By Colin O’Connell
Contributing Writer
ESU honored Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Jeffrey Weber, Ph.D., with their ongoing ESyou campaign on Oct. 3.
The campaign is meant to showcase and give recognition to staff members who have made an impact on students every day.
Weber, in his 11th year at ESU, describes his time with the university as a, “third life,” with his first two lives being his service in the army and staffer in the Pennsylvania senate.
He has brought his experiences from his past lives to his most recent life of education.
“I have a passion for teaching and for working with people that want to learn. So, in the military some of what I did was train foreign officers,” Weber said.
As a former staffer in the Pennsylvania senate, Weber’s real life political experience helped guide his political science students for years.
To this day he believes that having hands on experience contributes positively in the classroom.
“Any area that you’re studying or looking at of course it always helps to have experience within that field. It always informs the classroom and I would say helps the professor relate practical, taking the theoretical and showing how it’s working in the real world.”
Now an administrator, Weber still maintains that the moments he takes most pride in are when he works with students.
The former faculty member also looks back fondly on his moments as a professor, singling out a specific student that sticks out in his mind.
“I can think back to working with a student who was one of my majors who had multiple disabilities. Those disabilities made it very, very difficult to obtain her education, but working with her and helping her through multiple obstacles, multiple situations that arose. And then being there when she graduated across the stage, that meant a lot to me. More than anything else,” Weber explained.
Having been at ESU for over a decade, Weber has seen a large volume of students come and go over the years, but his appreciation for ESU remains as full as ever as he points to the broad spectrum of students as the thing that he enjoys the most about the university.
His experience and commitment to students is a clear reason he was named an ESyou honoree.
The ESyou campaign began in the fall semester of 2013 by Dr. Welsh and will continue throughout the semester, with a different faculty or staff member chosen every month. Annie Mendoza, Ph.D., was September’s honoree.
ESU encourages students to when they see Weber or any other honorees to, “recognize their exemplary service by introducing yourself and thanking them personally.”
Email Colin at:
coconnel11@live.esu.edu