Two faculty members honored for their work with students

David Bonko, Chris Hergenrader lauded for their commitment to helping students succeed

May 17, 2024 - University of Wisconsin-River Falls faculty members David Bonko and Chris Hergenrader are being honored for their outstanding work with students and helping prepare them for success after graduation. 

David Bonko, associate marketing communications professor at UW-River Falls for the past 26 years, is being honored with the 2024 Distinguished Teaching Award. Chris Hergenrader, assistant animal science professor for the past four years, has been named the 2024 Adviser of the Year. 

Bonko said he is “quite honored and humbled” to receive the Distinguished Teaching Award, the highest honor a faculty member can receive on campus. The award was established in 1965 to recognize teaching excellence. 

Bonko credits his students for their hard work and commitment to create high-level marketing and communications campaigns. Over the years his students have raised more than $60,000 for nonprofits by planning and putting on fundraising events for those organizations. 

“These kids work so hard to do good for this world,” Bonko said. “You're trying to encourage the next generation of community volunteers, and I’m lucky that I get to be a part of doing that.” 

Those campaigns are an example of Bonko’s focus on experiential learning in which students learn best by doing. He said his curriculum is adaptable and he allows his students to have input on their classroom plans. 

“I believe if a student trusts you, they'll learn from you. Trust creates a mutually beneficial relationship where both the instructor and student do not want to disappoint each other,” he said.

Similarly, Hergenrader said he focuses on getting to know his students which allows him to better help them create academic plans that enable them to have the most success. Each of those plans should be tailored to individual student personalities, strengths and needs, he said. 

“You truly do need to get to know your students. Every one of their paths looks different,” Hergenrader said. “Some of them come from a farm, some from a metro area. Some are strong in academics, some struggle. No two students are the same. If you get to know them personally, you can help them individualize a path that allows them to find success.”

Hergenrader’s students said he is deserving of the Adviser of the Year award, established in 2000 to recognize excellence in advising undergraduates. They describe him as especially kind and exceedingly committed to helping them find their best academic path. They credit him for expanding opportunities in the companion animal program he oversees, providing them with additional employment opportunities after they graduate.

“I have never had an adviser care so deeply about my success,” Chesney Eschbach, a sophomore from Decatur, Ill, majoring in animal science, said of Hergenrader. “He meets with me as soon as he can and takes my feelings into consideration regarding classes. He encourages me to push myself and believes in me when I don’t believe in myself.”

Bonko’s students praised his dedication to them as well. Former UW-River Falls student Luke Affolter had Bonko as an adviser from 2009-13. He credits Bonko with providing him with the skills needed to thrive in the professional world. 

“He is engaging in class and makes learning fun while still making sure we learned what we needed to learn,” Affolter said of Bonko. “He is, without a doubt, a shining star at UWRF.”

Hergenrader and Bonko said they’re motivated by the students they work with and are committed to helping them succeed. They said they feel lucky to have jobs educating students.   

“You do it to help the students,” Hergenrader said. “You try to go the extra mile for them. It’s about doing the absolute best that I can for students, to give them the opportunities that they need and want.”

Photos:
Top: David Bonko headshot
Bottom: Chris Hergenrader headshot