Excellence in Education recipients honored for going above, beyond during pandemic

GRCC’s Excellence in Education awards are typically announced during the fall semester’s Opening Day event, presented before an audience of cheering colleagues.

With the pandemic shifting Opening Day to a virtual format, GRCC administrators decided to make an extra effort to surprise this year’s award winners at their homes or workplace.

That seemed to fit perfectly, as each of this year’s Excellence in Education recipients is being honored for the many ways they go above and beyond to help students find success at GRCC.

Chemistry professor Bill Faber, adjunct English faculty member Lynn Prince, and Sandra Gregory, assistant to the dean of Student Success and Retention, received an unexpected visit from a delegation headed by  President Pink.

“The coronavirus pandemic has tested the GRCC family in ways we haven’t seen before,” Pink said. “Bill, Lynn and Sandy have risen to the challenge and have helped our students keep on track in their studies. They embody excellence in education.”

Students praise Faber, who received the faculty award, for his willingness to explain topics in many different ways.

He welcomes questions about assignments — as well as those about college and life — during his office hours and works with community partners to give students real-world research experience.

When the pandemic forced all classes online this spring, Faber, a longtime member of the Distance Learning Faculty Advisory Board, helped colleagues adapt to the technology they needed for teaching.

Prince, winner of the adjunct award, has been a key member of the English Department for more than 15 years. She reaches her students in creative ways — past lessons have included flyswatters, Super Bowl ads and many, many puns.

When COVID-19 upended her students’ lives, she scheduled optional Zoom meetings at times that fit their work schedules and moved a thesis workshop to a discussion board to make it more accessible. Students were reminded that during this challenging time, she was only an email or a Zoom meeting away.

When surprised by the staff award, Gregory repeated, “I was just doing my job.” But colleagues and students know that what she considers her job extends far beyond office walls.

She helps students navigate GRCC and the entire going-to-college process and works to remove any barriers standing between them and their education.

With the pandemic, those barriers increasingly included food, housing and financial insecurity. Gregory, an administrator of GRCC’s Emergency Fund, met those challenges with compassion and creativity. She worked behind-the-scenes with individual students to understand their needs and out front, handing out bags of groceries and other supplies during GRCC’s drive-up food distributions.

The awards were established in 1989 to honor GRCC employees for their contributions to the college, higher education and the community.

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Lorena Aguayo-Márquez honored by state Hispanic Latino Commission

A recruitment specialist with GRCC’s Workforce Training programs has been named one of the Top 25 LatinX of Michigan by the state Hispanic Latino Commission.

Lorena Aguayo-Márquez, GRCC’s Kellogg community recruitment specialist, is being recognized as one of “the best of who we are as Latinos and leaders” by the commission because of her work at the college and in the community.” She will be honored during the commission’s Hispanic Heritage Month celebration today in the Goei Center.

Aguayo-Márquez said the honor was humbling.

“My passion for education equity and social justice has led me to work alongside amazing humans and organizations,” she said.

“We must continue working together to bring social justice into our community and make Michigan an equitable and inclusive state where everyone can thrive and reach our full potential regardless of immigration status, the color of our skin, gender, religion, age, and/or sexual orientation. I accept this recognition in honor of all the courageous humans who are also working to end the fear and injustices in our community and country.” 

Aguayo-Márquez is originally from the Chicago area and started at GRCC in 2007. She has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from ITT Technical Institute and a master’s with an emphasis on Educational Leadership from Grand Valley State University.

In 2018, she received the Helen Jackson Claytor Civil Rights Award from the Grand Rapids Community Relations Commission and the Advocate Award from the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of Greater Grand Rapids. She received the ALAS Latinas Emerging Leader and GRCC’s Excellence in Education award in 2017. 

Sarah Rose, Barbara Bouthillier, Deb DeWent honored with Excellence in Education awards

Sarah Rose

GRCC honored employees Sarah Rose, Barbara Bouthillier and Deb DeWent with Excellence in Education Awards for the impact their work has had on students.

The awards were established in 1989 to honor GRCC employees for their contributions to the college, higher education and the community.

Rose, an associate professor, is director of GRCC’s Occupational Support and Disability Support Services programs and received the faculty award.

Barb Bouthillier

Bouthillier, an instructor in the Mathematics Department, was honored with the adjunct award.

DeWent, assistant director of Instructional Support, received the staff award.

“The Excellence in Education awards are especially meaningful because the recipients have been nominated by their fellow employees,” President Bill Pink said. “The work that Sarah, Barb and Deb do directly impacts the lives of our students. They are tremendous examples of how we at GRCC embrace the opportunity to help every student who walks through our door and change their lives.”

Deb DeWent

The impact of Rose’s work in the Occupational Support and Disability Support programs is felt across the campus. Colleagues say she inspires and challenges the students she works with to reach beyond what they might think is possible. She also works with faculty and staff so they can make their classrooms and processes as inclusive as possible.

Bouthillier is known for going beyond lectures. She creates games to convey lessons and is able to work with students of varying abilities and with different needs. Students in her class are encouraged to approach problems creatively, to collaborate and to ask questions. Bouthillier also wants her students to be comfortable accessing GRCC resources, whether it’s office hours, tutorial labs or the Counseling and Career Center.

DeWent has played an integral role at GRCC for more than two decades. She has been a driving force to improve the course catalog, commencement and several important processes that touch not only students but faculty as well. Her insight — and her ability to think “outside the box” — has improved GRCC’s ability to meet the needs of students and the community. Colleagues say no problem is too big or too small for her to find a workable solution.

The Excellence in Education winners were honored during GRCC’s Opening Day gathering on Thursday.

GRCC to honor Laurie Foster as Faculty Emeritus

Laurie Foster, GRCC’s 2019 Faculty Emeritus, has taught at all levels and using all methods.

She has taught elementary and middle school students, high schoolers, college students, teachers and her fellow faculty members in the classroom, out of the classroom and online.

Foster retired in 2016 as a full professor after working for 25 years in the Biological Sciences Department. She had a gift for making her subject relevant to students at all levels, whether they were enrolled in Honors Biology or General Biology for non-science majors. Her skills in the classroom have been recognized at the college, state, and national levels. She received GRCC’s Excellence in Education Award and Biology Teacher of the Year honors from the Michigan Science Teachers Association.

She expanded her teaching with online classes and helped lead the certification process for other GRCC faculty who were creating such courses. In addition to helping create the curriculum course model that GRCC uses today, she has helped faculty with instructional design and led workshops in accreditation and program review processes.

But her teaching has not occurred only on the GRCC campus. She has planned and participated in many community efforts to introduce science careers to girls in elementary and middle school. She has also served as a consultant for curriculum advancement in various West Michigan school districts and has led in-service opportunities for teachers throughout the Kent Intermediate School District.

Her legacy lives in the processes she helped build at GRCC and through four scholarships she helped develop: the Women in Science Scholarship, the Teachers of Tomorrow Scholarship, the Bill and Laurie Foster Biological Sciences Scholarship, and the Excellence in Education Legacy Scholarship.

Foster will be recognized during commencement, which starts at 7 p.m. April 26 in the Ford Fieldhouse.

Brian Daily, Julie Spahn, JaneAnn Benson receive Excellence in Education Awards

GRCC is honoring three employees for the impact their work has had on students.

The Excellence in Education Awards were established in 1989 to honor GRCC employees for their contributions to the college, higher education and the community. Brian Daily, coordinator of the Business Tutorial Lab, received the faculty award, while Julie Spahn, an instructor in the English Department, was honored with the adjunct award. JaneAnn Benson, director of the Phyllis Fratzke Childhood Learning Laboratory, received the staff award.

“Receiving one of these awards is an especially meaningful honor for our employees because the recipients are nominated by their peers,” President Bill Pink said. “The work that Brian, Julie and JaneAnn do changes our students’ lives.”

The students who come to GRCC’s Business Tutorial Lab are looking for an academic lifeline — one they find in Daily. His goal is to help students succeed not only with the assignment that brought them to the lab, but with all the classes they will take at GRCC. He also launched the Business Cafe series of drop-in workshops in which students learn about careers, transfer options and GRCC resources.

As an instructor in GRCC’s Early/Middle College program, Spahn advocates for her students, making sure they can do their best work and encouraging them to take advantage of the facilities, programs and resources at GRCC. Colleagues say she constantly finds new ways to make her classes engaging and relevant to her students, whether it’s having them write about a March Madness basketball game or creating a game to teach information literacy.

In addition to working with GRCC’s youngest group of learners in the preschool program, Benson is an adjunct instructor in the Child Development program. She challenges both sets of students to do — and be — their best, colleagues say, noting that many of them return to seek her guidance even after they graduate. Her work in developing the state-of-the-art Phyllis Fratzke Early Childhood Learning Laboratory took her around the world to investigate best practices. Under her direction, the preschool was the first center to achieve a 5 rating, the highest possible under Michigan’s Star Rating System.

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GRCC In the News, 8-30-17

GRCC names recipients of 2017 Excellence in Education Awards

Aug. 29, 2017; La Prensa

GRAND RAPIDS, Aug. 28, 2017 — Grand Rapids Community College is honoring three employees who have gone above and beyond in making meaningful connections with their students.

$1.5M FEMA grant to fund more Kalamazoo public safety officers

Aug. 29, 2017; MLive

KALAMAZOO, MI — A $1.5 million grant will allow the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety to hire 12 full-time officers.

… Recruits are hired by KDPS and then sent to a police academy either at Kalamazoo Valley Community College, Kellogg Community College, Grand Rapids Community College or Grand Valley State University.

Magna, KraussMaffei help push college program forward

Aug. 28, 2017; Plastics News

Rochester, Mich. — As Mark Richardson has talked to more and more companies about how they’re working to attack the skills gap, he hears about homegrown programs.

… Richardson said the program will partner with existing two-year programs to help create a funnel of students that want to continue their education. The list of potential partners currently includes Schoolcraft College, Mott Community College, Grand Rapids Community College and Bay Mills Community College — all Michigan schools. He has also spoken to representatives from Ferris State University, the state’s biggest plastics program.

Undocumented: One immigrant’s story of life under DACA

Aug. 29, 2017; MLive

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – At 8 years old, Kevin Vazquez did not know what it meant to live in the shadows.

… Vazquez, a recent Grand Rapids Community College graduate, will be working on a bachelor’s degree in organizational communications at Western Michigan University this fall.

Former Grand Rapids Community College Football Player Makes NFL Debut

Aug. 28, 2017; WGRD FM

Grand Rapids Community College’s football program was discontinued in January of 2012, but before it ended, it had three former players who have a played in the NFL.  One of these athletes, Nick Truesdell, made his NFL debut on Sunday night with the Minnesota Vikings.

GRCC names recipients of 2017 Excellence in Education Awards

GRCC is honoring three employees who have gone above and beyond in making meaningful connections with their students.

The Excellence in Education Awards were established in 1989 to honor GRCC employees — all of whom are nominated by their peers — for their contributions to the college, higher education and the community. Lynnae Selberg, an assistant professor and director of the Counseling and Career Center, received the faculty award. Lorena Aguayo-Márquez, program assistant for Academic Outreach, received the staff award, and Tom Mulder, in the English department, was honored with the adjunct award.

“The Excellence in Education Awards carry special meaning because the recipients are chosen by their peers,” said President Bill Pink. “The work done by Lynnae, Tom and Lorena has made a very real difference in the lives of so many students.”

Lynnae Selberg

Selberg developed GRCC’s CLS 100: First Year Experience course, a class that all students must take in their first semester that gives them the academic tools they will need to be successful in higher education. In addition to teaching sections of CLS 100, she teaches final exam preparation workshops and academic success workshops — which help students on academic probation or who are returning from academic suspension. She works with GRCC’s Honors Program and is the academic advisor for Phi Theta Kappa honor society. She serves on numerous committees and advisory boards — on and off campus — and works directly with Grand Valley State and Ferris State universities to ensure a successful transfer experience for GRCC students.

“Those who work with her know that Lynnae is not just a colleague: She is an educator, advocate, mentor and leader,” Pink said. “When we ask for volunteers to staff a student event —  whether it’s Welcome Week, information stations, GradFest or open houses — she is one of the first to step up.”

Lorena Aguayo-Márquez

Aguayo-Márquez’s work in Academic Outreach has connected her with high school and middle school students, adult learners and those who struggle with English. She plays crucial roles in GRCC’s Adult Education program; the Cruisin’ to College Success Summer Learning Academy for Grand Rapids Public Schools sophomores and juniors; on- and off-campus ESL programs, including integrated courses such as the ESL/CNC Machining and ESL/Certified Nursing Assistant programs; construction, manufacturing and woodworking summer camps for sixth- through ninth-graders; and NIA – Women with Purpose, a group for female African American students.

“Lorena brings GRCC into churches, grocery stores, block parties and festivals,” Pink said. “She gives people who have never considered college the encouragement, practical help and inspiration they need for success.”

Tom Mulder

Mulder, a retired high school English teacher, has the gift of connecting with students of all abilities. He has played a key role in creating writing courses for students who plan careers in research, health care or social sciences. Students in the Grand Rapids Past and Future course that he created explore the city as they connect their writing to the idea of community.

“Tom, a voracious reader and lifelong learner, leads his students by example,” Pink said. “His students leave his classroom as critical thinkers and readers — ready for the next challenge.”