B-CC HONORS FACULTY AT ANNUAL AWARDS DINNER

DAYTONA BEACH, FL – Bethune-Cookman College honored seven faculty members at an honors and awards banquet held Friday, April 23, in the President’s Dining Room located on the College campus.

The honorees were as follows:

Award for Excellence in Teaching, Shirley Thompson, Instructor of Medical/Surgical Nursing, Division of Nursing

Thompson was selected to attend monthly workshops on leadership in collaboration with the University of North Florida School of Nursing. The workshops enhanced her instruction related to nursing advocacy and the legislation process.

As Retention Coordinator for the School of Nursing, Thompson developed an efficient system of tracking and monitoring student success that was cited by the Florida Board of Nursing as a model for monitoring student academic progress and fostering socialization to the college environment. In addition, she re-created the remedial courses, NU 395 Developmental Survey, to assist students that have failed a course.

Certificate for Excellence in Teaching, Dr. Joyce Nki, Assistant Professor of Religion/Philosophy, Division of Humanities

Nki has embraced, incorporated and integrated computer technology in her classroom teaching, using WebCT as a course management tool, teaching one class online and performing two workshop sessions on “Technology and the Local Church”

Award for Excellence in Research, Nancy Ahern, Instructor of Nursing, Division of Nursing

Ahern received a mini-grant from the Faculty Development Center to develop creative teaching strategies using the latest in technology. This resulted in the published research entitled, “Transforming an Undergraduate Nursing Research Course to a Web-based Course using the Seven Principles.” Her research has been presented at several conferences. It has also produced Because of Mrs. Ahern’s efforts, the first online course in the School of Nursing – NU 406 Nursing Research – that will be offered in Fall 2004.

Certificate for Excellence in Research, Mary Corliss, Instructor of English and Dorothy Dobbins, Instructor of English, Division of General Studies

Corliss and Dorothy Dobbins produced the videotape Zora Neale Hurston: Church, Community, and Culture with the help of a grant from the Pew Trusts and Gordon College about the noted Harlem Renaissance author. The primary focus of this documentary is Hurston’s connection to Central Florida and Bethune-Cookman College, where she taught in 1934. The documentary includes personal interviews with people knew Hurston when she lived and worked in Daytona Beach. A summer grant from the Bethune-Cookman College Research Foundation, further allowed them to create Dust Tracks: A Look at Zora Neale Hurston’s Trail Through Bethune-Cookman College and Central Florida, a 34-page companion booklet to the video.

Their most recent project, a book about Freemanville, Florida, was also funded by a Research Foundation summer grant. A Free Man’s Dream: The Rise and Fall of a Community focuses on the small Port Orange community, which was settled, by former slaves and their families shortly after the Civil War.

Award for Excellence in Community Service, Dr. Gail Robinson-Oturu, Associate Professor of Music (Voice), Division of Humanities

Dr. Robinson-Oturu serves as a consultant at Atlantic High and Deltona High schools where she worked with choral music students and advisor to the choral music teachers. The Women’s Choruses, the Concert Choirs, and the soloists with whom she worked received “Superior” ratings.

Dr. Robinson-Oturu is a member of the Artistic Advisory Council of the Daytona Beach Symphony Society, where she served on the Board of Directors for nearly 10 years, and as President for 1997-1999—the only African-American to have served in this capacity. During her presidency, she initiated the Y.E.S.! (Youth Experiencing Symphony), where economically disadvantaged children were introduced to classical music. Each year more than 1,000 children who ordinarily would not be attending the symphony have been able to enjoy the concerts and receive prior training as to what to expect. Dr. Robinson-Oturu initiated and coordinated the Docents for the Y.E.S.! Program through the three chapters of Sigma Alpha Iota, International Music Fraternity (Volusia County Alumnae Chapter, Bethune-Cookman’s Theta Xi, and Stetson University’s Eta Pi).

Certificate for Excellence in Community Service, Juanita Akinleye, Instructor of Nursing,Division of Nursing

In collaboration with the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO), Akinleye began a program to address the prevention and treatment of HIV and AIDS within the adolescent population. Five students were trained as Peer Educators and conducted education sessions on campus and within the community. Because of the success of this program Akinleye was recognized by NAFEO, and the School of Nursing was selected as a NAFEO site to train faculty and students from other HBCU’s in the prevention of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

In addition, Dr. Estelle Brown, Associate Professor in the School of Education, was the recipient of the Award for Exemplary Teaching at a United Methodist-related Institution of Higher Education, 2003-2004 from The General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church.

Four retiring members of the faculty were honored -- Dr. Richard Copeland, Professor of Chemistry, School of Science and Mathematics; Dr. Clifford Hurston, Associate Professor of Business Education, School of Business; Mr. Donald Pitcher, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, School of General Studies and Dr. Marion Speight, Associate Professor of Modern Languages (French), School of Humanities.

College President Dr. Oswald P. Bronson, Sr., who will retire this summer after 29 years of services, was honored with gifts from each of the College’s seven schools as well as the Continuing Education program.

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Bethune-Cookman is a comprehensive college, which offers degrees in liberal arts as well as professional fields, such as business, education and nursing. A United Methodist Church-affiliated school, the College has a diverse and international student population of more than 2,700 and a solid reputation for academic excellence and community service. As evidence of its outstanding program, the College has been listed in the Templeton Honor Roll of Character Building Colleges and Universities, and it was ranked by Black Enterprise magazine as one of the “Top 50” schools in the nation for black students.  B-CC is one of 10 charter member colleges of Project Pericles, a program to create civic leadership and involvement on its member campuses.  The College will celebrate its 100^th year of founding on October 4, 2004.

For more information, contact our website www.bethune.cookman.edu. 

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