|
Dec. 10, 2011
 |
| 2011 Sharon Walker Faculty Excellence Award recipients are, from left, Dr. Jeremy Schnieder, Dr. Brenda Mammenga, and Dr. Christopher Spicer. |
Morningside College has awarded its 2011 Sharon Walker Faculty Excellence Awards to Dr. Brenda Mammenga, assistant professor of mathematical sciences; Dr. Jeremy Schnieder, assistant professor of writing and rhetoric; and Dr. Christopher Spicer, assistant professor of mathematical sciences.
Morningside President John Reynders presented the awards during the annual faculty banquet held Saturday, December 10, at the Sioux City Country Club. The recipients, selected from a field of nominees by a panel of three outside evaluators, will each receive a $10,000 honorarium and $3,000 to use for faculty development.
The Sharon Walker Faculty Excellence Awards are funded by a gift from Morningside alumni Jim and Sharon Walker of Wayzata, Minn.
Criteria for selection include teaching excellence, effective advising, scholarship and service to Morningside College. The awards are based upon the accomplishments and activities of a faculty member during the previous academic year.
Mammenga started teaching at Morningside in 2007. She has a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from South Dakota State University in Brookings, S.D., and a doctorate from North Dakota State University in Fargo, N.D. The Walker Award evaluators commended Mammenga’s ability to ask questions that “catapulted Morningside students into deep, integrated learning as part of their classes.”
Schnieder joined the Morningside faculty in 2010. He has a bachelor’s degree from Western State College of Colorado in Gunnison, Colo.; a master’s degree from the University of Nebrasaka at Kearney; and a doctorate from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. The Walker Award evaluators noted that Schnieder is “an exemplar of excellent teaching, professional development and community service.”
Spicer has been teaching at Morningside since 2009. He received a bachelor’s degree from Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and a doctorate from North Dakota State University. The Walker Award evaluators cited Spicer’s teaching techniques that “engage students who may find the material frightening or challenging.”
Evaluators for the 2011 Sharon Walker Faculty Excellence Awards were Dr. William Withers, Grant L. Price department chair and associate professor of communication arts, Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa; Dr. Suzette Astley, professor of psychology, Cornell College, Mount Vernon, Iowa; and Dr. John Krebs, professor of music, Hendrix College, Conway, Ark.
|
