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.

"Go to 11" Award

Awarded to faculty who earned 11 or more credits for activities sponsored by the Center for Faculty Development.

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

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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

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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.

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

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

Faculty Who Have Taught 1,000+ Students

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

Creating an Inclusive & Supportive Online Learning Environment

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

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.