Students nominate staff members for award of excellence
Brenton Stacey
Public relations officer
Avondale College of Higher Education
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia
The numbers are impressive: 265 Avondale College of Higher Education students nominated 54 of the 57 full-time academic staff members for an inaugural excellence award.
My experience: Bachelor of Education (Secondary) student Jotham Kingston encourages staff attending World Teachers’ Day Breakfast to nurture idealsim. “God gives you a vision long before He gives you the skill and maturity to carry it out.” Credit: Brenton Stacey.
Avondale introduced the Student Choice Award of Excellence as a matter of necessity—no staff members applied for the individual and team Learning and Teaching Awards of Excellence this year. It came as a blessing, says new vice-president (learning and teaching) Dr Jane Fernandez. “Students had direct input into the quality assurance process—they were more interested in this than in the Student Evaluation Questionnaire.” The breadth of the response shows the delivery of learning and teaching is “par excellence, and that’s coming directly from students,” says Jane.
Fifteen staff members—one from the School of Science and Mathematics, two from the Faculty of Business, the Faculty of Nursing and Health and the School of Ministry and Theology and four from the School of Education and the School of Humanities and Creative Arts—received the student choice award.
Comments from students affirmed values such as dedication, enthusiasm, knowledge and patience. A recurring word: “inspiration.” Other comments ranged from the fun—“he is popular on Facebook”—to those about faith—“she oozes the character of Christ.”
Twelve staff members, half from Student Services, received the Support Staff Award of Excellence, which Avondale also introduced this year. Collaboration between academic and support staff members is crucial, says Jane. “We can’t celebrate excellence in the delivery of learning and teaching without celebrating the support staff who facilitate the quality of that delivery. We are a community that could not exist without the support of every entity on this campus.”
The presentation of the awards and those for recognition of service came during World Teachers’ Day Breakfast, held in the cafeteria on the Lake Macquarie campus this past Tuesday (October 25).
Students featured as part of the breakfast. Bachelor of Ministry and Theology (Honours) student Bethany Turner presented the devotional, reminding staff members that Jesus chose to minister as a teacher. Bachelor of Teaching (Secondary) student Jotham Kingston spoke of his first experience at Avondale. He graduated with a Bachelor in Theology in 2000 and then, rather than accept a call to ministry, pursued a career in filmmaking—he is now the author of the novel, Brinn: War In Her Veins, and one of the primary scriptwriters for Adventist Media Network’s new DVD-based evangelistic series Beyond the Search. “God gives you a vision long before He gives you the skill and maturity to carry it out,” he said. His message: nurture idealism.
Avondale presents its service awards based on five-year increments, with Roger Harder (36 years), Dr Gwen Wilkinson (25 years) and Associate Professor Daniel Reynaud (20 years) acknowledged as the longest-serving among the recipients this year.
Read the full list of award recipients below.
Avondale College of Higher Education Student Choice Award of Excellence 2011
Lorinda Bruce; Bev Christian; Andy Collis; Katherine Cooper; Dr Kayle de Waal; Don Dickins; Dr Rick Ferret; Jason Hinze; Dr Keith Howson; David Potter; Robyn Priestly; Anton Selvaratnam; Kristin Thompson; Brad Watson; and Zorana Wong.
Avondale College of Higher Education Support Staff Award of Excellence 2011
Rachel Cardwell; Susanna Currie; Barbara Duncan; Dr Wayne French; Roger Harder; Deirdre Hough; Kevin Judge; Del Martin; Pr Mark McNeill; Mere Neale; Pr Shane Roberts; and Donna Saville.
Avondale College Learning and Teaching Excellence Award 2011: Individual
Not awarded
Avondale College Learning and Teaching Excellence Award 2011: Team
Not awarded
Recognition of Service
Roger Harder (36 years); Dr Gwen Wilkinson (25 years); Associate Professor Daniel Reynaud (20 years); Sallyanne Dehn and Graham Lloyd (both 15 years); David Low (10 years); Colin Chuang, Gail Clark, Jason Hinze, Paul Lewis, Roberta Matai, Chris Thiele and Sheri Skene (all 5 years).