The Best

Bad knees may have kept Kimberly Selber from excelling in her dream career as a dancer but not from being “on pointe” in excellence as a faculty member at The University of Texas-Pan American helping choreograph her students’ steps to academic and career success.

The advertising educator’s commitment to creativity and innovation in teaching and her role as a demanding but selfless mentor has landed her applause not only from her UTPA colleagues and students but also from The University of Texas System.

In August 2009, Selber, an associate professor in the Department of Communication, was one of six UTPA recipients of The University of Texas System’s first Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award. The award was presented to 73 individual faculty members from The UT System academic institutions and is believed to be among the highest nationwide for recognizing outstanding undergraduate faculty performance and innovation.

As a recipient in the tenure track category, Selber received $25,000 and was one of only three recipients selected to present to the Board. Earlier this year, she also received the Provost’s Outstanding Faculty Award in teaching for the College of Arts and Humanities and competing against five other UTPA colleges, the Provost’s Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award for the entire University.

“The reason I’ve had this success in teaching at UTPA is because I’ve had the support of my department, the University and overall my wonderful students. When you have students who are so hungry to learn it motivates me to go above and beyond,” she said.

Selber’s teaching philosophy values a student-centered approach to learning.

“I believe that learning that takes place outside the formal classroom is just as valuable as that which happens within,” she said.

Selber earned her bachelor’s degree in communication from California State University, Fullerton and her master’s in advertising from The University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign. She went on to earn her Ph.D. in advertising from The University of Texas at Austin and is only one of five persons in the country graduating with a Ph.D. in advertising and an emphasis in “creative” – she minored in art history and American Studies.

In the classroom

Since joining the UTPA faculty in 2004, Selber has developed a record of innovative teaching practices and delivery methods in the classroom, using technology to supplement the learning experience. Her classes use Blackboard for all written communication and she provides online testing, video tutorials and other supportive technology resources. In the fall 2008 semester Selber started podcasting her lectures for students who had to miss classes due to university-sanctioned events, like athletes who must travel for games.

“It is this type of creative methods and commitment to students that has consistently earned her some of the highest evaluations in our college,” said Dr. Dahlia Guerra, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities. “She has had a 97 percent ‘Excellent’ and ‘Good’ evaluation average from students over the past five years. Numerous classes have awarded her 100 percent.”

Selber has also been successful in developing creative ways to bridge learning experiences across disciplines as well as with the business community through in-service learning projects.

Four years ago, her advertising students teamed with Professor Joe Garza’s marketing students in the College of Business Administration on a project for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, allowing the students to temporarily operate as the largest advertising and marketing firm in the Rio Grande Valley on behalf of their FBI client during that semester. Her students also more recently created an advertising campaign – print, radio and TV – for the professional arena football team, the Dorados, to promote their first-ever Monday night game.

“They (Dorados) were so pleased with the experience of working with our students, the Killer Bees hockey team asked to be our department’s next client. In-service projects are providing a key benefit for both the students and the University – the business community is proactively calling on UTPA to partner in the education of our students – a major goal of the University,” Selber said.

Selber’s classes have drawn students from all over campus. Prior to her joining the department, COMM 3304 (Advertising) was offered once a year with an enrollment of approximately 35 students. Currently the class is offered every semester and summer with an enrollment of no less than 60. In fall 2007, 87 students registered for the class.

Her Department of Communication colleague, Dr. Jack R. Stanley, calls Selber a model of what good teaching at the university level is all about.

“Her courses are known to be rigorous, challenging and demanding. I know students who respect a ‘C’ from Dr. Selber more than an ‘A’ from some of the rest of us,” he said.

Beyond the classroom

Selber, who advises approximately 70 students each semester, said she does not see her responsibilities ending at the classroom door or at graduation.

Her teaching and mentoring roles outside the classroom as co-adviser to both the Panorama student magazine and the National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) have brought Selber some of her greatest joys as an educator.

Since 2003, the Panorama has received 11 national/international awards, five of them first-place or gold medals. The magazine has also won 52 regional/state/local awards, 17 of them first-place, gold or special judge’s medals.

As adviser to the student American Advertising Federation (AAF) chapter for the past five years, Selber created an Advertising Campaigns Competition course to give students an opportunity to participate in the NSAC for academic credit and has written grants and raised funding for their research and travel. In addition, some of the NSAC printed materials and TV commercials have been entered in other competitions earning two silver international creative awards and a number of gold and silver ADDY awards from the Valley’s AAF chapter. One UTPA graduate was hired as a junior media planner in San Antonio primarily based on her NSAC experience.

“As designers and writers, the students benefit tremendously from entering outside juried competitions. Design and writing are both very competitive fields and the numerous awards the students have received helps their résumés and portfolios rise to the top of a large heap during a job search,” she said.

Working through AAF, Selber has also helped four UTPA students receive national recognition as one of only 51 students selected nationwide each year as the “Most Promising Minority Student.”

According to Guerra, Selber has also been a keen motivator for students to continue their education at a graduate level.

“She has also been solely responsible for mentoring close to 15 students into the prestigious graduate program in advertising at UT Austin, one of the top advertising programs in the United States,” said Guerra. “Dr. Selber has helped students set their sights higher and given them the skills and experiences to be successful. She inspires students to go further than they had ever imagined.”

Her impact on students

In addition to her role as a teacher and a mentor in their lives, many of her former students also call Selber a trusted friend.

Santa Hernandez graduated in December 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design and a minor in communication with an emphasis in advertising and will enter the UT Austin’s graduate program in advertising next fall. As an undergraduate student, she worked on the Panorama and participated on the NSAC team under Selber’s guidance. She said she was amazed at Selber’s enthusiasm and passion, which led to her own passion for a future in advertising.

Hernandez said her experience on NSAC helped her understand the importance of teamwork, leadership and perseverance. She said she would never forget Selber’s encouragement and guidance throughout the process.

“She would be with us, eat with us, laugh with us, and even cry with us. At that time, she became part of my family and I became part of hers,” she said. “I see her as a life changer, not only for me, but for many other students I personally know. I will always consider her as my professor, my mentor and my friend.”

At age 36 and enrolled at UTPA for the third time after dropping out previously, Marshall Lott said Selber helped him “find his way in life,” leading him to finally graduate in May 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts in communication – advertising/public relations.

“Dr. Selber has a unique way of finding talent and identifying strengths in every student. She managed to discover and hone creative areas that I initially wasn’t sure I had and opened new doors of opportunity that I never thought possible,” he said.

Lott said Selber liked to challenge and push boundaries in a quiet manner and as a student he wanted to meet her expectations.

“My desire to impress her ended up being the fuel to my success,” he said.

Lott is now enrolled in the UT Austin advertising program seeking a master’s degree in advertising and hopes to first work in a creative department for an advertising agency but also to one day complete a Ph.D. in advertising and pursue a career as a scholar/professor.

“Selber went beyond lecturing and exams. She took me in and mapped out a plan of success I never had before. If I can reach out to someone and become a mentor to them in a way that Dr. Selber has done with me, I would consider myself even more successful,” Lott said.

Applying creative synergy to University marketing

Beyond teaching, Selber has always continued to do the work that she teaches, owning her own small advertising firm, Intensity Designs. Just recently she was tapped by the University to head its own creative department – Marketing and Creative Services – now named Studio Twelve01, which will develop a comprehensive marketing plan, conduct media planning and buying and market research and produce communication and collateral pieces for the University.

This group of graphic designers, marketing personnel, advertising/marketing writers, who were once dispersed across campus, is now housed in a small building on Van Week Street near campus where Selber is excited to provide a space where creativity can be nurtured.

“If you are in an environment that is creative you tend to branch out and feel more creative. That’s what I want to accomplish with this new physical space. The more you can immerse yourself in that with people doing the same kind of thing it is a very synergistic relationship,” she said.

Selber is also excited to take on the role the department will play in telling the University’s story.

“My main responsibility will be to steward all of the messages and creative works that come out of this University and give them one voice, one mission, one direction. And you do that by strategically positioning and branding the institution, and then making sure that everything you do speaks to that brand,” she said. “I hope that our team will produce some really stellar work that supports and promotes the UTPA brand both in the Valley and throughout the state and nation.”