Psychology’s Buch Receives 2014 UNC Board of Governors Teaching Award

Kimberly Buch from the Department of Psychology in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences is among the 17 recipients of the UNC Board of Governors Award for Teaching Excellence for 2014.

Award winners, nominated by each UNC system campus, were selected by the Board of Governors (BOG) Committee on Personnel and Tenure, chaired by John Fennebresque of Charlotte.

The awards will be presented formally by a BOG member during the spring graduation ceremony on each campus. Each award winner receives a commemorative bronze medallion and a $12,500 prize.

Buch was the 2013 recipient of the Bank of America Award for Teaching Excellence, UNC Charlotte’s highest teaching honor.

Buch defines her teaching goals by her ability to become a “facilitator of learning” for her students.  Since joining UNC Charlotte in 1987, this philosophy has been a driving force of her research, teaching and service practices.

She also has made significant contributions to the scholarship of teaching and learning through numerous publications.  Buch is currently serving a two-year term as a faculty fellow in UNC Charlotte’s Center for Teaching and Learning, where she will work with faculty interested in exploring innovative teaching and learning practices.

Well-known for engaging students in community issues and partnerships, Buch is the faculty advisor for Niner Neighbors, a student-led organization that provides temporary housing for the homeless. She also is actively involved with one of the University’s most visible campus-wide community service initiatives, Stop Hunger Now.

Established by the Board of Governors in 1994 to underscore the importance of teaching and to reward good teaching across the University, the BOG Awards for Excellence in Teaching are given annually to a tenured faculty member from each UNC campus. Winners must have taught at their present institutions at least seven years.  No one may receive the award more than once.

By Paul Nowell