Letter of Nomination: Christopher L. Edmonds, PhD
Ursuline College, OH
The officers and members of the Ursuline College Psi Chi Chapter would like to nominate Christopher L. Edmonds, PhD, for the Regional Faculty Advisor Award for the Midwestern Region. Dr. Edmonds established the Ursuline College Chapter in 1996. He has acted in the capacity of faculty advisor of Psi Chi for the past three years, from the fall of 1996 to the present. As faculty advisor, Dr. Edmonds takes an active role in recruitment, support, and guidance to further the academic growth of Ursuline College psychology students. Dr. Edmonds has promoted membership in Psi Chi by class announcements, the Psi Chi chapter Web page, and the Psi Chi bulletin board. He has also demonstrated his support for our chapter by attending our membership meetings and presiding at the induction ceremonies. He offers guidance to the officers of Psi Chi, yet encourages leadership qualities in each individual. We feel Dr. Edmonds exemplifies the very best of Psi Chi by encouraging academic excellence and leadership by example.
Dr. Edmonds contributions to psychology at the state level include his participation and administration of the Ohio Undergraduate Psychology Conferences of 1998 and 1999. Dr. Edmonds hosted the 12th Annual Ohio Undergraduate Psychology Conference field at Ursuline College this past April. Forty-five undergraduates from Ohio and West Virginia participated at this conference. Dr. Edmonds reviewed all submissions to the conference and organized the times and locations for the presentation of papers in addition to his usual course load. The prestige of the event was considerably enhanced by Dr. Edmonds arranging for Dr. Thomas Swales of Case Western Reserve University to be the keynote speaker. The 13th Annual Ohio Undergraduate Psychology Conference will be field at Ohio Dominican College in Columbus, Ohio, in April of 1999. Dr. Edmonds will be the Faculty Supervisor of Student Conference Presentations and Theses for Ursuline College students. In June of 1999, Dr. Edmonds will address the Psi Beta Honor Society at Lakeland College in Kirtland, Ohio.
Through Dr. Edmonds’ encouragement and direction, this year for the first time, Psi Chi students from Ursuline College submitted research papers to the Psi Chi section of the Midwestern Psychological Association conference (1999). His regional contributions are Faculty Supervisor of Student Conference Presentations and Theses for Ursuline College students at the 1999 MPA/Psi Chi conference in Chicago. He is a member liaison for the American Psychological Association for 1998, and Dr. Edmonds attended the Society for Computers in Psychology and the Psychonomic Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Dr. Edmonds contributes his time outside the classroom, to promote psychology and Psi Chi. He created and manages the Psychology Department Web page, which includes the Ursuline College Psi Chi Web page. The Web page is an important component of communication for the Psychology Department and provides information to faculty, staff, and students. His interests in psychology and computer programming come to fruition through the writing of programs for cognitive psychology experiments for students. This provides an opportunity for the students to create and develop their own research in cognitive psychology. Dr. Edmonds enjoys writing the programs and believes this stimulates the students’ interest in psychology through practical experience. He also encourages students to attend psychological functions outside the classroom. In the spring of 1998, he organized a group of students to attend a lecture by Elizabeth Loftus, PhD, field at Baldwin-Wallace College. This provided the opportunity for students to see and hear a person that they had only read about in textbooks.
Dr. Edmonds has a unique ability to inspire students to engage in research. He brings a dimension to the classroom through his excitement and enthusiasm that cannot be experienced through a textbook. In the classroom, he demonstrates how psychology as a science is intertwined with mathematics, physics, and biology. He provides the students with the skills to develop research projects of their own. Students seek his advice regarding research, yet the ideas and work are always the students’ own. The satisfaction and reward in educating, according to Dr. Edmonds, are when a student has insight into a problem and says that he or she has never thought of it that way.
In the two years that Christopher L. Edmonds, PhD, has been faculty advisor for the Ursuline College Psi Chi Chapter, he has brought recognition to Psi Chi and its members, increasing the awareness of the administration by promoting the “excellence in scholarship” of Psi Chi members. In conjunction with his responsibilities as Psi Chi advisor, Dr. Edmonds is an assistant professor in the Psychology Department and sits on several committees at Ursuline College. He is a skilled cognitive psychologist, researcher, and educator. Dr. Edmonds encourages his students to ask questions and to develop their own hypotheses and research. The Psi Chi Regional Faculty Advisor Award is to honor an individual who “encourages, stimulates, and maintains excellence in scholarship, and advances the science of psychology.” Dr. Edmonds personifies the ideal Psi Chi faculty advisor by his enthusiasm, dedication, and involvement in the chapter. The officers and members of the Ursuline College Psi Chi Chapter feel that Dr. Edmonds truly deserves this award.
—Submitted by Kristin Sasaki, President