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Wilkes University Honors Faculty and Staff With Teacher Recognition and Effectiveness Awards

Wilkes-Barre, PA (05/24/2018) — Contact information: Gabrielle D'Amico, director of communications, gabrielle.damico@wilkes.edu, 570-408-4510

Wilkes University recognized 16 faculty and staff members with nine awards for excellence in teaching and advising at the 2018 Teacher Recognition and Effectiveness Committee (TREC) Awards Ceremony. The recipients of this year's awards are:

Edward Foote, professor of pharmacy practice and department chair, received the Carpenter Award for Teaching. The award, considered Wilkes' highest honor for teaching, recognizes an outstanding member of the faculty and includes a $1,000 award and framed certificate. The awardee is nominated by his or her full-time colleagues and must have been a full-time employee for at least three years.

Foote is a leader in promoting a team-based learning approach to teaching. Team-based learning is a teaching strategy designed around modules that are taught in a three-step cycle; which includes preparation, in-class readiness and assurance testing and application-focused exercises. He was a founding member of the Northeastern/Central Pennsylvania Interprofessional Education Coalition, a group of 11 institutions that provides vision and leadership to foster and support interprofessional education in healthcare, and also chaired the committee for several years.

In nominating him for the award, Judith Kristeller, professor of pharmacy practice, wrote, "Ed also leads by example with his scholarship. He has numerous publications involving educational research from his experiences with team-based learning and interprofessional education. He involves students in his scholarship and encourages faculty within our department to do the same."

Other awards and honorees are:

Kristina Powers, experiential coordinator in pharmacy practice, received the Academic Support Award. This award is given to a member of the Wilkes University staff who facilitates classroom or experiential initiatives and learning among students. Academic support is defined as an individual who is not on faculty at Wilkes, but participates in educational offerings including classroom activities, laboratory activities, or coordination of experiential learning opportunities. Powers joined Wilkes University as an adjunct clinical instructor and experiential coordinator in the department of pharmacy practice in 2015 and has a clinical practice site at the Geisinger Call Center in Wilkes-Barre. She received her doctorate of pharmacy from Wilkes in 2011.

Morgan Clevenger, assistant professor of entrepreneship; Jennifer Malinowski, assistant dean of academic affairs and assessment in pharmacy practice; and Marie Roke Thomas, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences, received the Interdisciplinary Teaching Award. The award is given annually to recognize one cross-disciplinary team of teachers that demonstrates outstanding initiatives in the classroom to further the ideals of interdisciplinary learning. They developed an interdisciplinary approach to challenge students to incorporate new pharmacy accreditation standards of innovation and entrepreneurship into their approach to finding solutions to reduce medication errors. Students were encouraged to identify solutions from a range of disciplines outside of pharmacy that could lead to a better understanding of medication errors and to gain a broader perspective to the solution. The concept of a "Shark Tank" business perspective was introduced to inspire an integration of different ideas.

Nicole Pezzino, assistant professor of pharmacy practice, received the Outstanding New Faculty Award. The award recognizes one full-time, nonvisiting faculty member in his or her second or third year of full-time teaching at Wilkes University who demonstrates excellence in teaching, advising, and service. The awardee is nominated by his or her department chair.

Daniel Longyhore, associate professor of pharmacy practice, received the Alumni Mentoring Award. The alumni-nominated award recognizes a teacher who continues to mentor students post-graduation.

Andrew Miller, associate professor of political science, received the Innovative and Non-Traditional Teaching Award. The student-nominated award recognizes a teacher who successfully incorporates innovative or nontraditional strategies into at least one class. Teaching innovation includes effective small group, collaborative methods; advanced use of technology in the classroom; consistent student-centered, interactive classroom experience; engagement in outside-the-classroom learning experiences that enrich student mastery of concepts and theories; and engaging students in joint faculty-student research projects.

Zbigniew Witczak, professor and chair of pharmaceutical sciences, received the Scholarship Award. This is awarded to a faculty member who demonstrates commendable success in the area of research and scholarly activity that influences Wilkes University and its students. Witczak's research is in the area of thio sugars and carbohydrate synthons including Levoglucosenone and L-Arabinose as templates for carbohydrate-based therapeutics.

Dorinda McHenry, adjunct professor in education, was awarded the Adjunct Faculty Award. The award goes to an adjunct faculty instructor who demonstrates excellence in teaching through innovative practices and forming relationships with students. McHenry taught differentiated reading, assessment in education, adolescent literature, content area literacy and accommodation and adaptation in literacy to undergraduates in the School of Education.

Blake Mackesy, assistant professor in graduate education, was awarded the Multiculturalism Award. The award goes to a faculty member who demonstrates leadership in the advancement of multiculturalism ideals in the classroom.

The Outstanding Advisor Award is a student-nominated award that recognizes one academic advisor from each college who demonstrates excellence in academic advising based on load, advising philosophy and testimony by advisees. This year's recipients are:

  • Megan Jones, Act 101-program coordinator, Outstanding Advisor Award for University College.
  • Helen Davis, associate professor of English, Outstanding Advisor Award for the College of Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences.
  • Ka Lok Hong, assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences, Outstanding Advisor Award for the Nesbitt School of Pharmacy.
  • Prahlad Murthy, associate dean and professor of environmental engineering and earth science and geology, Outstanding Advisor Award for the College of Science and Engineering.
  • Paul Reinert, assistant professor of graduate teacher education, received the Outstanding Advisor Award for the School of Education.

PHOTO: Wilkes University honored faculty and staff with its annual Teacher Recognition and Effectiveness Committee (TREC) Awards. The 2018 award winners, pictured, first row from left, University provost Anne Skleder; Zbigniew Witczak, professor and chair of pharmaceutical sciences; Kristina Powers, experiential coordinator in pharmacy practice; Marie Roke Thomas, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences; Nicole Pezzino, assistant professor of pharmacy practice; Dorinda McHenry, adjunct professor in education; Andrew Miller, associate professor of political science; Blake Mackesy, assistant professor in graduate education; and Paul Reinert, assistant professor of graduate teacher education. Second row, from left, Daniel Longyhore, associate professor of pharmacy practice; Ka Lok Hong, assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences; Jennifer Malinowski, assistant dean of academic affair and assess in pharmacy practice; Morgan Clevenger, assistant professor of entrepreneship; Edward Foote, professor of pharmacy practice and department chair; Helen Davis, associate professor of English; Prahlad Murthy, associate dean and professor of environmental engineering and earth science and geology, Megan Jones, Act 101-program coordinator; and University President Patrick F. Leahy.

About Wilkes University:

Wilkes University is an independent institution of higher education dedicated to academic and intellectual excellence through mentoring in the liberal arts, sciences and professional programs. Founded in 1933, the university is on a mission to create one of the great small universities, offering all of the programs, activities and opportunities of a large, research university in the intimate, caring and mentoring environment of a small, liberal arts college, at a cost that is increasingly competitive with public universities. The Economist named Wilkes 25th in the nation for the value of its education for graduates. In addition to 43 bachelor's degree programs, Wilkes offers 25 master's degree programs and five doctoral/terminal degree programs, including the doctor of philosophy in nursing, doctor of nursing practice, doctor of education, doctor of pharmacy, and master of fine arts in creative writing. Learn more at www.wilkes.edu.

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