Last Updated on May 9, 2019 by cassnetwork
KOKOMO, Ind. — Ivy Tech Community College’s Kokomo Service Area is honoring two instructors with the region’s top awards for excellence in instruction during commencement May 10.
Kelly Williams of Russiaville, associate professor and department chair for Nursing, is being honored as Ivy Tech Kokomo Service Area’s 2018-19 President’s Award recipient and regional nominee for the Glenn W. Sample Award for Excellence in Instruction, the College’s highest honor for faculty. Carole Boyer of Converse, an English instructor, is the recipient of the region’s 2018-19 Adjunct Faculty Award and regional nominee for the statewide Gerald I. Lamkin Award for Excellence in Instruction.
“These are the top awards presented to Ivy Tech instructors each year, recognizing the winners’ excellence in instruction and dedication to Ivy Tech’s mission of providing world-class educational opportunities in support of our communities,” said Chancellor Dean McCurdy.
“Both Kelly and Carole bring to their classroom years of valuable professional experience in their fields of nursing and English education,” he continued. “We are proud to honor them as outstanding representatives of our full-time and adjunct faculty.”
Kelly Williams:
In presenting the award to Williams, Ivy Tech leaders noted her connection to Ivy Tech goes back to 1994 when she was a member of the first graduating class of Ivy Tech Kokomo’s new Practical Nursing program. Little did she know that less than a decade later, she would return to her alma mater as a faculty member and have a profound effect in establishing and growing the Ivy Tech Kokomo nursing program.
Williams went on to receive her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Indiana Wesleyan University and then returned to teach at Ivy Tech. Beginning as a part-time instructor in 2001, she moved into a full-time position the following year. Using her experiences working as a nurse in hospital and clinical settings, Williams shares real-world examples to her students, encouraging them to consider the challenges they will face in the nursing profession.
In addition to her technical expertise, Williams is known for her willingness to help students, especially those who lack resources and confidence in their ability to succeed. Students note she is calm and reassuring, instilling confidence and connecting with even the most reticent.
Williams’s influence reaches beyond her classroom as she teaches her students about service. She has been cited as an excellent role model who involves her students in many health-related community service endeavors, from staffing health fairs to teaching middle-school students about their well-being.
A proponent of lifelong learning, Williams has attended dozens of trainings, conferences and other professional development events since earning her master’s degree and has been a leader in adopting new technologies. She has served as a member of Kokomo Schools Head Start Program Health Advisory Board and Indiana University Kokomo School of Nursing Advisory Board, along with many Ivy Tech committees.
Carole Boyer:
Boyer, honored with Ivy Tech Kokomo’s adjunct faculty award for 2018-19, has devoted her entire 30-year career to teaching, covering every level from preschool to college. She began her teaching career in 1985 at Maconaquah Junior High School, where she worked to instill her love of creativity in her students in the home economics classroom. She later shared her talent and passion for students as a teacher and director at the preschool level. For the past 13 years, she has served Ivy Tech as adjunct faculty, teaching developmental reading and writing and student success courses at the Kokomo, Peru and Wabash campuses.
In presenting the award, Ivy Tech leaders cited engagement, value as a person, and enthusiasm as hallmarks of Boyer’s teaching philosophy. They said she has made a great impact at Ivy Tech in applying that philosophy as a leader in the College’s effort to develop curricula and programming that help students get a good start in their college education. Her primary teaching areas have been in the English “co-requisite” course that focuses on improving students’ reading and writing skills so they can successfully complete the freshman composition course. As a member of an Ivy Tech Kokomo team, she traveled throughout the state presenting workshops that helped to improve course delivery and shared their efforts at the annual conference of the National Association for Development Education.
In addition to teaching, Boyer serves as a tutor in the Ivy Tech Kokomo Learning Center where she works with students individually to tackle difficult assignments and to realize they can achieve their goals.
Boyer earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Purdue University.
SOURCE: News release from Ivy Tech Community College Kokomo Region