Germanna Community College recognized outstanding efforts by faculty members today during a Faculty Awards event at GCC’s Fredericksburg Campus in Spotsylvania County.
The following are excerpts from remarks by Dr. Patti Lisk, who announced the awards, which were presented by Germanna Vice President for Academic Affairs and Student Services Ann Woolford:
Dr. Ann Woolford and Prof. Karen Mittura
Innovations in Teaching and Learning Award—Karen Mittura, $5,000
Given to the faculty member who demonstrates excellence and outstanding performance, while submitting a proposal explaining an innovative teaching initiative they wish to put into effect in the coming year. The winner receives a stipend for use on related expenses.
Prof. Mittura’s proposal involves bringing training for geriatric care providers up to Affordable Care Act standards by creating a Geriatric Center for Excellence.
Dr. Ann Woolford and Prof. Lisa Murphy
Teaching Effectiveness Award—Lisa Murphy, $1,000
This award goes to the full time faculty member who best exemplifies effectiveness in promoting student success.
Lisa Murphy’s nomination read in part that she, “is one of the hardest working faculty on campus. She arrives around 8:30 a.m. and stays till 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. She goes out of her way to make sure her students succeed.”
She has opened labs over the past two months, allowing students extra time for exams and in-class time to learn complicated concepts. She also helps adjunct faculty who need to brush up on their classes.
During a recent visit to Blacksburg, students there said Dr. Murphy is the reason they were able to graduate from Virginia Tech.
Dr. Ann Woolford and Cory MacLauchlin
Scholarly and Creative Engagement, Cory MacLauchlin, $1,000
The winner of this award is a full time faculty member who has achieved a significant academic scholarly accomplishment through research, publishing and/or professional presentations, resulting in significant creative work.
Cory MacLauchlin, an English faculty member at GCC, has written the authoritative biography of American author John Kennedy Toole, “Butterfly in the Typewriter.”
He also served as a producer on the award-winning documentary “John Kennedy Toole: The Omega Point.”
He has secured a deal for a book about Carl Laemmie, an immigrant who founded Universal Pictures whose humanitarian efforts to save Jews in Nazi Germany are notable. The book will be published in 2016.
MacLauchlin has had pieces published in The Daily Beast and The Huffington Post and was nominated for a Virginia Literary Award.
Institutional Responsibility Award–Leigh Hancock, $1,000
Awarded to the member of the full time teaching faculty who has achieved a major accomplishment of significant or world-class quality that furthers the college’s achievement of its strategic priorities.
Leigh Hancock diligently works fast and far ahead, tackling the myriad of tasks involved in chairing Germanna’s English Department, one of the college’s largest. She has made connections with Dual Enrollment professors at high schools throughout GCC’s service region.
Dr. Ann Woolford and Diane Critchfield
Community Impact, Diane Critchfield, $1,000
This award recognizes a fulltime faculty member who has greatly impacted the college’s image through community service and/or involvement.
Diane Critchfield spearheaded work that made the Inaugural 5K River Run/Walk that raised over $7,000 for the LaZalia Richardson Scholarship Fund a success. The recipient single-handedly set up a Facebook page for the event, established a PayPal account that facilitated online registration, appointed committees to handle t-shirt design, ordering and distribution and personally collected $2,000 by obtaining sponsors. Over 200 people ran in the event, which was a great success for the college, its organizers and future Germanna students who will benefit from funds raised.
Dr. Ann Woolford and Prof. Davyda Hammond
Rising Star Award, Dayvda Hammond, $500
This award goes to a full time faculty member in no more than their sixth year and in at least their third year of continuous service at Germanna. It acknowledges extraordinary promise.
Davyda Hammond has written four grants in the past two years, three of them successful so far. She began the Engineering Club that won a UAV design contest in a field of nearly 20 four-year colleges and universities including Yale and Drexel. She runs a stellar engineering program and is willing to take on any task. Her impact at the college is without immeasurable.
Dean Shashuna Gray and Prof. Sunithi Gnanadoss
Multi-Cultural Award, Sunithi Gnanadoss, $1,000
This award goes to a full time faculty member who helps our college celebrate the richness of different cultures.
Sunithi Gnanadoss conducts activities and events designed to enrich multiculturalism and diversity at Germanna. She presented on immigrant literature at the National Humanities Conference in Kentucky
She is writing her doctoral dissertation on feminist interpretation of immigrant literature. When she wears her sari to class and sweeps through the halls of the Locust Grove Campus, she represents a positive, real-world role model.
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