Faculty, Staff Honored at Annual Awards Event
At Thomas Nelson's annual faculty reward and recognition ceremony, President Dr. Towuanna Porter Brannon acknowledged the awards offer just a small token of appreciation.
"I don't know that they would ever compensate all you do," she told the faculty and staff in a Zoom meeting.
She then revealed an email she recently received from a student who was deeply impacted by a STEM faculty member. The student said this faculty member was not only an incredible professor but helped him with challenges he was having outside the classroom and in life. While that was about a specific faculty member, Brannon said she often hears those sentiments.
"When I speak to our students, they go on and on about how faculty transform their lives," Brannon said. "So the tokens that we give, I don't know if they could ever reflect the work you do not only with pedagogy and teaching but really changing the lives of our students. So I thank you. You have taken on tremendous responsibilities not just throughout the year, but just in general."
Steven Felker, director of institutional research and effectiveness and interim vice president for academic affairs, said the awards ceremony is one of his favorite events of the year. However, he hopes College faculty and staff also will recognize one another throughout the year.
"I encourage us all to not wait; to thank and celebrate our colleagues year-round," he said. "Every time someone you know does something to help you out in your role, or you see them helping a student, or you see them helping a colleague, I just encourage you to say thank you to them then."
Those things often go a long way, and people don't always know how much they mean to others.
"I encourage you to make today and today's events, a daily, a weekly, a regular occurrence," he said.
The College's Faculty Reward and Recognition Committee, which awarded more than $12,500, was led by Janelle Faison and Sirena Sears (co-chairs). Also on the committee were J.J. Bonavita, Dana Cook, Melanie McNall, Scott Reid, Amy Schmidt and Kimberly Zahn. Honorary members were Michelle Alexander, Anthony Fotinos, Riham Mahfouz and Sergio Maria-Fagundez.
The winners
Vanguard awards ($800): Stephanie Barnett, Jacqueline Blackwell, Anthony Fotinos, Shanda Jenkins, Jennifer Martin, Virginia Massaro, Joshua McDonald, Julie Young, Cece Wheeler and Rich Wilcox.
Character awards ($800): Beth Dickens and Keisha Samuels.
Faculty Focus awards ($225): Michelle Alexander, Anthony Fotinos, Lynsey Lemay, Jason Moulenbelt, Hannah Powers, Tom Rockson, Marilou Wilder, Sirena Sears, Pengfei Song, and Rich Wilcox.
Gator-Aid awards ($100): Seth Fisher, Julie Lambert, Keisha Matthews, Kris May, Roslyn Upshur, Jason Vance, and Mitzi Williams.
Learning Environment awards: This category is student-nominated. Seventy-one professors earned bronze by receiving one or two nominations from students. Ten were awarded silver (three to five nominations) and four received gold ( six to 10 nominations). The four in the final category were Anthony Fotinos, Joshua McDonald, Keisha Samuels and Kimberly Zahn.
The Vanguard and Focus awards are for full-time faculty. The Character award is for administrative and professional faculty. The Gator-Aide award is for all classified and P-14 staff.