SF Faculty and Staff Recognized During Fall Convocation
August 21, 2020
August 21, 2020 – Santa Fe College's fall convocation serves as the official welcoming to students, faculty and staff as the new academic year gets underway. Although this year's event was held virtually, as opposed to being in the Fine Arts Hall, college administration still made sure to recognize and commend many in the college community for their service.
President Paul Broadie II, Ph.D., acknowledged the Emergency Management Team with the newly created Santa Fe Impact Award for their work during the first several months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Emergency Management Team, led by SFPD Chief Ed Book, and vice-chaired by Chief Information Officer and AVP for ITS Bill Penney, includes Tom Ackerman, Jay Anderson, Cheryl Calhoun, Gary Cothren, Lela Frye, Jodi Long, Teri McClellan, Marian Nesbitt, Dan Rodkin, Sarah Stroup and Ryan Woods.
The president also awarded two members of the college with the "You Are Santa Fe" award. SFPD Chief Ed Book was recognized for his leadership, experience and ability to mobilize others. Kathryn Lehman, Director of Sponsored Projects in SF's Office for Advancement, was honored for her years of service to the college, her coordinating more than 20 years of Spring Arts Festivals, and more recently, her work in securing more than 30 million in grant dollars in 2020 to support programs at the college that benefit low-income students, STEM students and veterans at SF.
Dr. Broadie also announced the College Senate's Adjunct Excellence Award. This year, Lanier Harper-Dickson (English professor) and Amy Dautel (Emergency Medical Services professor) were honored for their dedication to their students and their impact on the Santa Fe College community. English Department Chair Melissa Flanagan praised Lanier for being "always willing to collaborate with her peers," and calls her "enthusiasm for teaching…contagious." Thomas Ackerman, Director of IPS, extolled Dautel's "positive can-do attitude" and says she exemplifies the high standards of IPS and SF. Both honorees will receive a plaque and a $200 prize.
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Ed Bonahue, used his time during convocation to award a number of faculty. The provost praised all of the faculty for converting in-person instruction to online in just a couple of days, and said that because of the hard work and dedication of the faculty, the student course completion rate for the spring term was 78.3%, a half-point higher than the college's five-year historical average.
Provost Bonahue announced that the Outstanding Assistant Professor Award went to Business program professor, Mark House. Mark was honored for completing both the CODI certificate and the ACUE program, establishing and maintaining a customized database for tracking students' progress, and instituting an ePortfolio program so students can document learning and maintain artifacts through their academic careers.
Automotive Technology's Chester Cowart was recognized as the full-time faculty Teaching and Learning Excellence Award winner. Among other reasons, Chester was praised for helping to formulate a safety plan that allowed students whose classes had been disrupted because of the COVID-19 pandemic to return this summer to gain the access to the equipment they needed while preserving safety. He also led his department to align curriculum with industry certifications, allowing students to gain early success in their field.
The provost announced three winners of the Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Award – adjunct professors Logan Marconi (Art), Jennifer Rieck-Wilder (Dental) and Susan Warshaw (Business). The provost said the three adjunct professors bring the skills of consummate professionals in their fields to the enterprise of facilitating student engagement and learning.
The Provost's Distinguished Service Award was given to Bobby Hom. Professor Hom, who is also the coordinator of SF's Honors Program, was recognized for working to create a master course filled with Open Educational Resources for all instructors in his discipline, offering guidance for teaching to all faculty in his department and saving students tens of thousands of dollars in textbook costs every year.
Vice President of Student Affairs, Dr. Naima Brown, presented the annual Excellence in Advising and Advisor of the Year awards. Five members of the inaugural One Advising professional development workgroup shared the Excellence in Advising award – Andrea Evangelist, Omar Jennings, Sari Sanborn, Shaura Thomas and Sasha Yurke.
Nicole Keith, from SF's Davis Center in Archer, was named this year's Advisor of the Year. Nominated by both Davis Center Director Shellie Banfield and English professor Clay Smith, she was credited with going above and beyond to make sure students who had to suddenly switch to online classes were successful.
Santa Fe College extends congratulations to all!
