Award for Excellence in Research Supervision
The WIT Award for Excellence in Research Supervision 2006 has been presented to Dr. Anne Jordan of the WIT School of Education.
In 2005 WIT introduced a new annual award for excellence in postgraduate research supervision in order to recognise the growing importance of research and postgraduate studies for the Institute. Nominations are sought from postgraduate research students and the onerous task of selection is carried out by a panel of senior staff, students and an external expert. This year’s worthy winner was Dr Anne Jordan, School of Education. The award was presented at a recent ceremony in WIT and the citation for Anne was read by Dolores Gilhooly, Head of WIT School of Education.
Citation for Dr. Anne Jordan:
"Dr. Anne Jordan has contributed significantly to the initiation and development of postgraduate research and study with the School of Education and within WIT generally. She has successfully supervised 9 postgraduate students to Masters Level and has designed and delivered training programmes on an Institute wide basis to support both postgraduate supervisors and students. Anne has been instrumental in the development of the new taught Masters in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Institutes which is run in Waterford Institute of Technology and in other outreach locations such as Limerick Institute of Technology. This serves to embed WIT's School of Education as a significant player in the continuing professional development of academic staff both within WIT and nationally in other Higher Education Institutes."
The next part of this citation comprises extracts from the nomination for the award which was made by Anne's postgraduate students.
"During the course of my research, I found Anne to be a very generous, supportive and encouraging supervisor. Her approach to my research supervision was collaborative. She invested a considerable amount of time working with me to generate ideas, challenge my attitudes and develop the depth and breadth of my knowledge of the research topic and related areas. She has an organised and methodical approach to the research process wherein we agreed and set measurable milestones, which were reviewed regularly. I found this most helpful because it put a structure and a discipline in my research and it also gave me much needed encouragement when I achieved those goals. In addition, Anne's excellent links with other postgraduate supervisors and her networking abilities facilitated strategic links with key people who could assist me in my research.
Anne always emphasised the importance of publishing and disseminating the findings of my research and I presented these findings at a number of conferences, both nationally and internationally, and co-authored articles for journal publications. This served to build confidence in myself as a researcher and to develop a profile for my research in the field of lifelong learning for older people.
Anne has also been supportive throughout the research from a pastoral perspective as well as a research supervisor and her interest in my welfare went far beyond the expected research supervisor-student relationship which helped me to maintain my motivation."
She is an excellence role model for other supervisors and is a recognised national leader in the areas of supervisor and postgraduate education, development and support. Anne has a unique ability to translate the philosophical and theoretical framework for research into practical measures which can be used in the day to day work of a supervisor."
It is the great pleasure of WIT to recognise Anne’s achievements by awarding her the Award for Excellence in Postgraduate Supervision 2006.
The 2006 Award for Excellence in Research Postgraduate Supervision is presented to Dr. Anne Jordan, School of Education by the Director of WIT, Professor Kieran Byrne. Also in the picture are members of Anne’s family – her husband Dr. Peter Jordan, Francesca Jordan and Leon Jordan-Milne, Karen Bunyan, Postgraduate Student, WIT and Dr Venie Martin, Award organiser.
