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Faculty Union presents the “Faculty Make The Difference” contest

The Wright State chapter of the American Association for University Professors (AAUP) have started a photo contest for students to participate in, which has been titled “AAUP Faculty Make The Difference.” The contest lasts until Apr. 20.

Students may participate as an individual or as a registered student organization. They stand to win a monetary award, which will be coming from faculty members themselves, not from university spending.

Participants must post a video or photo showing how faculty members make a positive impact to a social media account. Tagging the AAUP social media accounts, using the hashtag #facultymakethedifference, and if participating as a student organization, tagging or hashtagging your organization are required for each entry.

Registered student organizations can win $100, $200, or even up to $300 for their org, depending on how they place in the contest. Individual students may earn $50 each. An overall best prize of $100 will be awarded to the student with the post that “best captures the essence of [the] contest,” according to a contest flyer.

A point system has been developed for the purposes of organization placement. Five points will be given for each new video or picture, two points for a video/picture with a professor in it, one point for a video/picture in a campus classroom or building, and one point for liking a union social media account. Multiple posts are allowed throughout the duration of the contest.

The Faculty Union had previously launched this contest around December of last year, but due to advertising, participation was lower than expected. “We had one prize winner and we put it up on Instagram, and we had another contest winner who didn’t leave any contact information,” said AAUP Member and History Professor Noeleen McIlvenna.

This time, AAUP Student Intern Jasmine Howell has helped with advertising and increasing student engagement for the contest. She promoted the contest directly to student organizations and made the flyers. Howell’s role also included updating the details of the contest itself.

“Faculty Make the Difference” is intended to show how faculty make a positive impact on the educational experience of students at Wright State, according to a contest pdf on the university website.

“It was provoked by sitting through many Board of Trustees meetings over the last years, watching the scroll of pictures on the official WSU slideshow and seeing almost no examples of teaching and learning in classrooms, said McIlvenna. “We wanted Administration to know we care about WSU and about recruitment.”

McIlvenna hopes that the contest “generates images that show a thorough picture of Wright State and show why students come here.”

Lucas Gonzalez

Former News Editor

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