2020
Supervisor Narrative
Teaching :
Based on the evaluation instructions and guide approved by the faculty, the FEC’s recommendation and my review of the file, and with special consideration for the increased demands placed on faculty in the COVID-19 environment, I rate Ms. Abrahamsen’s teaching as outstanding. In Spring 2020, Ms. Abrahamsen taught one section of JOU 3101 Advanced Reporting, one section of MMC 4936 WUSF TV News Break (Florida Focus) and one section of MMC 4900 Directed Reading in Mass Communications. In Fall 2020, she taught two sections of MMC 4936 WUSF TV News Break and one section of MMC 4900 Directed Reading in Mass Communications.
Ms. Abrahamsen’s student evaluation ratings were 4.9-5.0 and student comments were overwhelmingly positive. These comments from students in the TV News Break and Advanced Reporting classes capture the collective sentiment expressed by her students: “Professor Abrahamsen is without a doubt the best Professor I have ever had. She is extremely passionate about her job and what she teaches. She cares so deeply for each and every one of her students. She goes out of her way to make sure we are understanding and comprehending material, feeling comfortable and most importantly, that we are happy. She is more than willing to help up at ANY time of the day, even outside of class time. She genuinely puts her students and our learning experience first. I will be taking her again next semester because I have grown and learned so much in this course because of her. She is simply AWESOME!” “Professor Jeannette is amazing, she made me step out of my comfort zone and made me realize how much I can give on my Journalism skills. Her classes were very fun, and I love how passionate she is towards storytelling and the impact it can do on other people’s lives. She is very inspiring, and one of the best professors I have had.”
Ms. Abrahamsen’s innovative work in continuing the Florida Focus Newsbreak course during the pandemic was impressive. She redesigned the course, incorporated new technologies and developed video lectures and tutorials all aimed at teaching students how to produce newscasts remotely. She also planned a special workshop on Covid-19 reporting for students with an anchor/reporter and a producer from WFLA. Ms. Abrahamsen’s work show that she is constantly striving to ensure that her courses are current and relevant and focused on student success. She also encourages students to complete internships and to submit their work for awards and competitions that showcase their talents and help them build professional portfolios.
Three of Ms. Abrahamsen’s students were recognized with scholarships from the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists for their Florida Focus news shows. Two additional students won an award for an online video story produced in conjunction with students from the Electronic Field Production class.
Service:
Based on the evaluation instructions and guide approved by the faculty, the FEC’s recommendation and my review of the file, and with special consideration for the increased demands placed on all faculty in the COVID-19 environment, I rate Ms. Abrahamsen’s service as outstanding. She served on the Undergraduate Committee, Social Media Committee and the Scholarship/Banquet Committee. She also serves as a content manager for the School’s website and social media platforms, which requires considerable time and effort throughout the year. Ms. Abrahamsen also contributed to the broader USF community through her work producing videos for USF Health and participating in a number of student success initiatives. She was invited to join the USF Digital Communities Task Force charged with proposing ideas to improve remote learning and digital engagement during the pandemic. She also served as co-chair of the Enabling Technologies Committee, which assisted students in gaining access to laptops for remote learning.
Committee Narrative
TEACHING (83%) In Spring 2020 Ms. Abrahamsen taught one section of JOU 3101 with 17 students, one section of MMC 4936 WUSF TV News Break with 7 students and one section of MMC 4900 Directed Reading in Mass Comm with 6 students. Her mean rating for the semester is a 5 out of 5 rating. In the Fall semester of 2020 taught 2 sections of MMC 4936 WUSF TV News Break with 19 students total and one section of MMC 4900 Directed Reading in Mass Comm with 9 students. She navigated the difficult task of moving to remote teaching during the initial COVID-19 shutdown of March 2020 and completed a fully remote version of the course in the fall 2020 semester. Student comment: “Ms. Abrahamsen is without a doubt the best Ms. I have ever had. She is extremely passionate about her job and what she teaches. She cares so deeply for each and every one of her students.” Ms. Abrahamsen had an average student evaluation of 4.9. The Committee rates her Teaching as OUTSTANDING.
SERVICE (17%) Jeanette served on multiple committees including the Social Media Committee and Undergraduate Committee while chairing the Digital Network Committee. She also served on the IPRA Instructor I search committee. The Committee rates Ms. Abrahamsen’s Service as OUTSTANDING.
2019
Supervisor Narrative
In 2019, Jeanette Abrahamsen transitioned from visiting instructor in the spring to permanent Instructor I in the fall. Her overall 2019 teaching assignment at 4/4 was 87.5 percent, and her service assignment—incorrectly added to Archivum as “Other”—was 12.5 percent.
Both Instructor Abrahamsen’s teaching and service performances for 2019 far surpass what would be considered excellence for progress toward promotion. I rate her 2019 work as “Outstanding” in teaching and service. She is a leading contributor in the Zimmerman School and should plan to apply for promotion to Instructor II during the 2020-21 academic year.
The current dean of faculty, Elizabeth Bell, concurs on early application for promotion. As there will be both a new school director and a new CAS dean of faculty next year, Instructor Abrahamsen in the fall of 2020 should remind Sharon Johnson in the CAS Dean of Faculty office to add your name to the list of candidates for promotion, and Instructor Abrahamsen should copy the new school director on that correspondence.
Additionally, given the unrecognized administrative effort she puts toward liaising with WUSF on behalf the Zimmerman School and fulfilling her assignment as content manager for ZSAMC website and social media, it is appropriate to right-size her teaching load going forward, and to give her a formal administrative assignment. Additionally, leading Florida Focus alone should count as 2 courses in anyone’s teaching load, and if not, it should be team-taught.
Teaching:
For annual evaluation purposes, the 2017 ZSAMC Guidelines on evaluating “Instruction” (Teaching) state that “(5) Outstanding” depends on “4.01 or better on USF student evaluations.” By that criterion, I rate Instructor Abrahamsen’s 2019 teaching as “Outstanding.”
She taught 8 courses last year—4 in the spring and 4 in the fall—with her lowest student evaluation at 4.7 for the spring Advanced Reporting class; in the fall she earned a 5.0 for the same course. She taught Broadcast News 3 times, twice in the spring and once in the fall, with student evaluations at 4.9, 4.9, and 4.8 respectively. She taught 2 sections of News Editing, which both gave her 5.0 evaluations. In the fall she taught Florida Focus (News Break), the daily student television news show with Instructor Catherine Gugerty; that course also evaluated her at 5.0.
That is an astounding set of student evaluations for an immense workload. But the accomplishments she lists as part of each of those courses are even more remarkable, from collaborating with Innovative Education and WUSF to publish her students’ work to integrate all her classes into the new WUSF studio space she worked to secure. She worked with her students to learn technology, reporting, and professional skills. She tirelessly put in extra effort and hours to give all her students hands-on and one-on-one instruction. In the process, she also taught her faculty colleagues new skills and processes.
She additionally submitted new course proposals for special topics courses that Zimmerman school has been teaching 10-15 years without ever adding them formally to the university’s catalog.
She has made excellent progress toward promotion.
Service:
For annual evaluation purposes, the 2017 ZSAMC Guidelines on evaluating “Service” state that “(5) Outstanding” is earned for contributions “(above and beyond) to three of the following: ZSAMC, CAS, USF, and professional organizations (with an understanding that actual committee work differs from committee to committee).” By that criterion, Instructor Abrahamsen earned an “Outstanding” on her service for 2019.
She reports that last year she earned the Mobile Journalism Certification with the Knight Center for Journalism.
In 2019, she served on 2 search committees, 1 in the provost’s office and 1 in the Zimmerman School. She chaired the USF Digital Network Committee Chair. She served on the school’s Undergraduate Committee and Annual Awards and Banquet Committee. For the banquet, she directed, edited, produced the AV for the program, from PowerPoint and video montage to Facebook livestreaming.
She presented at 3 conferences in 2019: She was the keynote speaker at a mobile journalism conference in the Netherlands. She also presented at the Florida College System Publications Association Conference and the Online News Association.
She organized and hosted campus workshops for students with the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists, another one on Social Media and Selfie Journalism, as well as the TBABJ.
She was a guest speaker at the Social Media Roast for Ad Club.
She produced video virtual and 360 tours to represent academic and administrative units across the university.
She manages the Zimmerman School YouTube channel, and in fall 2019 she was named a Content Manager for the school’s URL and social media—a post which merits a small administrative workload assignment that includes her WUSF administrative assignment, both of which also earn a 1-course reduction each semester she serves in those roles. Instructor Abrahamsen will need to convey this information to the Zimmerman undergraduate director who makes course assignments and to the new school director when she arrives in August.
This is indeed “above and beyond” the call of service duty.
Committee Narrative
Teaching In the spring of 2019 Professor Abrahamsen taught two sections of broadcast news, one section of news editing, one section of advanced reporting and one section of directed reading. In the fall semester of 2019 Professor Abrahamsen taught one section of broadcast news, one section of news editing, one section of advanced reporting, one section of Florida Focus and one directed reading. Professor Abrahamsen had an average student evaluation of 4.9. We rate Professor Abrahamsen’s Teaching as Outstanding. Professor Abrahamsen was at the forefront of the effort to move Florida Focus to the WUSF studio as well as serving on the team that received approval for a $1.8 million renovation of the WUSF studio. She served on two hiring committees: Assistant Digital Communications Director (for the Office of the Provost), Instructor I (for Zimmerman School), three unit committees, (Undergraduate, Social Media, Scholarship Award Banquet) and the USF Digital Network Committee (Chair) She also organized three workshops at the Zimmerman School
- Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists Career Readiness Workshop with Rod Carter, Octavio Jones, Jamel Lanee, Stephanie Claytor and Cory Davis on March 4, 2019.
- Social Media and Selfie Journalism Workshop with Yusuf Omar on Oct. 16, 2019.
- TBABJ Resume Workshop with Rod Carter, Kenya Woodard, and Jasmine Styles on Nov. 18, 2019.
She contributed to 24 stories through Hashtag Our Stories on Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook and earned the Mobile Journalism Certification with the Knight Center for Journalism. We rate Professor Abrahamsen’s service as Outstanding.
2018
Supervisor Narrative
Although Professor Abrahamsen’s annual service workload assignment for 2018 was only 4 percent with the balance listed as undergraduate teaching and other instructional effort, it is difficult to separate her teaching from her service: Numbers of her courses were directly or indirectly involved in service learning, and her service in many cases improved or served student success on behalf of the university. Indeed, Professor Abrahamsen’s service rivals any current faculty member’s service performance last year. This achievement must be understood in connection to her substantial teaching load. She taught a 3/3 in 2018, in addition to a directed research and a directed reading. FAIR lists her having taught a total of 109 students last year with her lowest course average student evaluation at 4.72 and her highest at 4.96. Professor Abrahamsen’s teaching and service performance for 2018 are each OUTSTANDING.
Committee Narrative
Teaching:
In 2018, Professor Abrahamsen taught six courses, three in the spring and three in the fall. She taught 107 students and her overall evaluations ranged from 4.72 to 4.96. She has been instrumental in assisting with journalism courses and adding visual projects to help students engage in multimedia storytelling, which is paramount in our current media industry. She continues to forge significant relationship both on and off campus that could be instrumental in creating and launching a digital network. Student comments highlight a combination of rigor and support. Professor Abrahamsen is described as “professional” and “caring” and that her Advanced Reporting class was an “unforgettable and lovely experience.” These comments and her evidence of teaching leads the faculty evaluation committee to rate Professor Abrahamsen’s teaching in 2018 as OUTSTANDING.
Service:
Professor Abrahamsen continues to represent the Z-School in many valuable ways. She has diligently continued to explore options for a digital network and has built many important internal and external relationships for our school in that capacity. She maintains industry connections who help provide student experiential learning. Her 2018 service to the department is rated as OUTSTANDING.
2017
Supervisor Narrative
Teaching:
Ms. Abrahamsen has brought an energy and innovations to her courses not seen in this department in years. Her enthusiasm for undergraduate education is boundless and infectious.
Ms. Abrahamsen taught three courses in Fall 2017, with an offload for one course to attend to matters related to the Digital Network (see service). In her courses — JOU 3101, Advanced Reporting, RTV 4304, TV News, and RTV 3301, Broadcast News — she taught 38 students. More importantly, she updated the curriculum in each course substantially, based on her professional experience. Most notable was moving Advanced Reporting from print-only to multimedia journalism experiences. Her overall student evaluations ranged between 4.59 to 4.96 with an average rating of instructor of 4.8. Student comments were extremely positive. We believe her potential as an instructor and leader in the Zimmerman School has barely been tapped. We continue to find new areas of innovation and exciting initiatives based on her work and abilities.
Based on the evidence provided and the recommendation of the Faculty Evaluation Committee, I concur that Ms. Abrahamsen’s teaching was OUTSTANDING in 2017.
Service:
Ms. Abrahamsen participated in ZSAMC faculty governance. In addition, she led the USF Digital Network Committee, a high level group designing a USF channel for sports and academics, and she produced promotional videos for CAS and USF. Ms. Abrahamsen also does a variety of other service, including being a liaison to the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists, and a mentor to many students not in her classes. Based on the evidence provided and the recommendation of the Faculty Evaluation Committee, I agree that Ms. Abrahamsen’s service was OUTSTANDING during the period under review.
Committee Narrative
Teaching:
In Fall 2017, Prof. Abrahamsen taught three courses (JOU 3101, Advanced Reporting, RTV 4304, TV News, and RTV 3301, Broadcast News). She taught 38 students and overall overall rating of instructor ranging between 4.59 to 4.96 with an average rating of instructor of 4.8. Student comments indicated that Prof. Abrahamsen is “… the best teacher” and “… very helpful,” to she is “very knowledgeable in her field and really cares about her students.” Based on the evidence provided, the Zimmerman School of Advertising and Mass Communication faculty evaluation committee believes that Prof. Abrahamsen’s teaching was OUTSTANDING during the period under review.
Service:
During the period under review, Prof. Abrahamsen participated in ZSAMC faculty governance. In addition, she has led the USF Digital Network Committee and she produced promotional videos for CAS and USF. Based on the evidence provided, the Zimmerman School of Advertising and Mass Communication faculty evaluation committee believes that Prof. Abrahamsen’s service was OUTSTANDING during the period under review.