If you were to ask freshman University students who their favorite teacher is, you would probably get a large array of answers. But one name that you would most likely hear more often than not is Manship School of Mass Communication instructor Roxanne Dill.
Dill was awarded the George H. Deer Distinguished Teaching Award during the University College’s annual “Celebration of Excellence” spring awards program. The purpose of the award, according to a news release, is to recognize outstanding teaching at the freshman level at the University.
To mass communication freshman Amie Martinez, who took Dill’s MC 2010 media writing class in the fall, it’s no surprise Dill was honored with the award.
“I loved Ms. Dill’s class,” Martinez said. “Honestly, the class itself, media writing, was not my favorite topic … but Ms. Dill made it so much more fun.”
Dill has served as a full-time professor for the Manship School since 2008. Before her time in the classroom, she worked as a reporter and managing editor in the newspaper industry. For her, winning this distinguished award is “truly a blessing,” she said.
“It’s quite an honor, because there are so many amazing teachers on campus,” Dill said. “It’s a blessing to work in this place. So to be nominated by the school and to get the award is really an honor. It’s quite humbling.”
Dill is well-known for her personable teaching style and is always looks for ways to keep students actively engaged in learning. While she knows the material covered in her class isn’t always exciting, learning the foundations of writing is essential to being a successful writer.
But Dill doesn’t let the weight of so-called boring grammar exercises bog her students down, Martinez said. Dill’s charismatic and energetic style of teaching helps students become acclimated to the Manship School and the University in general.
“She’s just such a personable woman, and genuinely cared about all of us, which made us all feel like we were really part of the Manship School,” Martinez said. “Especially me being a freshman and that being one of my first classes of my whole college career.”
One way Dill is able to connect with her students, she said, is by understanding the unique situations that most students are put in during their freshman year of college. She said everyone goes through trials and tribulations, and she wants to let students know they are capable of making it through that transition.
“I think that a lot of our students come to school and … they have some challenges … that nobody really knows about,” Dill said. “And I don’t think they realize just how brave they are and the things that they have to overcome to succeed.”
Dill’s talents don’t just end in the classroom, however. In addition to overseeing all of the Manship School’s media writing courses and teaching courses every semester, Dill serves as the faculty head of the college’s journalism concentration. When she’s not busy with all of those responsibilities, Dill can be found planning various events such as resume and branding workshops as the rector for the Mass Communication Residential College.
Dill said working at the University as an instructor is almost a dream come true, and she feels grateful for it every day.
“I just think it’s a blessing. I can’t believe I get to do this every day, and they pay me to do it,” Dill said. “If I were independently wealthy, I would still want to do this. It’s a lot of work, but it’s so much fun watching the light bulb go off when a student finally figures out what they need to do to write well.”
Along with the Distinguished Teaching Award, Dill has received the Tiger Athletic Foundation Teaching Award, Manship School of Mass Communication twice (2010, 2014), the Association of Educators in Journalism and Mass Communication in 2012 and many others. She was also nominated for the Distinguished Teaching Award in 2011.