
faculty member wrote, “Ryan’s ability to cultivate such a
cooperative classroom atmosphere so early in his teaching
career is nothing short of marvelous. He showed great
talent for pacing the class and involving the students at
key points in it.”
Bubalo received his bachelor’s degree in English from the
University of Southern California. Before being admitted to
UM’s MFA program, he was a legislative aide for the King
County (Wash.) Council in Seattle. He has written and
produced short films, with More Dust Than Digital
productions in Seattle. He is slated to graduate from UM in
May 2009, then plans to pursue his own writing “wherever
that takes me,” he said.
For more information about the Center for Excellence in
Teaching and Learning, call 662-915-1395 or visit: http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/cetl
by Edwin Smith