Awards and Recognition
Center for Faculty Development Awards
2021-2022 Center for Faculty Development Awards Program
UHCL faculty are honored during Faculty Development Day. These awards are held annually by the Center to promote and sustain a campus culture that values intellectual inquiry, scholarship, and creative engagement. Here are the winners for the 2021 and 2022 academic year at UHCL, as well as a list of faculty honored for teaching over 1,000, 2,500, 5,000 , and 10,000 students during their time here at our university!
2022
Texas Research & Scholarship Award
Recognizing faculty for high level of scholarship on topics concerning the state of Texas.
“Nothing More nor Less than Rebellion”: Rethinking Southern Labor Politics through the 1946 Houston Municipal Workers’ Strike - Adam Hodges
Factors influencing the success of first generation, non-traditional age, Hispanic early childhood educators as university students - Rebecca Huss-Keeler
On a reef far, far away: Anthropogenic impacts following extreme storms affect sponge health and bacterial communities - Lory Santiago-Vázquez
Scholarship to Improve the Academy
Recognizing faculty who stimulate a spirit of experimentation and creativity in trying out new ideas to enhance teaching and learning in specific, practical, and generalizable ways.
A Multi-Faceted and Practical Analysis of Online Courses at UHCL - Nicholas Kelling/Angela Kelling
Schools’ CPA review course affiliations and success on the uniform CPA examination - Haeyoung Shin/Shanshan Pan/Michael Lacina
The relationship between faculty diversity and graduation rates in higher education - Carol Carman
Increasing chemistry students’ knowledge, confidence, and conceptual understanding of pH using a collaborative computer pH simulation - Anton Dubrovskiy/Michelle Peters
Instructional Innovation
Recognizing faculty who stimulate a spirit of experimentation and creativity in trying out new ideas to enhance teaching and learning in specific, practical, and generalizable ways.
Utilization of Office 365 for a connected classroom - Daniel Imrecke
Highly engaging video content on improving student engagement in an online course - Nicholas Kelling
MicroCURE – A Course-based Research Experience in Microbiology - Michael LaMontagne
Project-centre learning with OpenIC - Xiaokun Yang
New Faculty Awards
Recognizing new faculty who have performed at a very high level on either teaching, research, or service before they apply for promotion.
Sachiyo Mukherji
Teaching Award
Angela Kelling
Research Award
Laura Guerrero
Service Award
"Go to 11" Award
Awarded to faculty who earned 11 or more credits for activities sponsored by the Center for Faculty Development.
- Femi Ayadi
- Sheila Baker
- Soma Datta
- John Decman
- Kent Divoll
- Jennifer Grace
- Youssef Hamidi
- Daniel Imrecke
- Angela Kelling
- Monica Khural
- Anna Klyueva
- Robert Maddalozzo
- Anne Marcoline
- Janice Newsum
- Lory Santiago-Vázquez
- Gene Shan
- Christine Walther
- Omah William-Duncan
- Jana Willis
- Matthias Woeckener
Number of Students Taught
Honoring faculty members who have taught 1,000, 2,500, 5,000, and 10,000 students since their hire date at UHCL. The faculty listed below achieved this milestone at the last award ceremony.
Faculty Who Have Taught 10,000+ Students
- Cindy Howard
Faculty Who Have Taught 2,500+ Students
- Femi Ayadi
- Ki Young Jeong
- Jordan Mitchell
- Williams Power
- Patricia Trubl
Faculty Who Have Taught 1,000+ Students
- Jason Abshire
- Christina Cedillo
- Leslie Johnson
- Heather Kanenberg
- Brent Kice
- Anna Klyueva
- Michael LaMontagne
- Lin Yi
- Wei Wei
ACUE (Association of College & University Educators)
Faculty complete a series of modules on effective teaching and creating an inclusive & supportive online learning environment.
- Comeka Anderson Diaz – Promoting Active Learning Online
- Femi Ayadi – Designing Student Centered Courses
- Silvana Chambers – Designing Student Centered Courses
- Soma Datta – Creating an Inclusive and Supportive Learning Environment
- Youssef Hamidi – Promoting Active Learning Online
- Monica Khural – Inclusive Teaching for Equitable Learning
- Angela Kelling – Inclusive Teaching for Equitable Learning
- Henry Newkirk – Creating an Inclusive and Supportive Learning Environment
- Janice Newsum – Inspiring Inquiry and Preparing Lifelong Learners in Your Online Course
College Cup
Award annually to a UHCL college with the highest faculty participation in Center for Faculty Development activities
- College of Education
CFD Staff Appreciation Award
Awarded annually to a distinguished staff member who has shown outstanding excellence and superior performance to assist the Center for Faculty Development accomplish goals throughout the year.
- Steven Fernandez, Client Server DB Analyst I
CFD Fellowship
Faculty receive time and funds to gain expertise, create programming, and advocate
for instructional change.
2021-2022
Angela Kelling & Georgina Moreno
HSI Best Practices
2021-2022
Lorie Jacobs
The Writing Intensive Course Initiative
2021-2022
Xiaojun "Gene" Shan
Using Analytics to Improve Student Outcomes at UHCL
Community of Practice
Recognizing faculty for leading a faculty community of practice
- COACHE - Lory Santiago-Vazquez
- Interdisciplinary Data Visualization - Soma Datta
- Practical Online Pedagogy - Gene Shan
2021
Texas Research & Scholarship Award
Recognizing faculty for high level of scholarship on topics concerning the state of Texas.
Co-Winners
"Nothing More nor Less than Rebellion": Rethinking Southern Labor Politics through the 1946 Houston Municipal Workers’ Strike - Adam Hodges
On a reef far, far away: Anthropogenic impacts following extreme storms affect sponge health and bacterial communities - Lory Santiago-Vazquez
Factors influencing the success of first generation, non-traditional age, Hispanic early childhood educators as university students - Rebecca Huss-Keeler
Scholarship to Improve the Academy
Recognizing faculty who stimulate a spirit of experimentation and creativity in trying out new ideas to enhance teaching and learning in specific, practical, and generalizable ways.
The relationship between faculty diversity and graduation rates in higher education - Carol Carman
A Multi-Faceted and Practical Analysis of Online Courses at UHCL – Angela Kelling and Nicholas Kelling
Increasing chemistry students' knowledge, confidence, and conceptual understanding of pH using a collaborative computer pH simulation - Anton Dubrovskiy and Michelle Peters
Schools’ CPA review course affiliations and success on the uniform CPA examination - Michael Lacina, Shanshan Pan and Haeyoung Shin
CFD Fellowship
Faculty receive time and funds to gain expertise, create programming, and advocate for instructional change.
2020-2021
Angela Kelling & Georgina Moreno
HSI Best Practices
2020-2021
Lorie Jacobs
The Writing Intensive Course Initiative
2020-2021
Xiaojun "Gene" Shan
Using Analytics to Improve Student Outcomes at UHCL
Community of Practice
Recognizing faculty for leading a faculty community of practice
- COACHE - Lory Santiago-Vazquez
- Interdisciplinary Data Visualization - Soma Datta
- Practical Online Pedagogy - Gene Shan
2020
New Faculty Awards
Recognizing new faculty who have performed at a very high level on either teaching, research, or service before they apply for promotion.
Xiaojun "Gene" Shan
Teaching Award
Ryan Marek
Research Award
Service Award – no nominations received
Texas Research & Scholarship Award
Recognizing faculty for high level of scholarship on topics concerning the state of Texas.
Co-Winners
A closer look at the effects of restoration design on biologic function in restored estuarine wetlands: A case study in Galveston Bay, Texas - Cindy Howard
Surviving the storm: Avoidant coping, helping behavior, resilience and affective symptoms around a major hurricane-flood - Steven Bistricky, Heather Kanenberg, Sara Elkins, Mary Short
Instructional Innovation Award
Recognizing faculty who stimulate a spirit of experimentation and creativity in trying out new ideas to enhance teaching and learning in specific, practical, and generalizable ways.
Using Interactive Video Modules for Delivering Online Instruction – Silvana Chambers
Honorable Mentions:
Turning Pedagogical Conversations about Critical Thinking and Ethical Commitment in
Core United States History Courses - Anne Gessler and Barbara Hales
Innovative Teaching Agile Software Development - Soma Datta
“Go to 11” Award
Awarded to faculty who earned 11 or more credits for activities sponsored by the Center for Faculty Development.
2019-2020 Recipients
- Mary "Femi" Ayadi
- Amber Brown
- Carol Carman
- Soma Datta
- Julianna Dean
- Kent Divoll
- Leslie Gauna-Gago
- Anne Gessler
- Youssef Hamidi
- Rebecca Huss-Keeler
- Neeta Jambhekar
- Lisa Jones
- Angela Kelling
- Anna Klyueva
- Amy Lucas
- Samina Masood
- Pilar Goyarzu
- Janice Newsum
- Lory Santiago-Vázquez
- Xiaojun "Gene" Shan
- Joyce Taylor
- Christine Walther
- Omah Williams-Duncan
- Jennifer Willis-Opalenik
College Cup
Award annually to a UHCL college with the highest faculty participation in Center for Faculty Development activities
- College of Education
Number of Students Taught
Honoring faculty members who have taught 1,000, 2,500, and 5,000 students since their hire date at UHCL. The faculty listed below achieved this milestone at the last award ceremony.
Faculty Who Have Taught 5,000+ Students
- Jason Murasko
- Randy Seevers
Faculty Who Have Taught 2,500+ Students
- Hisham Al-Mubaid
- Jason Bentley
- Ashish Chandra
- Debra Clark
- Maria Curtis
- Hui Du
- Robert Easley
- Pilar Goyarzu
- Hakduran Koc
- Stuart Larson
- Constance Lehmann
- Yingfu Li
- Jack Lu
- Ivelina Pavlova-Stout
- Mohammad Rashid
- Douglas Steel
- Dongmin Sun
- Troy Voelker
- Christopher Ward
- Sadhana Weerasinghe
- Chunlong Zhang
Faculty Who Have Taught 1,000+ Students
- Anne Anders
- Jennifer Arney
- Andrea Baldwin
- Elizabeth Beavers
- James Boler
- Denise Bowman
- Thomas Dillon
- Neal Dugre
- Cynde Ferris
- Leticia "Tish" French
- Jennifer Fritz
- David Garrison
- Anne Gessler
- Stephen Gruber
- Ching Gu
- Laura Guerrero
- Md Rajib Hasan
- Michael Heerey
- Daniel Imrecke
- Lisa Lacher
- Sarah Lechago
- Dorothea Lerman
- Jiang Lu
- Joan Mauldin
- Beth Merfish
- Shanshan Pan
- Michelle Peters
- Eleanor Place
- Pamela Potter
- Roberta Raymond
- Curtis Rice
- Teresa Rivas
- Wanalee Romero
- Amanda Schoolcraft
- Debra Shulsky
- Donna Stringer
- Shreerekha Subramanian
- Nanfei Sun
- Ishaq Unwala
- Christine Walther
- Paul Withey
- Dawit Woldu
- Michael Wu
- Se-Hyoung Yi
ACUE (Association of College & University Educators)
Faculty complete a series of modules on effective teaching
2019-2020
- Soma Datta
- Randy Seevers
- Pilar Goyarzu
- Jennifer Willis-Opalenik
Active Learning
- M. Femi Ayadi
- Amber Brown
- Maria Curtis
- Soma Datta
- Nancy Devino
- Linsey Ford
- Rebecca Huss-Keeler
- Neeta Jambhekar
- Lisa Lacher
- Dolly Liburd
- Janice Peerin
- Haeyoung Shin
- Troy Voelker
- Christine Walther
- Omah Williams-Duncan
Creating an Inclusive & Supportive Online Learning Environment
- Yvette Bendeck
- Codi Freeman
- Anne Gessler
- Laura Guerrero
- Youssef Hamidi
- Mary Hedengren
- Beth Hentges
- Neeta Jambhekar
- Heather Kanenberg
- Angela Kelling
- Christine Kovic
- Lisa Lacher
- Janice Newsum
- Christine Walther
Writing Focused Faculty
Faculty complete an intensive workshop series on improving student writing
- Soma Datta
- Leslie Gauna
- Anne Gessler
- Lorie Jacobs
- Angela Kelling
- Anna Klyueva
- Joyce Taylor
- Omah Williams-Duncan
CFD Fellowship
Faculty receive time and funds to gain expertise, create programming, and advocate for instructional change.
2019-2020
Lorie Jacobs
Writing Across the Disciplines at UHCL
CFD Staff Appreciation Award
Awarded annually to a distinguished staff member who has shown outstanding excellence and superior performance to assist the Center for Faculty Development accomplish goals throughout the year.
- Jennifer Willis-Opalenik, Instructional Designer III
Community of Practice Leaders
Recognizing faculty for leading a faculty community of practice
- Ahmed Abukmail
- Comeka Anderson Diaz
- Maria Curtis
- Chloé Diepenbrock
- Sara Elkins
- Leticia French
- Mary Hedengren
- Angela Kelling
- Amy Lucas
- Desdamona Rios
- Lory Santiago-Vázquez
- Xiaojun "Gene" Shan
- Lisa Sublet
- Christine Walther
- Omah Williams-Duncan
College Cup
Award annually to a UHCL college with the highest faculty participation in Center for Faculty Development activities
- College of Education
For more faculty highlights and recognition, please visit the Faculty Highlights section.