Issue link: http://ncumarketing.uberflip.com/i/740850
Teaching Excellence Award: Chuck West, PhD Full-Time Core and Clinical Faculty Department of Marriage and Family Sciences Chuck has been with NCU for more than five years. He has worked in a number of roles (director of curriculum development and director of clinical training), however, most of his time at NCU has been focused on being a teaching faculty member. He currently teaches in clinical courses for 75% of his time, and in didactic courses the other 25%. He always meets the teaching expectations in terms of engagement and feedback with all of his students. He is thorough in his feedback as he expresses his commitment to the preparation of marriage and family therapists. His feedback is pertinent to this goal as he challenges students to do their best in absorbing information and in developing skills that will make them successful in their professional pursuits, and so that they will reflect the quality of the NCU MFT programs. His ratings from students are consistently well above the average. One of his students summed up her experience with Dr. West, "As there are so many "exceeds expectations," I will explain my thoughts towards the supervision I have received from Dr. West. In a nutshell, Dr. West has helped me understand my role as a clinician and ultimately the field of MFT. In the process, I have gained a strong identity as an MFT-in-training and have truly come to understand how systems thinking is applied in the therapy room. Dr. West has an immense knowledge base combined with years of experience. As his students, we are fortunate to be on the receiving end of his efforts to pass that knowledge and experience on." Another wrote directly to him in the evaluation, "Dr. West, thank you for your patience. You were a great teacher who made distance learning more than possible! You have made all the pages of research, theory and data come alive. Your unique way of making us self-aware, personally and therapeutically, is indescribable. You noticed my growth when I felt nothing. I was very lucky to have you as mentor and to be a part of your dynamic group. I hope one day I actually get to meet you [in the same physical space]." Chuck inspires students to do their best. He spends extra time with them, he challenges them and makes them believe that they can succeed. He is an example worthy of emulation by all of us at NCU. Outstanding Dissertation Chair: Mary 'Jill' Blackwell, PhD Full-Time Dissertation/Research Faculty Department of Psychology Jill has been teaching with NCU for more than three years. As a dissertation chair, Jill has the responsibility of working with doctoral candidates from the beginning of their dissertation journey to their oral defense, and she will be graduating 10 doctoral candidates this year. Jill exemplifies best practices when working with students by providing a warm and engaging style of feedback, and fostering open and encouraging communication, which is crucial to doctoral student success. In addition to the work Jill conducts on behalf of doctoral candidates, she also participates on NCU committees. For example, she is currently taking the lead on the NCU "Poster of the Year" committee and, within the last year, has served on the competencies work group, the problem statement workgroup, and the professional conduct materials workgroup. Jill also works with her graduated students regarding publishing in peer-reviewed journals, and has one article that is currently in press. She is also in the process of publishing her new book The Dissertation Strategy. Overall, Jill personifies scholarship, teaching, and service. She is simply a joy to work with, and is always eager to contribute, provide help, and actively participate on the team.