The Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures was awarded the LSA Student Government's 2004 Departmental Excellence Award, awarded each year to one LSA department on the basis of student nominations and surveys. The department also won this award in 2002! Here are some of the student comments on which the 2004 award was based:

"The German department has several OUTSTANDING professors that have gone out of their way, beyond any job description to help me, direct me and find opportunities for me to excel in the language. I’ve found the MOST influential people in my college career in this department—it is outstanding!"

"The German dept. is great! Everyone is so nice, and being a German major allows you to get to know the staff on such a personal level."

"The professors are dedicated and enthusiastic and have an excellent grasp of their subject."

"The German department is by far the best department I have worked with here at U of M. I am a transfer student and have a lot of experience interacting with faculty and staff at other universities, so I feel I have a good basis for comparison and I think the German department here ranks up there with the best. As far as instructors go, Professor Federhofer in the German department is the best instructor I have had the pleasure of learning from here at U of M and I look forward to taking another class taught by him in the future."

"I love German!"

"The German department is honestly incredible. Every professor I’ve ever had has been so helpful and has done everything in his or her power to see me succeed and improve my German skills. The German department really focuses on improvement and everyone in the department is amazing."

"The professors are quite accessible, my professors have always held more opportunities for students to come into their office than any other professors from any other department. Janet Van Valkenburg, for example, sets aside 9 hours of her week for her students to discuss any aspects of the course. That is much better than the 1 hour period
offered by most other professors."

"I have praised the German department since I took German 231 my first semester freshman year. As a senior, I believe that taking German courses at this University has been the best decision that I have made as a student. The members of this department have time after time far surpassed my expectations. They even found me an internship abroad!! When a few of my friends asked me which language they should take to fulfill their language requirement, I told them about the German Department. All three of my friends have not only taken the courses to complete their requirement, they have all gone on to take more classes through this department due to the positive experiences they had. Not only have the professors been amazing teachers, but amazing mentors and friends. They inspire me to no end. I am happy to say that not only has the German department allowed me to become fluent in a foreign language, but has allowed me to develop into a graduate with a job, a future, and a positive attitude. Please give the German Department this award, for it is quite deserved."