Recent Reference Letters

Date: March 6, 1998

From: Gregory S. Rose, Associate Dean

Subject: Reference for David H. Kessel

David Kessel has asked me to provide this general reference letter for his use in applying for academic positions. I have given him the original of this letter and he has my permission to send a copy as part of his application dossier.

Since Autumn Quarter, 1995, the Marion campus has employed David Kessel as a Lecturer of Sociology. His appointments have varied quarter by quarter from part-time to full time. He was recommended to us by the Department of Sociology on the Columbus campus as a person qualified to teach sociology and criminology courses (the criminology courses are taught by the Sociology Department). He also has taught on the Columbus, Mansfield, and Newark campuses of Oho State, as well as at colleges and universities elsewhere in Ohio and in other states.

On the Marion campus, Mr. Kessel has taught introductory general sociology courses (101), introductory level criminal justice and deviance courses (209, 210), and the basic criminology course (410). One reason we asked him to teach on the Marion campus was to meet the increasing student interest in criminology courses, driven in part by general societal awareness of criminology issues and by the presence in Marion of two state correctional institutions. This demand has continued to grow during the nearly three years Mr. Kessel has taught here, so much so that we are currently engaged in a national search for a tenure track assistant professor in criminology. In addition to teaching on campus, Mr. Kessel taught in the basic university education program Ohio State Marion offered at the Marion Correctional Institution until it was closed after Spring, 1997.

The Marion campus uses a 10 question quantitative evaluation instrument on which students rate a faculty member's performance on a five point scale from very good/excellent through not acceptable. The vast majority of student responses place Mr. Kessel's teaching performance and the students' class experiences solidly in the good to very good/excellent categories. It is uncommon for students to rate his teaching and classes as only acceptable and still less common for them to rate them below that level. In their written comments, students note that he was knowledgeable and prepared, brought new insights to the students, encouraged class discussion, readily answered questions, and was available and accessible to students. In addition, Mr. Kessel asks students to fill out self-evaluations. A common statement on them, which also appears on the students' written comments, is that he showed them how to think critically and encouraged them to think for themselves.

Mr. Kessel does not shy away from introducing and discussing controversial issues in class, which he believes one cannot avoid when teaching sociology or criminology courses. This on occasion has resulted in students being asked to examine issues which they may not wish to confront or feeling that they were subject to offensive material, and has on occasion resulted in students not seeing eye to eye with Mr. Kessel. Some of their written evaluative comments center on this theme, including some students' concerns that Mr. Kessel offended them or may have promoted his personal opinions. He and I have talked about these matters a number of times, and he has emphasized to me that his overall purpose is to encourage students to think critically, to develop the ability to support their views, whatever they may be, and to examine all of the issues, comfortable and uncomfortable, society faces. Much more often, students' written evaluative comments will indicate that they found this new knowledge and these new insights enlightening and appreciated the opportunity to discuss the issues provided by Mr. Kessel's class. We also have talked about making sure that students are fully aware of his methods, approaches, and intentions so that there are no misunderstandings. In response, he has increased the time he spends during the first session of a new course discussing these issues with the students and tries to be sure that they understand his methods and motivations.

In sum, I encourage you to take a close look at Mr. Kessel's teaching record and experiences. He takes his role as an educator very seriously. He is committed to bringing knowledge to students in many forms (he has added Internet based assignments to some of his courses in recent quarters), to encouraging them to think critically and develop their own fact-based opinions, and to exposing students to the society we live in using the perspectives of sociology and criminology.

THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
Marion Campus
1465 Mt Vernon Avenue
Marion, OH 43302-5695
Phone 614-389-6786

April 18, 1998

To whom it may concern:

With this letter, I would like to support David H. Kessel's application for a teaching position in Sociology or Criminology.

David has been a lecturer in Sociology at the Marion campus of The Ohio State University for the last two years. His teaching included courses in Introductory Sociology, Criminology, Deviance, American Ethnic Relations and Criminal Justice. His teaching effectiveness is well documented with both quantitative and qualitative procedures. Student evaluations consistently indicate that David Kessel is a very effective instructor whose performance meets the high expectations we have at the Marion campus. Students also comment that Mr. Kessel is well organized, generous with his time and sensitive to students' concerns.

I believe that David Kessel’s intellectual and human interest, his love for teaching and his effectiveness as instructor in Sociology and/or Criminology will be great assets in your university. I can recommend him for a position in your institution wholeheartedly.

Sincerely,

Franklin Proano, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Comparative Studies in the Humanities
The Ohio State University.

Ohio University

Department of Sociology and Anthropology
College of Arts and Sciences
Lindley Hall
Ohio University
Athens, Ohio 45701-2979

March 6, 1998

TO: Personnel and Selection Committees
FROM: Martin D. Schwartz, Professor of Sociology and Chair
SUBJECT: Letter of Reference for David H. Kessel

This is a very strong letter of endorsement for David Kessel, who was one of the best teachers we have ever hired in our branch campus system. David was only in the Ohio University area while his wife worked on her graduate degree, but we made as much use of him as possible. He taught on our branch system, and in our extensive prison program. Unfortunately, Congress essentially ended the prison program, and our branch campus administrators have gone to great lengths to avoid creating new full time jobs, so there was not as much opportunity here as in Columbus.

I presume that David is sharing his student evaluations with you. I am extremely impressed by what he has done in the Ohio State University system, but let me put into context the ones from Ohio University. One of our branch campus faculty typically averages about 3.3 out of a 5.0 scale. On the main campus, where we argue that we are one of the two departments with the most teaching awards per capita, we average about 3.8 or 3.9 out of 5. If you will look at David's evaluations, you will see that they are consistently higher on a variety of courses. They are as high or higher than mine, and I have won a variety of teaching awards, and currently am the holder of a campus wide outstanding teacher award.

Further, I heard extensively from both students and other prison and branch faculty about David's teaching, and it was all very strong (except for one prison inmate who was upset that his grade was lowered because he did not do the assignment). His work on our branch campus system, which mixes together nontraditional students and traditional students who will transfer later to the main campus, are very similar in terms of student appreciation.

In short, we have here an outstanding teacher: one who works with the students in class, out of class, by mail or phone if necessary. It would be hard for me to imagine that you would be able to obtain a more dedicated and talented teacher.

Further, David is an excellent colleague. He can hold forth on a wide range of topics, and is a most interesting person to be around. I have no doubt that he will carry more than his share of committee work in any job that he gets, particularly in student advising.

There is no need to hide the fact that David is on the market mainly because he did not finish his Ph.D. The school that can overlook this flaw will gain an excellent and proven teacher, an excellent colleague, and an excellent worker. I think that it would be a very smart hire.