Jason Olsen awarded faculty of the year

Fun, relatable, and interactive are just some of the adjectives used to describe USU Eastern’s “Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year,” Jason Olsen. 
As a teacher of English 1010 and 2010, Olsen’s job isn’t set up to be easy. Typically students don’t enjoy English class as a whole, especially ones they are required to take. However, there is something about his classes that have students enjoying English more than ever.
One of his past students, Kiara Horowitz said, “He wants to be interactive, and know his students more.” Also, she said, “He takes the time to review papers with us.” Another student, David Rawle said, “It’s fun,” and “he’s very relatable
Just a couple of examples, also given by Horowitz, that support these statements include a day where Olsen unexpectedly started walking on the desks in the middle of class to capture the student’s attention.
When calling roll, Olsen would ask a get to know you question such as, “What’s your favorite movie?” or, “What do you do during your free time?” Rawle added that during class Olsen would often make jokes in the middle of his lecture. He is also known for wearing Dr. Who shirts to class and talking about both that show and other pop culture topics during class.
Olsen thinks he received the award because, “I’m trying to represent what USU Eastern wants in a teacher. That’s about getting to know the students, being there for the students and being dedicated to the students.” In other words, Olsen stated he wants to help his students enjoy English so that they will want to learn English. And he has tried to create an environment that is as enjoyable as possible to help make that happen. 
Olsen was notified that he was receiving this award during the summer. He received the award on August 18, 2015. Olsen has been teaching as USU Eastern for eight years, and certainly has proved that he deserves this award. As he tries to relate to students and continues to work in a one on one fashion with students, he’s also proven that, as he stated he, “loves USU Eastern, and the students.”