Educator joins elite group

George Kuh, director of IU's Center for Postsecondary Research, recently joined an elite group: He is one of only five individuals to ever receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American College Personnel Association. \nKuh first came to IU in 1976 as an assistant professor in the School of Education. As well as being active in gauging student involvement in IU, he is also working to make an impact in other universities across the country through his involvement on the National Survey of Student Engagement. \nThe NSSE creates a survey (which IU has used for seven years) questioning approximately 1 million students at 560 campuses. The survey attempts to estimate how much time students are putting into their school work and how much universities are encouraging students to study. From the survey, universities can compare the performances of the students against other comparable universities and figure out where they need to improve.\nAs an educator, Kuh said these surveys are closely linked to the issue he feels most passionately about. \n"The 'smart' students are said to be the ones that score high on their SATs," he said. "Those are the kind that can listen to a lecture and absorb almost all the information that is being said. However, not all students can learn that way.\n"Any student can learn almost anything if the university's approach to teaching takes them to the top. The NSSE survey continuously tells us that we need to incorporate a greater variety of learning styles into our teachings."\nKuh has worked throughout the last few decades to create these kinds of improvements in the education system that have earned him the Lifetime Achievement Award. \nThe award honors someone who has created great standards for leadership and scholastic productivity throughout the last 20 years or more while also making a large contribution to student affairs.\nGerard Gonzalez, dean of the School of Education, said he could not think of a more deserving person to receive this award.\n"Professor Kuh is among the world's leading scholars in the field of higher education. His work in the field has not only opened up a new line of research in the field but has transformed the way that higher education looks at itself and the conditions that facilitate student learning," Gonzalez said.\n"I cannot imagine a more deserving scholar who has had a greater impact on higher education over his long and distinguished career," he said. "We are very proud and fortunate to have him as a member of our faculty in the School of Education at Indiana University."\nKuh said he is both honored and flattered that he has been one of five to receive such a prestigious award.\n"No one ever starts as an educator thinking that one day they will get an award. However, it is both rewarding and flattering to know that your hard work over the years has made a difference," he said. "It is such an honor to receive this award knowing that there were so many other deserving people. I suppose my time has come and I just feel privileged to be alive and accept this award in person"