UHCL’s Center for Faculty Development hosts Faculty Development Week and Awards
University of Houston- Clear Lake’s (UHCL) Center for Faculty Development recently hosted its 2024 Faculty Development Week and Faculty Development Awards program. After a week of participating in online learning sessions, faculty met for an in-person mini-conference that concluded with an awards ceremony to celebrate milestone. Executive Director of The Center for Faculty Development Marci McMahon, said the goal of the Center is to provide a range of opportunities for faculty that enrich their teaching and research roles on campus.
According to UHCL Provost Christopher Maynard, the Center for Faculty Development is at the heart of the university, and fosters teamwork and continuous improvement.
“Every day we are all working to get better. We all have room to grow, room to improve, and we are life-long learners,” said Maynard. “As faculty, staff, and students of this university, we support each other. The Center for Faculty Development makes us more effective, helps improve our university community, and makes the work environment more enjoyable.”
At the awards program, several faculty members were honored in various categories such as “Number of Students Taught,” “Go to 11 Award,” “Scholarship to Improve Higher Education,” “Early Career Award,” “Texas Research & Scholarship Award,” and more.
This year’s “College Cup” was awarded to the College of Education, with the highest faculty participation in Center for Faculty Development activities. College of Education Dean Joan Pedro accepted the award on behalf of the college.
The Center for Faculty Development Awards are held annually by the Center to promote and sustain a campus culture that values intellectual inquiry, scholarship, and creative engagement. This year’s winners are as follows:
Number of Students Taught
Faculty who have taught 5000+ students
- Christine Kovic
Faculty who have taught 2500+ students
- Anne Anders, Linda Giles, Toneluh Yang, Sarah Costello, Jian Lin, Se-Hyoung Yi, Hunter Stephenson
Faculty who have taught 1000+ students
- Joshua Baker, Sheila Baker, Janice Bethany, Ariful Bhuiyan, Michael Brims, Silvana Chambers, Mohsen Daghooghi, Soma Datta, Kimberly Dodson, Leslie Gauna, Lorie Jacobs, Preeti Jain, Monica Khural, Nataliya Markina, Nancy Ramirez, Skylar Rolf, Linda Sansing, Cengiz Sisman, Viola Vela, Lauren Yandell, Yipeng Yang
“Go to 11” Award: Faculty who earned 11 or more credits for activities sponsored by the Center for Faculty Development.
- Hisham Al-Mubaid, Robert Bartsch, Kazi Billah, Mary Curtis, Soma Datta, Kent Divoll, Giazú Enciso Domínguez, Leslie Gauna, Anne Gessler, Michelle Giles, Jennifer Grace, Shivani Gupta, Emily Horton, Kelsey James, Lisa Jones, Angela Kelling, Lana Kharabi-Yamato, Anna Klyueva, Michael LaMontagne, Ashley MacPherson, Anne Marcoline, Georgina Moreno, Janice Newsum, Ivelina Pavlova-Stout, Roberta Raymond, Thais Sant’Ana, Lory Santiago-Vázquez, Christal Seahorn, Gene “Xiaojun” Shan, Donna Stringer, Neelofer Tajani, Christine Walther, Jeffrey Whitworth
“Go to 11” All-Stars: Faculty who earned the most credits in the “Go to 11” award category sponsored by the Center for Faculty Development.
- Christine Walther, Angela Kelling, Gene “Xiaojun” Shan
CFD Early Career Faculty Awards: Recognizing early career faculty who have performed at a very high level before they apply for promotion.
- Kazi Billah, Emily Horton, Carol Waters
Instructional Innovation Award: Recognizing faculty for stimulating a spirit of experimentation and creativity in trying out new ideas to enhance teaching and learning in specific, practical, and generalizable ways.
- Silvana Chambers, AI Teaching Assistant to Personalize Student Learning
- Kelsey James, The Cognitive Psychology Media Project
- Leticia French, Discussion Board Activity Using Blooms Taxonomy
- Maria Curtis, Cultural Heritage and Community Partnerships in Experiential Learning
Scholarship to Improve Higher Education: Recognizing faculty for publishing or presenting scholarship to improve academia.
- Lisa Sublett, Amanda Johnston, Christine Walther, Christal Seahorn, and Georgina Moreno; Speed-Interviewing for Classroom Group Formation: How a Clever Twist on the Classic ‘Speed-Dating’ Tradition Enhances Small Group Coursework
- Femi Ayadi, Writing-to-Learn: Strategies to Promote Engagement, Peer-to-Peer Learning, and Active Listening in Economic Courses
- Leslie Gauna and Jane Cooper, Dialogue Practices in Teacher Education Classrooms: Students and Teacher Educators’ Perceptions
- Silvana Chambers and Clifton Mayfield, The Impact of COVID-19 on Students’ Perceived Justice, University Support, Professor Support, and Intentions to Drop Out
Texas Research & Scholarship Award: Recognizing faculty for high level of scholarship on topics concerning the state of Texas.
- Stephen Cherry, Importing Care, Faithful Service: Filipino and Indian American Nurses at a Veteran’s Hospital
- Kalanka Jayalath, A graphical alternative for multiple group comparisons in analysis of covariance
- Roberta Leal, The impact of Strong Families, Strong Communities on relationship functioning in low-income African American and Hispanic individuals: Findings from a federally funded randomized control trial
Faculty Fellows: Faculty receive time and funds to gain expertise, create programming, and advocate for institutional change.
- Angela Kelling, Georgina Moreno, HSI Best Practices
- Gene “Xiaojun” Shan, Using Analytics to Improve Student Outcome at UHCL
CFD Staff Appreciation Award: Awarded annually to a distinguished staff member who has shown outstanding excellence and superior performance in assisting the Center for Faculty Development in accomplishing its goals.
- Briana Ramos, Administrative Assistant II, Office of Planning and Assessment
College Cup: Awarded annually to a UHCL college with highest faculty participation in Center for Faculty Development activities.
- College of Education
For more information about UHCL’s Center for Faculty Development, visit www.uhcl.edu/faculty-staff/faculty-development/.
