Dan Hollis, a professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Marshall University, has been selected as the university’s Dr. Charles E. Hedrick Outstanding Faculty Award winner for 2019-2020.
Hollis will receive $5,000 through a grant from Charles B. and Mary Jo Locke Hedrick. The award is named in honor of Charles B. Hedrick’s father, Charles E. Hedrick, a former history professor and later chairman of the Graduate Council, and one of the founders of Marshall’s graduate program.
Marshall’s Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) today announced the Hedrick Award, among other faculty awards honoring several additional faculty members. They are:
- Marshall & Shirley Reynolds Outstanding Teacher Award: Joshua Brunty, an associate professor in the forensic sciences department
- Pickens-Queen Teacher Award: Dr. Cynthia Jones, assistant professor in the pharmaceutical science and research department; Dr. Wendy Perkins, assistant professor in criminal justice and criminology department; and Dr. Jana Tigchelaar, assistant professor in the English department
- The Council of Chairs Award for Excellence in Teaching: Joni Magnusson, an instructor in the English department
- Distinguished Artists and Scholars Awards to Dr. Suzanne Strait (senior recipient in science and technology); Dr. Dawn Goel (senior recipient in arts, social sciences, humanities, education and business); Dr. Hilton Córdoba, assistant professor of geography, Dr. Kristen Lillvis, associate professor of English, and Dr. Stefan Schöberlein, assistant professor of English, team recipient in all fields, and Dr. Haroon Malik, assistant professor of computer science, junior recipient in all fields.
Here is a look at the awards and the winners:
Charles E. Hedrick Outstanding Faculty Award
This award recognizes a full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty member who has a minimum of seven years teaching experience at Marshall and has a record of outstanding classroom teaching, scholarship, research and creative activities.
Dan Hollis has been teaching at Marshall since 1999 and regularly teaches media literacy and mass communications law and ethics in addition to other courses. He has previously been awarded the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching West Virginia Professor of the Year (2012), the Marshall and Shirley Reynolds Outstanding Teacher (2011), and the Pickens-Queen Teacher Award for junior faculty (2001).
Hollis’ creative work focuses on telling the stories of West Virginians, interesting events, and artisans in the state and region. He has received two regional Edward R. Murrow awards, is a 16-time national award winner from the National Broadcasting Society, and has numerous Communicator, Telly, Videographer, W3 (Webby) and AVA (Audio Video Awards) awards to his credit.
Hollis also serves as a mentor to countless students and received the Dr. Carolyn B. Hunter Faculty Service Award (2003). He also was the keynote speaker for the university’s 2012 Winter Commencement and continues to serve on various university faculty committees aimed at improving the student experience.
Janet Dooley, director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications and associate dean of the College of Arts and Media, said Hollis approaches teaching with energy and enthusiasm and seems to have an uncanny sense of when students require praise, sympathy or cajoling for motivation.
“Journalism and mass communications content is the environment he uses to develop confident, thoughtful, responsible adults. By the numbers, Dan’s student ratings average about 4.8 out of five overall with the mode consistently at 5. Student comments about their experiences in his classes are typically along the lines of, ‘Great class/great professor,’ ‘He cares about his students and them being knowledgeable about the media and the world,’ ‘I have never seen a more fair, constructive, brilliant, caring, and enthusiastic instructor,’ ‘The coolest,’ ‘My favorite,’ ‘The mad scientist for journalism,’ and ‘Awesome, awesome, awesome teacher. 10/10.’”
Tijah Bumgarner, assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications, said Hollis’ attentiveness to students, his personal work and the overall School of Journalism and Mass Communications have been influential and instructional to her teaching and departmental practices.
“His style of teaching, care for student needs, his understanding of departmental needs, and his own video production work, is an inspiration for both students and colleagues. Most notably about Professor Hollis is the high praise from students who acknowledge his passion and patience. These qualities leave them wishing he taught more classes for them to take,” Bumgarner said. “Although he has taught for many years, he never ceases to bring top energy to the classroom. Professor Hollis understands what it takes in order for students to be engaged in the material. He is not afraid to jump up on tables, yell, run around the room, and many other moves in order to make points to get the students to pay attention and to grasp concepts. In a room of 60+, he is able to engage with the students on an important level. He performs to their want for entertainment while delivering informational material. He is not a boring professor – therefore, his students are not bored.”
Burnis Morris, Carter G. Woodson Professor and director of the Dr. Carter G. Woodson Lyceum, said he has known Hollis for more than 20 years, first as a graduate student at the University of Kentucky, and now as a colleague within the journalism school.
“I have observed, admiringly, how his dedication to classroom excellence and the well-being of his students draw high praise from faculty across campus and most importantly, from his students. Often advisees and non-advisees alike line up for visits with him, to discuss lessons, some personal crisis or just life in general. He’s always accommodating to their demands on his time,” Morris said. “Dan’s commitment and style epitomize teaching excellence.”
Marshall and Shirley Reynolds Outstanding Teacher Award
This award includes a $3,000 stipend, and all tenured or tenure-track faculty members who have completed six or more years of service at Marshall are eligible.
Joshua Brunty has been teaching at Marshall since 2008, when he began teaching in the digital forensics department as an adjunct professor. Since that time, he has become an associate professor, and has served as faculty advisor to the National Cyber Defense Competition Student Team for the past five years. Since 2010, he has also served as a Digital Forensics Technical Assessor for the ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board.
Brunty is an AccessData Certified Examiner (ACE), a Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI) and has published various works surrounding the topics of law enforcement, digital forensics and computer forensic tools, to name a few. He has been invited to over 30 conferences to give presentations on these topics and continues to provide service through his participation on various department and university committees.
Dr. Dhruba Bora, director of the School of Forensic and Criminal Justice Sciences and professor of criminal justice and criminology, said he’s known Brunty since he was a criminal justice student at Marshall. Bora said what makes Brunty a good teacher is his willingness to go above and beyond to make sure students understand the material.
“Even before Josh joined the faculty at Marshall, I could see he had a talent for presenting material effectively. While he was a student, I observed him give an outstanding paper presentation at our state criminal justice conference. Subsequently, I observed Josh deliver a talk as a digital forensics practitioner to a packed crowd of students from across the state at a conference at Wheeling Jesuit University. His material was so interesting that a number of students sought me out afterwards indicating their interest in coming to Marshall to supplement their criminal justice education with coursework in digital forensics from Josh; although, he was not yet a full-time faculty member. I knew then that he was destined to make teaching a career.”
“Josh goes above and beyond to create opportunities for students both here at Marshall and the local community. Last year Josh spent hundreds of dollars of his own money to help fund the competition costs for the MU Collegiate Cyber Defense Club and get the group off of the ground. This group was able to place 6th in the country in the most recent National Cyber League Spring season,” John Sammons, director of the university’s digital forensics and information assurance program, said. “Josh also spends a considerable amount of his own time and money outside of Marshall helping K-12 students learn cybersecurity, digital forensics, and how to code. He served as the team mentor for Cabell Midland High School’s Cyber Patriot team, which placed 1st in the state last spring. He also spends one evening a week at the AD Lewis Community Center in Huntington, where he helped procure and setup a computer lab to teach young students, ranging from elementary to high school, how to code and the basics of cybersecurity and digital forensics.”
Pickens-Queen Teacher Award
Each of these three award winners receives a $1,000 stipend. The award honors outstanding junior faculty. All faculty members teaching on a full-time, tenured or tenure track appointment who have completed one to five years of service at Marshall are eligible.
Dr. Cynthia Jones has been at Marshall since 2015, when she was hired as an assistant professor of pharmacy. During her time at Marshall, she’s received various awards including the School of Pharmacy’s Teacher of the Year for 2018-19, the Student Affairs HERO Award and Women of Color Award, both in 2019 from Marshall. She is currently the secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and previously held appointments for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Health Equity Council, the Health Sciences and Technology Academy Board and remains heavily involved with community organizations through her advisory board roles for the A.D. Lewis Community Center and the Huntington Area Habitat for Humanity.
Dr. Eric Blough, associate dean for the pharmacy school, said Jones has embraced the School of Pharmacy flipped classroom andragogy [the art or science of teaching adults] and incorporates active learning into every classroom.
“Dr. Jones’ teaching evaluations are consistently some of the best in the school. She believes in prioritizing the social and emotional elements of learning and understands them to be the foundation of academic success and personal well-being. The evaluations gleamed from students are evidence of the positive, productive class climate Dr. Jones creates,” Blough said. “A common theme from her evaluations reflects her belief that all students can achieve high standards, which is a testament to Dr. Jones’ commitment to providing our students with an optimal learning environment.”
In 2008, Jones earned her B.S. in biology and in 2012, earned her Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences, both degrees from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Tallahassee, Florida.
Dr. Wendy Perkins has taught at Marshall since 2016 as an assistant professor in criminal justice in the College of Science. Perkins was awarded the Sarah Denman Faces of Appalachia Fellowship in 2017 and continues to be a prolific researcher with many published works on topics such as date rape culture, sexual violence and West Virginia’s criminal justice system.
“She creates an environment that clearly allows students to participate without being ostracized by her or other students. At the same time, she is quick to point out that opinions alone cannot form the basis for an argument without facts to support it. This means her classroom atmosphere is not one where students simply talk to be talking, but rather their contributions are thought out, intelligent, and meaningful,” Bora, who serves as Perkins’ supervisor, said. “Dr. Perkins also does an excellent job fielding questions and giving examples students can understand. Overall, her rapport with students is exceptional.”
Perkins earned her B.S. in psychology from Purdue University in 2002, her M.S. in criminal justice in 2005, and her Ph.D. in 2014, the latter two from the University of Cincinnati.
Dr. Jana Tigchelaar has taught at Marshall since 2015, when she was hired as an assistant professor of English. Since 2019, she has served as the department’s director of graduate studies. Tigchelaar has won various university research awards including the John Marshall Summer Scholar Award in 2019, and the Summer Research Faculty Award in both 2018 and 2016. In her previous position at University of Kansas, she received the Outstanding Instructor Award in 2013 and 2014.
Dr. Allison Carey, professor and chair of the English department, said she knows she can assign Tigchelaar any class—from ENG 101 to a 600-level seminar—and the students will be engaged, challenged and successful.
“Dr. Tigchelaar is beloved and respected by students, who often talk to me about ‘Dr. Tig,’ citing her as a teacher, a resource, and a mentor. Her colleagues respect her as a scholar and a teacher, and they want to be on a committee if she’s there: they know that it will be a productive and respectful atmosphere,” Carey said.
Tigchelaar earned her B.A. in English with honors from Trinity Christian College in 2000; her M.A. in English from Ohio University in 2007; and her Ph.D. in English with honors from the University of Kansas in 2014.
Council of Chairs Award for Excellence in Teaching
The Council of Chairs Award for Excellence in Teaching, now in its third year, recognizes teaching excellence in Marshall’s full-time term and temporary faculty. Each fall, members of the Council of Chairs (excepting the School of Medicine) are permitted to nominate up to two candidates from a given department. A $1,000 cash award will be presented each year. Full-time term or full-time temporary faculty with at least two years’ full-time teaching at Marshall University are eligible.
Joni Magnusson serves as an instructor in the English department.
“As Joni’s department chair, I regularly see students for whom Joni’s class has made a positive impact,” Carey said. “I also know of the many ways that Joni has worked to help our department and her colleagues, including serving as a mentor for other term faculty when they go up for contract renewal. Marshall and our students are fortunate to have a colleague of Joni’s caliber.”
Distinguished Artists and Scholars Award
The purpose of this award is to recognize distinction in the fields of artistic and scholarly activity on the part of Marshall University faculty. Up to three individual awards and one team award will be given yearly. To be eligible for consideration for the MU-DASA awards, a faculty member must be either tenured or hold a tenure-track appointment at the ranks indicated for each of the awards. A significant portion of the artistic and/or scholarly work shall have been completed while at Marshall University.
- Dr. Dawn Goel, associate professor of psychology, has been awarded the Distinguished Artists and Scholars Award as a senior recipient for arts, social sciences, humanities, education and business.
- Dr. Suzanne Strait, professor of biological sciences, has been awarded the Distinguished Artists and Scholars Award as a senior recipient for sciences and technology.
- Dr. Hilton Córdoba, assistant professor of geography, Dr. Kristen Lillvis, associate professor of English, and Dr. Stefan Schöberlein, assistant professor of English, have been awarded the Distinguished Artists and Scholars Award as a team recipient in all fields.
- Dr. Haroon Malik, assistant professor of computer science, has been awarded the Distinguished Artists and Scholars Award as a junior recipient in all fields.
In addition to the above awards, the Center for Teaching and Learning has announced grants for teaching innovation and a teaching fellow.
Hedrick Program Grant for Teaching Innovation
The Center for Teaching and Learning annually funds an award of up to $5,000 for a project that will develop, implement, and assess a teaching innovation. Successful projects must meet two primary goals. First, this is a program-level grant. As such, the grant can only be awarded to a department/program or to a cross-disciplinary collaboration. The award winners are as follows:
- Dr. Robin Riner, principal investigator for the grant and associate professor of sociology and anthropology;
- Dr. Christina Franzen, associate professor of classics;
- Dr. Christopher White, professor of history;
- Dr. Kimberly White, assistant professor of social work.
These four faculty members will use the award to complete their project titled “The Wars Within, the Wars Without: A Pedagogical Model for Engaging Students Who Have Experienced Trauma.” The study will use veterans as a focus population, but the model will be applicable to students of all kinds who have experienced trauma.
Hedrick Faculty Teaching Fellow Award for 2020-2021
Made possible by a gift from Charles B. and Mary Jo Locke Hedrick, the $5,000 fellowship will give a full-time faculty member the opportunity to pursue a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) project, collaborate with the CTL staff in shaping the strategic plan for campus-wide professional development for faculty, and develop a niche area of expertise in professional development, thus adding to the programming regularly offered by the Center. This is the first faculty fellowship of its kind at Marshall University. The Hedrick Faculty Teaching Fellowship promises to fulfill the twin goals of CTL: empowering faculty in their teaching and research, and engaging students in high impact learning.
Dr. Rachael Peckham, associate professor of English, was chosen as the 2020-2021 recipient. During her fellowship year, Dr. Peckham will facilitate a faculty learning community as they explore how to operationalize communication fluency and expand their pedagogies, with an eye toward implementing these strategies in future course design and delivery, to promote the development of communication fluency in their students. The fellowship will culminate in a suite of professional development opportunities to disseminate what practices the faculty learning community employed and what they learned along the way.
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Photo: Dan Hollis, professor of journalism at Marshall University, has been selected as the university’s Dr. Charles E. Hedrick Outstanding Faculty Award winner for 2019-2020.