School of Education & Human Sciences
Dean’s Award for Excellence
Dr. Jutta Street
Professor of Psychology
It is my pleasure to nominate Dr. Jutta Street for the Dean’ s Award. She has been a professor in psychology at Campbell University for 15 years. Her extraordinary effort s have transformed the experiences of many of our psychology students over many years and through many ways, some of which are enumerated below. Dr. Lunsford has known her for five years and Dean Bryant has known her for four years.
Excellence in the Classroom
In the classroom Dr. Street creatively engages students through activities like the BioBlitz or the Brain Talk presentations in physiological psychology. Students give rapid TED-like talks about the course content in a creative manner — which requires them to engage more with the material. A review of her teaching evaluations reveals comments like, ” continue to implement the BioBlitz assignment” and that they” liked that the professor had open discussion almost every class.”
Dr. Street teaches several sections of developmental psychology and uses those sections to experiment with different assignments to determine which ones best support student learning. She is an engaged and student-centered professor in class.
Excellence in the Profession
Dr. Street published an online textbook in 2022, Lifespan Development: The Journey from Beginning to End, which is now being used in our department’ s Developmental Psychology courses. Her 2022 co-authored chapter, ” Develop ing Students’ Cultural Competence through Video Interviews”, was published in A Practical Guide to Teaching Research Method s in Education (published by Routledge with Aimee LaPointe Terosky, editor) also highlights her contribution in the scholarship of teaching. Further, Dr. Street’ s research on Critical Thinking in Undergraduates: A Combination of Cognitive and Emotional Readiness was accepted for the 2023 International Convention of Psychological Science (ICPS) in Brussels. She received a faculty development grant (the second one she has received since the inception of that program) to support her presentation.
Excellence in Global Engagement
Over the last decade Dr. Street has developed and offered an incredible study abroad experience to Campbell University undergraduates to study psychology and culture in Europe. I am unaware of any similar course in the United States. Students return from this study course transformed into global citizens who have learned a great deal about the origins of psychology as a discipline. Last summer, students accompanied her on an 8-week study abroad program in Vienna, Berlin, Leipzig, and Munich. Students had the opportunity to experience various musical events in the City of Music and to visit many museums, parks and castles. Students learned about the origins of psychology by visiting labs of early psychologists, historic universities, and historic churches and cathedrals. A highlight of this program was the chance to attend the Passion Play that is offered every ten years in Oberammergau to celebrate Christ’s life. It was an incredible trip that broaden students ‘ worldview and one that Dr. Street organized solely on her own accord.
Excellence in Undergraduate Research
Dr. Street teaches the research methods course in psychology. However, as you now may expect, she goes well beyond the requirements to inculcate a love of research among our students.
Through her mentorship she has supported students in undergraduate research projects. Many of these students have gone on to present their work at scholarly conferences and to gain admission into doctoral programs. This year, for example, she is chaperoning a psychology student, Brenna Divoky, to the Southeastern American Psychological Association. Brenna’ s independent research, supervised by Dr. Street, is on how stress interacts with aspects of student-athletes’ daily life at Campbell University.
Dr. Street has been a strong supporter of the Academic Symposium at Wiggins Library since its inception. In total, she has nominated 36 students to present their research at this event. Several of her students have received best or runner-up in the presentation or poster categories.
A former student, Valerie Hoots, who is in a PhD program in psychology at Middle Tennessee State University wrote that, “As a doctoral candidate … I have become more aware of the impact Jutta has had on my journey and professional development… we often mentor in the way we have been mentored. During my annual review, my abilities to mentor undergraduate student research was a key point of praise,” which she sees, correctly, as a testament to Dr. Street’s skill.
For many years Dr. Street has taken students to the Carolinas Psychology Conference (CPC) and mentored students to present their work as early as 2008. Incredibly, she has mentored 33 students in undergraduate research , each of whom successfully presented their work at the CPC. Several years ago, she worked to find a home for this conference at Campbell University. CPC is for undergraduates to present their research. Dr. Street has mentored undergraduates to organize and run the conference. Hundreds of undergraduates from all over the southeastern United States attend this conference. It is just another example of Dr. Street’s reach in teaching excellence. In sum, she is a most deserving candidate for this recognition.
Dr. Al Bryant
Dean, School of Education & Human Sciences