Lifting up excellent teaching and student support

"We are a community who cares about each other as people," said President Beth Paul, Ph.D., at the 2022 Naz Teaching Excellence and Student Success Awards ceremony. “We really do things differently here.”

For individualized, holistic care, for guiding students' learning and their growth, and for bringing creative innovation to their work, Naz honored six faculty and staff on March 24, 2022. 

For Teaching Excellence:

• Susan Sturm, assistant professor of education, School of Education (full-time faculty award): “It’s easier to be excellent when you are surrounded by it," she said. She said good teachers are avid learners and are never satisfied. Good teachers “understand students come to their classrooms with their own knowledge, experiences, and needs, and they know it’s their job to welcome, respond to, and make space for all learners.”
• Bradley Batz, director of jazz studies, School of Music (part-time faculty award): He said he is proud to "continue the tradition that there's a place for everyone in jazz."

For Student Success: 

• Kai Strange, School of Education (innovation award): It "brings me joy" to work with students who are the next generation of teachers, she said. She was honored for her masterful work supporting teacher candidates and alumni as director of Nazareth's Urban Teacher Opportunity Partnerships Program.
• Cathy Leverone, director of the finance program, School of Business and Leadership (life's work champion award): She was recognized for her strong work helping students design their individual path to a life of meaning, as well as for her strong teaching; student advising; professionalism, patience, and relationship-building with students; and her leadership of the finance major and minor — "a student champion in all that she does."
• Noel Wolfe, professor in the History, Politics, and Law Department (outstanding undergraduate academic advisor award): One student wrote about Wolfe, "She takes a genuine interest in the success of each and every one of us.”
• Laura Barnard, Center for International Education (student support award): One international student said he'd never encountered anyone who invested such time and care as Barnard — and he plans to pay that forward by supporting others. Barnard said she's blessed to be part of a campus community "that values relationships."

Paul noted that Nazareth students bring a passion for helping a hurt world — and faculty and staff support them in pursuing changes.

“I feel very worried about our world right now, in a very personal way,” said Paul. “I do find great inspiration from what we do here. I thank you deeply for everything you do, for our students, our community, and our world.” 

Nazareth College’s academic strengths cross an unusually broad spectrum of 60 majors, including education, health and human services, management, the fine arts, music, theater, math and science, foreign languages, and the liberal arts. The coeducational, religiously independent, classic campus in a charming suburb of Rochester, N.Y., challenges and supports 2,300 undergrads and 700 graduate students. Nazareth is recognized nationally for its Fulbright global student scholars and commitment to civic engagement. Rigorous programs, an uncommon arts and sciences core, experiential learning, career skills, and a global focus prepare graduates for not just one job, but for their life’s work.

• published: 2022 March
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