. . , . . . " . .
...
;
DATE:
U a r c h 5 , 1 98 1
TO:
David Uarker and the Status Comnittee
I'ROM:
Shefdon Wettack
".:')
H
SUBJICT: Recomnendatiotrthat Herb Dershen be promoteil
to ful1 Professor
AcconpanyinSthis nemo are materials gathered by Elliot Tanrs rn
support of a reconmendationthat llerb Dershembe pronoted to f,ull
Professor beginning with rhe 1981-82 academicyear. I srrongly supporr
this recommendationand will indicate the basi6 for my supp;a rn tne
foIlo\ring paraS(aphs.
for a qide variety of reasons, Herb Dershemhas demonstrated in a
relatively short time that he is an ouistanding Hope Colle8e faculty
member. This judgment can be nade whether one is aonsidering Ilerbrs
teaching effectiveness, his scholarly activity, or his servic; to tne
College and the conxnunity. I lrill address each of these areas seDar at e l y .
TEACHING
EII'ECTI!'ENESS
Included \rith the enclosed materials are SIR evaluations fron
last spring and fall semesters. Professor Tanis has suDmsrizeallhe
results obtained from usinS departmental evaluation forms for the past
several semesters on the page ifinnediately following the SIR evaluations.
The indivldual evaluations are available in my office.
As the reader examioes this surnmaryand the SIR evaluations, it
is eaay to conclude that students think highly of Herb as a classroom
teacher. In a side variety of courses Herb is ranked quite high by
students. only in the Conputer Science 282 c1a6s last spring were the
evaluations at all average. I have talked with Herb abo;t tllat particular class and as the reader can see, the overall percentile ra;kings
are nade low by the fact that about three students tended to be nesative
in their evaluation. Even so, Herb was placed at the 50th perceniile
leve1 on the "overall', question.
ID aI1 other classes f& \rhlcn
evaluatio4s reere obtained, Ilerb is ranked very high, amongthe highest
in the math/conputer science area. It should be-noted that the Math
Departrnentuses their o\rtr forrn in all of its classes and, therefore,
the basis for makilg that above statement is solid.
A review of the
student letters obtained by Etliot also demonsEratesirhat stualenrs
think of llerb as a classroon teacher. It should be noted that, ill
addition to his effectiveness in a classroon. the stualencs sDeat(
highly of ldhat he has done for them in helpitrg rhen to make and pursue
career choices. There is absolutefy no doubt in my nind that Herb
Dershemis ooe of our more effective classroon teachers,
SCI{OIARI.Y
ACTIVITY
Herb's involvement in scholarship is clearly demonstratealby the
rather long list of publications aod presentations which he bas nacle
over the last several years. Iacluded vith the materials are a number
of the publicatiotrs vhich are listed on his vitae.
Ile is an acrlve
scholar and has the attitude that his scholarship should be shared
sith others aod, therefore, is an active publisher.
In addition ro
maoy of lhe publications of interest to piople iovolveal il!
"popu1ar"
_0i".""
computer science, Ilerb bas been involved jn producinq
rrteachitrg
of
literature.'i
finally,
as can tJ aetecte"a""u"r"l
frorn tt.'llu..rials and fron ny statenents on John Whittle's recoflne[ala
t ion, Ilerb
has played a very important part io the developme4tof John t{hittle as
a computer scientist over the last several years. Thus llerb's scholarship rubs off on others and John Whittle has been a prime benefactor
of this.
In my opinion, Ilerb Dershen has clearly den;nstrated through
his Echolarly activity that he will continue to be a scholar in tlre
years ahead. He has demonstrated that his scholarship is consistent
lrith the rank of Full Professor at Hope Coltege,
SDRVICE
There needs to be very little
said abdut Herbrs service to HoDe
College., As one of the prime designers of the Conputer Science Departmeot and as its chairperson during the developmentof the departnenr,
Ilerb has madea very najor contributioo to Hopl Colle8e. Ou; department
is now looked upon as a model for conputer science edication in liberal
arts colleges and thiE is due in no sma1l part to llerb Dershern,s
preseoce at llope CoIIege. We ate extrenely fortunate to have hln on
our faculty, particularly
since there are few acadenic conputers
scieotists available to begio with,
Beyond his contributions to the Co1lege through his departnental
chairmatrship, Herb is actively iavolved in a vari-ety of e_ndeavors
around the College aod h€s coDtributed his share of effort to Ene
board and committee structure of the College. It has been my experrence that !'hen one haE a job to be doBe that llerb can be askea to do,
there is no need to worry about it6 being done very effectively.
SI]I'MARY
tror the nany reasoas cited above, I believe Herb Dershen should
be promoted to IulI Professor. Although he has been at the College
only twelve years aDd has been in rank only eight years and would,
therefore,, be a "young" I'uII Professor, he is a persln who, I believe,
we should reward at this time with pronotion.
There woulil be Dothlng
to be Sained, in my miad, by waiting until Herb is "older', and nuch t-o
be gained by recogniziag his coatributions to the Collese aad to his
profession by promoting him aore. I strongly urge that the Status
Conmittee act positively on this recomneodation.
SW:sf:DP1N
Staielent
of five year p r o f e s s j - o n a 1 d e v e l o p l l e n t p f a n s ,
Herbert L. Derehen
rlarch 5, 1gB1
T+ ic ,,liffi^!,1+
f^r
h 6 +-^- p r o j e c t
my plans into the next five
years for two reasons,
computer science is such a
First,
rapidly changing field that it is difficult
to predict what
the areas of research will be in five years, Five years ago
I would have had no sense of the projects on which I am
working now. A second conoideration
is the overall student
load in cornputer science. Teaching classes with fron 60 to
,t senving as advisor to 50 students, and
80 students,
neetj.ng the growing needs to neet with prospective students
leaves little
tine for any developrnent at all,
l{ith
those qualifipations
in nind,
here are nry projected
p1ans,
1. I will convert Bnd adapt all aspects of the conputer
science program to the new Hope Col-l-ege computer 6yEten,
f vrill work in the area of self-paced instruction through
the developnent of appropriate modules for the introductory
conputer scienc€ course.
I wilf continue developing ny expertise in the area of
business applicetlons df conputers through cqn8ulting,
I wifL continue research into the use of nicrocornputers
in education,
I
HOPECOLLECE
Date:
January 12, 1981
To:
Status Comnittee
Fron:
Elliot
D E P A R T M I N TO F M A T H E M A T I C S
A. Tanis, Chairnan
rank of Professor of
Subject: RecoDlrendatio[ for promotion of Herb Deashernto the
Nlathenatics and CoqPutei Science.
Herb Dershen has been a nenber of the HoPe College
in 1973.
pronoted to the rank of Associate Professor
faculty
since
1969' He wag
Teachinq Ef.fectiveness
s t u d e n-is-izo,
t s i n b o t h l o ! ' e r a n d u p p e l l e v e l c o u l s e s g e n e r a l l y g i v e H e l b v e ' y h ioverall
gh
rntroduction il conputer
'4.00 science; Hsrb recei'vedaverage In four
during tho past three sernesters.
".ti"i.]-in
-a 3.60 out of
ilii"?.'"i's.is.-ilsa,
ratings of 3'86' 3's7 and
a""rag"-overa-11
;ili;ii#t;;"i;ii"i""""'-tr"'u-t'ceiv'd
4.00.
3.94 out of a
Possible
H e r b h a s a l s o t a u g h t e l e n e n t a r y s c h o o l c h i l d r o n - i n t h e Q U S S T p lthat
o g r a Im have
and
connents
t"u"tru"i-in sunner worishops. Altho;gh I have no hard data'
been fu11 of priise for Hirb's teaching on both of these levels'
;;;;;-h;";
the past several
Manynet,tcourses have been dgveloPed in Conputer Science during including
of-several of them
v".r" .'-ii'""i-pruyua- " *uiot role in the develoPnent
conpute! Labofatory fof
ind
Modeling,
sinulation
coup,rter
Iit"ilig"ncel
il"liii"i"iAlgiritlum, Hardwate and software systens' and a conPuter
i"i"oa""to"y Stati;tics,
ScienceColloquiun.
several- changes
The introductoly corPutet science course (CS 120) has undelgone i{as the director
yeaxs'
Herb
past
three
in approach auring the
in"rr,aiig-a-taio"
"t'ongu
theii ]-ocal Courie ImprovernentPl.ogran. This grant helPed
tsf
unier
froi
ii-u n"uit
c.tp"i"" science Departnent ievelop a-rnodular appraoch for
;;"-^:il;;t-;;;"at the sIGcsE'
i"""iii"g cs 120. Herb ,"i11 present a p;per describing this coursest' Louis in February'
in
Syrnposiurn
ispu.iui frrt"t"tt Group Colrputer scie;c! education)
' H e l-ftua-no
bhasalsobeeneffectiyeasateacherforhiscolleagues.Forexarple,I
can
iornal training in conputer science' Sone aspects of conputer science
fruu"
ar€
answers
for
which
il"_l"a*"a faon text booksl Howeveioften questions arise
answer
to find by readidg pooxly writte; nanuals' Helb was always ready to
aifficult
ny questions and gave me added uderstatding'
I would lank Herb as being alr exceptional teachea'
years' These
Heib has published a variety of articles duiing the-past several fo? elenentary
Note tirat his ?ublications include articles
a"" fisi"a on iti,
professors.
""ru*u.
elenentary and secondary school teachers, college stude[ts and
each
reviews
vear'
"iirJr".,
""r.""iin"" ti, write severai alticles and/ox
;-;;;";^;;;-;;'"o"t
HOLIAND,MICHICAN 49423I 616-392-5111
His research has also illvolved nany of our students, During the 1979-80
acadenic yeai he supervised 29 student independent study and research projects.
During this past senester he directed 20 student projects.
His work at Hope Cotlege has also attracted national attentlon.
National interest has been eq)ressed in Hope's ComputerScience najor progran,
the nodular introductory conputer science course (CS 120), aod the use of the
computer in statistics,
He has also bgen invited to participate in lrorkshops and
setve as a consultant, For exanple, at a conference at St. 01af College last fa1t,
Herb spoke on therrRole of the ComputerScience in the Mathenatics Curriculum".
Hill
Herb was also selected to design a seninar on PASCALsponsored by the MccrawSerBinarCenter for pxofessional developnent. He wtote a woikbook fol: this se[dDar-
Although I am listed as the director of an NSF InstTuctional Scientific Equi"pmeDt
Prograr grant under which we set up a nriclocornputer lab, I look on Herb as a coalixector. l1iewrote the proposal .together and he could just as well have been listed
as Director,
Service
Becauseof the staff changes in conputeL science, Herb has had a large numbex
of advisees, including 50 this yeax.
Herb has been active in introducing the cofiputer in the local schools. He has
offered eorkshops for aroa teachers and has gene"ously contributed his tlne.
llerb is an active nenber of the Zion Lutheran Church
I Tegard Helbrs service as excellent,
Sulrnary
I believe that Herb satisfies
Professor.
1
all
Hope College is indeed foltwrate
2. His superior ability
cf the criteria
for pronotion to the rank of
to have a Conputer Scientist
who holds a Ph.D. degree.
as a teacher has been well demonstrated.
3. His record of scholarly activities
profession,
has earned hin a national reputation \,?ithin his
4. As conputer: science has gro\,rn, Herb has also grown professionally,
changes, and has been a leader in inplenenting changes.
5. His life
kept up lvith
style gives evidence of syJnpathytol{ard the purposes of Hope Col1ege.
I hope-that I have included sufficient
evidence to sulport rny strong r:ecorunendat.ion
that Herb Dershen be pronoted to Professor of Nlathenatics and ComputerScience.
R e s p e c t f u Il y s u b n it t e d ,
{tu*an;^.
Elliot A. Tanis
Chail.nlan
D.t€ s Juuarf
To!
Stltur
Proor glltot
2,f, 1981
oo[itter
T&*r
lte tollorhg
coq|.t|!rcr.
porroBr atr aDlr tF ,uatr H.it
Profersor ni.b.sd Autn
8t. Olsf CGll.rr
tlorthflrld,
lf
150C7
sa7-66&-XAb.
Plof'|loa Drl|ld Sdth
Dut! t n{fl.dtlf/
Ilrrb6, tlc 2t706
,19.684-t&&
Prod.|ao6 tol|[ frl*rl
AlbloD Qolltd
Albtoo. I ie224
ll7-6rg-$rl
It.
P.tr ?rrt!*r
csDUrt
Lhtvaarttt et lofir
P.O. !o! 981
tsr cltr, la s22{s
319-lS5-! l'70
Dtadr.ltr
ple&tlfonsf
HOPECOLLEGE
D E P A R T M T \ TO F M A T H E M A T I C S
Februaxy 6, 1981
Status Comnittee
Ilope CoIlege
Ho1land, MI 49423
Deax Cotulittee lvtenbers:
This letter is to support the reconnendation of Herbert Dershen
for pronotion to FulI Plofessor,
I have worked closely with Herb over the last several years as a
menber of the Conputer Science Departnent and have for.rd hin easy to ork
with, He has given real leadership, as depaltnent chairDan, to the devolophent of a Conputer Science curriculun which is recognj.zed by nany
educators and Conputer Science professionals as an excellent and unique
progf,ar for a liberal arts school.
As depattnent chair$an he encourages and helps nehbers of the
departnent to expand their knowledge and experti.se in new areas of
ConPute! Science since it is such a rapidly changing area.
I have sat in oll several of Herbrs upper 1evel classes. He has
excellent rapport with the students, he is very denanding of the students
and yet j.s able to notivate then to work hard in his classes. I wo'lld
rate hin in the top 10& of all the teachers I have corne in contact with
duling ny student and teaching years.
In conclusior
Ieservatl0ns.
I Tecornnendhin for this promotion without
any
Sincerely,
Y:l'tooi
r,,//|f,fl.__
John Whitt 1e
Assistant PTofessor
49+21
MtCHICAN
/ 61t392'5',111
HOTLANO
and Qoals
Self Evaluation
1980
llerbert
l.
Dershero
TEACHINGEFFECTTYENESS
has continued to inprove over
My teaching dffectiveness
the past year.
The student evaluations of ny introductory
1evel courses have renained at the sane Levef as in other
years, but student evaluation of upper level cour,ses-has
leve1
In the two Junior/Senior
been higher than ever before.
rating
overall
an
average
received
that
tausht
I
courses
I
I also developed
of J.88 and 1.94 out of a possible 4,00.
on Algorithms'
a
course
including
of
new
courses
a number
and continued developrnent with John Whittle of Conputers
in Education,
I also developed several new rnodules for the
Systems
Irutroductory course and tauqht Business Infornation
time.
I also provided leadership for a one-hour
for the firat
cottoquiun in the department.
ACTIVITY
AND PROFESSIONA],
SEHOT,ARSHIP
of the past
Included among my profes6ional actlvities
of two papers, r'ttrto rnodures'
vear haB been the publication
I was atso selected to deEign
ind a state of the'art report.
for which
a seminar for seninar Development Corporation'
E
u
b
nitted as a
p
r
o
i
e
c
t
w
h
i
c
h
I
t
h
e
w
o
r
k
b
o
o
k
.
I
f
w
r
o
t
e
a
I
Progran of NsF is
DroDoEal to the Student Science fraining
impact on our progran
iunded, it will haver,.a significant
C
ollege
.
at
Hope
here
I supervi€ed a total of 20 independent study and research
Becau€e of the farge nurnber of
the deDartnent.
Drolects-in
iucfi projecte, I f;:el that their qualitv ie not ae high.a6 it
But students have been involved in ny
has bien-in the past.
in the area of
way, especially
research in a significant
n i ^F^^^nhrr
+aFt
My work here at llope College has attracted attention
National interest has been
in the past year.
natioially
najor prograr0' the nodular
Sci.ence
our
Conputer
in
exDressed
a
n
d in the u6e of the computer
d
e
v
e
l
o
p
e
d
,
w
e
h
a
v
e
w
h
i
c
h
course
in workshops
to participate
invited
have
been
I
statistics.
in
and serve as a consultant on the basis of al.l of these involveroents '
SERVICE
l,{y advising load has been very heavy in the.past yEar including
I have continued to be
serviiig as advlsor to 20 Freshnen.
of computers into the locaf
involved with the introduction
schools and with the developrnent of the local microconputer
I have also given rnany talks and.€erved as
usersr group.
consulttnt to many local businessea end industries.
GoAts FoR 1981
d6-nvert and adapt all aspects of the conputer science
I-iw-:=Drosram to the new Hope College conputer systen'
of self-paced modules into
z- i wiff work on the introduction
course '
the Introductory
JAIiUAAY1, 1930 th&
EAC!'I,TYS!R!!C!
tECEt BER 37. !93A
fO
Is€€ rcres b6ror)
2
2
)
1
)
3
Conluters in Jducati
C o m pf o r ! i b € . a 1 A l t
c onp sc 7954
coho sc ?953
Con! Sc 491
2
2
lonpuiers
lontluters
ConpSc 100
?
3i3 C o n p S c 1 2 0
3
3
F8
conp Sc ?95
Conp Sc 100
Conp Sc 120
63
cori sc 495!
C o m pS c 2 8 2
( C o n ! 5 c 1 0 0 / 1 ,3
- q
a
i8
Cor.5c 32C
1
ca
canp loa/\?o
or..:
B.
0
0
0
0
0
z
?
t
?
0
0
0
0
?z
0
2
0
I
0
\?
I
9
Con! & Prog olganiza
taughi with J, Whit ,le and H. r,
ght with J, rnhittl e)
ln Educati t
in lducatL |
3
3
- EiA : a t l . 1 1 ?
Con! Scl Colloquiun
2
2
4
1
3
3
:on! for Llbela] Art
1
l BuElness Info Sys-icn
i
Intro Stat rab
ght with ,r. Whlttle,
ught with J. llhlttle
n
^
4
3
6
26
20
5
14
o
and J,
plac..d
cou!.../
a!ter!.k
the couls.
1. Fo! t.d-!au9ht
{r) 5€fo!.
PI.a..
d6s.riptlon
and Iilt
oth6! !&b.r!
ot tlE t.e
lsn.dl&eLy
u'd.!
tna
d..ctiptlon.
cour.
pldc.
2. Mht.
1! th. ft!5t
tlh.
t49ht
! II3t.d
cou!.,
tlu h.E
!I..!.
(,
b.ao!.
d..criFtlon.
a ch.cl
cla c.u!.
ACADEMICTIVISINC
toral
n8rb.! of adviee€E
__Lo__
tlajo!s
!!.!lt./soPh.
c.
scHolaRtY Ac,|lvrtY
26
(!rst)
!. !S!g.E!]: 94
Sll!9llSg
soo:.. ol fMdinq)
4
oul5lde Fsdinq
{IisE boch lro:ecE d€s.rletlol
rnd
o N D U I TS € r i e s 9 d i t o r , C o N D U I T
Proiect to deve!o! moduLar cou!6e, ljatlonat Science F.undation
I ocar Cou"se lnlrovelent Project.
S t . o t a f P a n e l o n r 4 a t h e n a t i c s C u r r i c u l u n . N S f C A U S Es r a d t t o s t .
,.
os:s!:!:$
Sslsl:l ?loi.ssicr.l
9!!e: !49]14.2 :19I: :I!ls
A t t e n d e d . A c ! 4s i s c s e S F p o s i u n , t e b . 1 2 - 1 5 .
D e v e l o p e d t { o u l 4 A Pr o d u l e s
Attended ?erEonal coeputee sho{, Clii.aqo, oct. 1?,
- see attached sheet,
lublications
Revieqed 4 papers for irational Educational Conluter Conierence
,rote arriile'bi
Ca:tiUI: foi [:idi'-sar secLion "rA Iew'ler:er.
'rlrote prolosal to stude5t Science Traini.ns Pro.'ran, :rsf.
of Hole Essentials English r-ist
Assisted in lrelaration
OLaf.
i.
lrtElrra!
sER!'tc€
N@5.t
of srudents
Tot.t
llube!
of sbdents
Sup.wkion
Ctth€!
2.
of ird.p.!&nt
study
ENll.d
Fo! creitlt
20
20
(ile*!1b.)
AdE1datlatlv.
(!l-et)
Chalrman of D€partnent
of Conputer Scienc€
(rl.t)
3. !9319 !39 $g13f!g !gj!g!g!!g
Condittog,
.C6nputer,
6€lecr&19n
Manb€r of
4, !$j4rg!g!
G1!t)
llglgrglE
Slrlnq,
Chapter,
stud€nt
AilvlEor to ACV
E.
Pollrc slavrcE/@lrstI
1980
lNG (r,1rr)
canbrtdse PublLshLnq companv. Afto€pher€ Foc€3€lng'
-lqui,r"i Pe€rbort'6; H.rrnanulu€r' st. ola! corl€se'
Hollgnd Publlc achoolE;
corr"s". FrlB offic€ supPltoE, A 0 snlih.
lthaca ColL6ge,
l.
il.rlo!@trt,
I.cts..h!D.,
.€!.1r.!., tr.r.rtrtLon. /
drEll (cosr.. sd cqd4ls
!o htgh .chool rtud.nt5, .tc.)
lalks eivsn to oltawa counly rtEt Associatlon' Hope co113se-w1nt€!
school'
i;;;;";i.";
Albion computer Falr, Plvnouth chlistlan
yorland-zasrAnd Data ProcaEaolE' Exchanqs club' -Muehegon .
iiei in-ier"tce confer€nc.,ottawa Aree FEPconf€renc€'antl
thre€ talks to HopeCo:.169eAcl{ Chapter.
o"t.,
11- 29 -Po
t?t€6e,
bta.k bk
obtsl
Publications, 1980
Herbert L Dershern
Published in 1980
"ConDuters in Teachins Mathenatics
and Statistics!
A State
of
t i r e A r t R e l o r t ' , , w i t t r D . s n i t h , c o N D U l T ,1 9 8 0 .
"Using Conputer lanes to Challenge ELenentary School Students",
T h 6 C o r n o u t i l n tse a c h e r , ? , 5 ( A p i / M a y , 7 9 8 0 \ , p p , 3 2 - 3 4 .
',Recursive Priqranning in BASIC",DiAitaL DesisA, 1.0,7(Ju]y, 1p80),
pp. 2o-2+,
"coriputer Problen Solvlng",
P r o j e c t U M A P ,1 9 8 0 .
Educational Developnent Center,
"Iteration and conputer fooblen solving",
Center, Prdlect ltl'lAP' 1c80.
"A Modular In{roductory
sIscsE &II$j,n,
lducational
Developnent
Conputer sclence Course", to appear in