future careers. Dr. O’Meilia serves as a mentor for
students in the STEM program, works with students
engaged in undergraduate research, and serves as a
co-advisor for Phi Theta Kappa. Dr. O’Meilia says
she feel her teaching has been effective when students take concepts they learn in class and act on
them outside of class.
Dr. Patrick Idwasi
Faculty Award for Teaching
Excellence
Dr. Patrick Idwasi, Assistant
Professor of Chemistry, has
been described as a consummate professional who always
has a smile on his face, loves
chemistry and sees chemistry
in everything. Although many
students find Chemistry difficult, Dr. Idwasi sets and maintains high course standards
and works with students until
they understand it. He uses
active inquiry learning techniques, extends his classroom beyond the walls with
tours of facilities where chemistry is used in real life
and incorporates a multidiscipline approach to the
learning process to increase teaching effectiveness.
In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Dr. Idwasi serves as Metro Campus Chair of TCC’s STEM
program, is a mentor for the African-American Male
Student Success Team, acts as Campus coordinator
for the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, is a member of the Learning Effectiveness subcouncil and HLC study group team, is a frequent
conference presenter and has been published in several peer-reviewed scientific journals.
Mary Cantrell
Faculty Award for Teaching
Excellence
Mary Cantrell, Associate Professor of English at Southeast
Campus, has taught English at
TCC for 25 years. Over the
course of her career, she has
taught thousands of TCC students how to write, and in recent years, she has expanded
her teaching to high school students through TCC’s EXCELerate program. Professor Cantrell
values collaboration with colleagues as opportunities to
learn from them and improve her teaching. Outside
the classroom, her service to TCC has included serving as Tri-Chair of the Strategic Planning Steering
Committee, President of the Faculty Association, Co
-Chair of the Academic Council, and member of the
Presidential Search Committee, along with several
other standing committees. As Faculty Association
President, she participated in the Adjunct Faculty
Association and helped organize last year’s Adjunct
Appreciation Week. To her colleagues and her students, Professor Cantrell is that one who always responds with materials, help and advice when needed.
Dr. Janice O’Meilia
Faculty Award for Teaching
Excellence
Dr. Janice O’Meilia, Assistant
Professor of Biology, has been
described as a professor who
has great rapport with and respect for her students, which
makes her both a great teacher
and a great mentor. Her background in medicine is a valuable resource in helping students
who are pursuing degrees in
health sciences understand how
what they are learning in