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Awards and Recognition

Center for Faculty Development Awards

2023-2024 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 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021 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!

2024

Texas Research & Scholarship Award

Recognizing faculty for high level of scholarship on topics concerning the state of Texas.

Importing Care, Faithful Service: Filipino and Indian American Nurses at a Veteran’s Hospital - Stephen Cherry 

A Graphical Alternative for Multiple Group Comparisons in Analysis of Covariance - Kalanka Jayalath

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 - Roberta Leal

Scholarship to Improve Higher Education

Recognizing faculty for publishing or presenting scholarship to improve academia.

Speed-Interviewing for Classroom Group Formation: How a Clever Twist on the Classic ‘Speed-Dating’ Tradition Enhances Small Group Coursework - Lisa Sublett, Amanda Johnston, Christine Walther, Christal Seahorn, and Georgina Moreno

Writing-to-Learn: Strategies to Promote Engagement, Peer-to-Peer Learning, and Active Listening in Economic Courses - Femi Ayadi

Dialogue Practices in Teacher Education Classrooms: Students and Teacher Educators’ Perceptions - Leslie Gauna and Jane Cooper

The Impact of COVID-19 on Students’ Perceived Justice, University Support, Professor Support, and Intentions to Drop Out - Silvana Chambers and Clifton Mayfield

Instructional Innovation

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.

AI Teaching Assistant to Personalize Student Learning - Silvana Chambers

The Cognitive Psychology Media Project - Kelsey James

Discussion Board Activity Using Blooms Taxonomy - Leticia French

Cultural Heritage and Community Partnerships in Experiential Learning - Maria Curtis

Early Career Faculty 

Recognizing early career faculty who have peformed at a very high level before they apply for promotion.

Kazi BillaKazi Billah

Emily HortonEmily Horton

Carol WatersCarol Waters

"Go to 11" Award

Awarded to 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 Divol
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

Awarded to faculty who earned the most credits in the "Go to 11" award category sponsored by the Center for Faculty Development.

  Gene "Xiaojun" Shan  
Christine Walther   Angela Kelling

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 5000+ Students

Christine Kovic

Faculty Who Have Taught 2500+ Students

Anne Anders
Sarah Costello
Linda Giles
Jian Lin
Hunter Stephen
Toneluh Yang
Se-Hyoung Yi

Faculty Who Have Taught 1000+ Students

Joshua Baker
Sheila Baker
Janice Bethany
ArifulBhuiyan
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

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.

Briana Ramos, Administrative Assistant II, Office of Planning and Assessment

CFD Fellowship

Faculty receive time and funds to gain expertise, create programming, and advocate for instructional change.

2023-2024
Angela Kelling & Georgina Moreno
HSI Best Practices

2023-2024
Xiaojun "Gene" Shan
Using Analytics to Improve Student Outcomes at UHCL


2023

Texas Research & Scholarship Award

Recognizing faculty for high level of scholarship on topics concerning the state of Texas.

Unruly Borders, Bodies, and Blood: Mexican “Mongrels” and Eugenics of Empire - Christina Cedillo 

Keep Calm and Conceal Carry: Opinions About Campus Carry on a Nontraditional University Campus in Texas - Angela Kelling, Nicholas Kelling, Amanda Johnston, Christine Walther

Bond Insurer Competition and the Likelihood of Texas Bonds being Insured - Barry Marks

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.

Relating Our Experiences: The Practice of Positionality Stories in Student-Centered Pedagogy - Christina Cedillo

Against the Professorial Odds: Barriers at Building Blocks for Educational Advancement - Sheila Baker, Denise McDonald, Debby Shulsky

The Five-Year Job Interview: A Call for More Structure on the Tenure Line - Lorie Jacobs

Malice in Wonder-How-This-Happened Land: Falling Down the Political Rabid Hold of Academia - Denise McDonald

Rebuild the Academy: Supporting Academic Mothers During COVID-19 and Beyond - Lory Santiago-Vázquez

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.

Building My Unique Story - Giazú Enciso Domínguez

Viral Video Assignment - Laura Guerrero 

Creating a Virtual Learning Laboratory Experience Based on Student Preferences - Angela Kelling 

Introduction of Real-Time, Real-Sample Analysis in CHEM 4268 Instrumental Analysis Laboratory Class - charuksha Walgama

Early Career Faculty 

Julianna DeanJulianna Dean

Skylar RolfSkylar Rolf

Jennifer GraceJennifer Grace

"Go to 11" Award

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

Femi Ayadi
Kazi Billah
Caroline Crawford
Soma Datta
Kent Divoll
Giazú Enciso Domínguez
Kathleen Garland
Sophia Gerogiadou
Shivani Gupta
Daniel Imrecke
Lisa Jones
Angela Kelling
Robert Maddalozzo
Anne Marcoline
Robert Maddalozzo
Anne Marcoline 
Nisha Matthew
Lory Santiago-Vázquez
Gene Shan
Donna Stringer
Joyce Taylor
Christine Walther
Omah William-Duncan
Matthias Woeckener
Pearl Young

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

S. Altan Erdem

Faculty Who Have Taught 5000+ Students

Stephen Cotten 
Larry Rohde

Faculty Who Have Taught 2500+ Students

Dina Abdel-Zaher
John Decman
Anton Dubrovskiy
Adam Hodges
Ahsanul Huq
Vanessa Johnson
Jingjing Ma
Aleksey Martynov
Randall Xu

Faculty Who Have Taught 1,000+ Students

Comeka Anderson Diaz
Martha Ariza
Lee Cox
Charles Crocker
Angela Duron-Larson
Johnathan Everhart 
Kelley Frierson
Leonard Giblin
Rita Goudeau
Youssef Hamidi
Jun (Maggie) Hao
Khondker Hasan
Mary Hedengren
Henda Hsu
Kalanka Jayalath
Hae (Helen) Rim
Angela Kelling
Nicholas Kelling
Georgina Moreno
Jeffrey Mountain
Sachiyo Mukherji
Kathryn Peterson
David Pitts
Nicholas Shaman
Lifei Sheng
Yi Su
Marla Welch
Xiaokun Yang

College Cup

Award annually to a UHCL college with the highest faculty participation in Center for Faculty Development activities

College of Human Sciences and Humanities

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.

Charise Armstrong, Executive Assistant to the Provost

CFD Fellowship

Faculty receive time and funds to gain expertise, create programming, and advocate for instructional change.

2022-2023
Angela Kelling & Georgina Moreno
HSI Best Practices

2022-2023
Xiaojun "Gene" Shan
Using Analytics to Improve Student Outcomes at UHCL


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 MukherjiSachiyo Mukherji

Teaching Award

Angela KellingAngela Kelling

Research Award

Laura GuerreroLaura 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
Xiaojun "Gene" Shan
Teaching Award

Ryan Marek
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

Contact

  • Center for Faculty Development

    Phone: 281-283-3290
    facultydevelopment@uhcl.edu

    Bayou Building, 1604
    2700 Bay Area Blvd, Box 74
    Houston, TX 77058-1002

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