Congratulations to Dr. Peter Arthur for receiving a UBCO 2020 Golden Apple Award. The Award recognizes Dr. Arthur’s dedication to fostering instructor-student relationships.
The Golden Apple Awards are a student-led initiative to acknowledge teachers who support the wellbeing of their students in the academic environment.
Here is what a student had to say about how he supports student wellbeing:
“While I could nominate Peter Arthur for all of the categories, the area where he truly excels is in fostering student-instructor relationships. His commitment to developing student-instructor relationships begins on the first day of class when he invites every student to book a time with him for a one-on-one, low-stakes, casual conversation. During your conversation he makes a point of getting to know you as a person and not just a student. He also makes a point of introducing himself and removing the barrier between himself as a professor and you as a student. For many students, especially first year students, this is the first time and maybe only time during their university experience where a professor initiates a relationship with them. When you meet Peter you quickly realize that he kind, genuine and empathetic.
In class, Peter makes a point to learn every single student’s name without using name tags. Peter treats every student as a colleague, not as a student. He starts every class email with some variation of “dear colleagues” which serves to establish and develop this relationship. He further fosters a student-instructor relationship by encouraging all students to address him by his first name. Peter also makes himself accessible to all students and makes a point of continually affirming his commitment to supporting students.
Above all, Peter display passion for his teaching and demonstrates a genuine interest in his students. Peter makes it a priority to foster student-instructor relationships because he cares about his students and their success and he wants to be a true student advocate and student supporter. I have yet to meet a professor whose commitment to developing student-instructor relationships even compares to Peter’s and I truly believe Peter deserves recognition for improving student wellbeing at UBC.”
Congratulations Dr. Arthur.