Twelve community college instructors have won the 2007-08 Exceptional Faculty Awards, receiving $1,000 from STCU and the Community Colleges of Spokane Foundation.
CCS is an umbrella for three institutions of higher learning -- Spokane Falls Community College, Spokane Community College, and the Institute for Extended Learning. STCU supports the Exceptional Faculty Awards as part of its passion for education.
Instructors are nominated for the Exceptional Faculty Awards by co-workers and students. Winners are chosen for their contributions to students and to higher education on and off campus. Listed under their college, this year's recipients were:
Buddington is a campus leader, instrumental in SCC's current involvement in Focus the Nation, a national initiative promoting dialogue on climate change. Buddington also founded SCC's Geology Lecture series that brings nationally known speakers to campus to discuss environmental issues.
Carlson is "one of the special leaders on campus who truly cultivates a sense of worth and ability inside every student." She is widely involved on campus and in the community, serving as a department chair and member of SCC's outcomes committee. She also mentors a significant number of new instructors at the college.
Powers has taught at SCC for 30 years and has spent 20 years advising the college's DEC Club, accompanying students to numerous regional, state and national competitions.
Wolfe has been instrumental in the development of the Center for Entrepreneurship at SCC, securing a $185,250 grant for the new program. She also collaborated with the SCC business department to create the shared course, Project Management, which has doubled its enrollment since it started.
Beegle's nominators note states that, "She is adept in helping students address their barriers to education by accessing assistance such as child care, health care, food banks, and counseling. She makes herself available after regular classroom hours to help students and has even included students' children and helped them with their homework in these tutoring sessions."
An instructor at the IEL's Republic Education Center, Coffee strives to provide students in remote locations with the same opportunities available to students in larger communities. Coffee also has taught business-related topics in Republic Center's short-term course, New Chance, and even worked in the center office when the facility was short-handed due to a retirement!
According to co-workers, "Karen makes every effort to ensure she is providing the best learning environment and instruction, not only for her own students, but for all of our ESL students."
Williams' students wrote that, "Lisa really cares about me and what I am going through" and "Lisa is the best. I never thought I could learn math, but Lisa was so patient and made it easy." Williams has developed and updated the IEL's high school completion program and recently accepted the new challenge of teaching college prep classes at SCC.
