Showcasing Excellence in Teaching Through Mentorship
College Spotlight on Jaime Tartar
For Jaime Tartar, Ph.D., teaching is about more than just giving lectures in the classroom—it’s about a strong commitment to student learning and success. As a faculty adviser and a mentor, Tartar works closely with her students, helping them develop new ideas, examine their goals, and pursue their interests with challenging research. Because of her dedication, Tartar, an assistant professor in the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences, received the college's prestigious Full-Time Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award for 2009-2010. As the award recipient, Tartar will represent faculty members and welcome students to the start of the new academic year at the annual convocation program on Tuesday, September 8, 2009, in the Miniaci Performing Arts Center at NSU.
“The Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences takes great pride in the quality of teaching and mentorship for students in our classes and programs,” said Don Rosenblum, Ph.D., dean of the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences. “Our college has many outstanding teachers, and this award reflects endorsement and support of Jaime from students and peers.”
Helping students uncover their path to success is part of Tartar’s passion in life. As a mentor, she builds long-term, meaningful relationships with her students and guides them through their research, from start to finish. Tartar served as the faculty adviser for five research projects presented at the 2009 Undergraduate Student Symposium. She is also the current adviser to two students in the college’s Divisional Honors Program who are developing Divisional Honors Theses.
Tartar, who joined the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences in 2006, received her doctorate from the University of Florida in 2004. She received a Master of Arts degree from Florida Atlantic University and a Bachelor of Science degree from NSU. She was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, where she conducted sleep research. She is widely published in areas ranging from electrophysiology to sleep deprivation, in a variety of national and international publications. Besides receiving the Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award, Tartar is the recipient of Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences Full-time Faculty of the Year, and the Student Life Teacher of the Year Nomination.
Can you describe your major areas of research?
At its heart, my area of study (behavioral neuroscience) asks and answers questions about dynamic topics, such as how we perceive the world, think, feel, learn, remember, and sleep. This is pretty fascinating stuff, and I love seeing students think it is "cool" and want to learn more about it! My major areas of research interest are emotions, stress, and sleep. When these topics come up during lecture, I am happy to tell my students about how excited I am about these fields. I think that these areas are also interesting to college students, since they are often stressed and don’t get enough sleep––they can often relate to the importance of these research areas!
How do you go about building relationships with your students and encouraging them to pursue their interests?
Mentoring, to me, involves a commitment to my students and their ideas. These relationships often involve working together on a specific research project. These ideas and experimental designs are frequently formulated after lengthy discussions of class material and common interests. Some of these projects are never fully developed or “stall out” in the beginning phases. I think this is not only acceptable, but an important part of the academic experience. Failure can be just as important to learning as success ... I appreciate the level of rapport that we build and I hope that my students see me as a resource even after they graduate. There are many times when I see students getting really interested in a topic––they seem to be just bursting with interest and only need a little encouragement to pursue those interests. I think that for every student there is a topic or idea that can elicit a passion for learning and connect them with college in a way that transcends "getting a good grade."
Why is mentoring students so important to you?
I think that a vital element of teaching is to have an unyielding interest and confidence in the material taught. I love what I study and it is incredibly rewarding and exciting to pass on that interest and share information with some very, very bright minds. I think that research in the field of psychology, and more specifically behavioral neuroscience, is an integral part of my identity and personal self-worth. I see my work with students in research and in the classroom as an extension of that identity.
Why did you come to NSU? How has that served your professional goals?
I was working as a postdoc [research fellow] at Harvard Medical School and planned to pursue an instructor position there. However, a series of family emergencies prompted us to move to Florida, and plus, I really missed teaching! I noticed that NSU was hiring and it felt like fate since I had earned my [Bachelor of Science] degree here. It was clear when I interviewed and started working here that the college was in a phase of invigorating growth and it was (and still is) exciting to feel like I am a taking part in this process.
You are connected to NSU, both professionally and personally...
[Tartar’s husband, Aurelian Tartar, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at the Division of Math, Science, and Technology; their children attend the Mailman Segal Institute Family Center Preschool.]
I think that the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences has a nice, small-college feeling, while still offering excellent scholarship and academic opportunities. Over the last three years, a lot of my colleagues have become my friends and, in general, I think that the people with whom I work are really supportive and encouraging of each other. The fact that my husband is on the faculty and my kids are at MSI really makes me feel like we are an NSU family–our home life is pretty continuous with our NSU life! So, I suppose I just really love my job, even though that is not "cool" to say!
