TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Dr. Beth Bennett, associate professor of communication studies in The University of Alabama College of Communication and Information Sciences (C&IS), recently received the C&IS Board of Visitors Teaching Excellence Award.

Bennett, who is from Winchester, Ind., has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in rhetoric at UA for more than 20 years. For the past three years, she has served as her department’s director of graduate studies.

A graduate student who nominated her said Bennett is vital to the socialization of new graduate students in the department. Another nominator said while her classes are rigorous and demanding, she also teaches and commits herself to students with a sense of joy, delight and good humor. Bennett has created a learning environment that nurtures students professionally and personally, they said.