Holly Morris believes the sharing of ideas and knowledge is the key to teaching excellence. In that spirit, she wears many hats.
Perhaps that is the reason the Society of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) has selected her as one of five recipients of the 2013 College Sector Educator Award.
The group represents faculty from across Canada who truly exemplify the best in college teaching excellence and peer mentoring. Each recipient helps to support and ensure the success of their teaching colleagues as well as their students. In addition to working at their own colleges, they have provided exceptional leadership regionally, provincially, nationally and internationally in the field of teaching and learning.
“First of all, being nominated was an honour,” said Morris, a Business Administration instructor and faculty trainer with CNA’s Office of Distributed Learning. “I actually learned of my success a month before it was published, while I was in Qatar delivering D2L (Desire2Learn) training to a pilot crew of instructors and staff. I was bursting to tell everyone at that time but had to keep mum until the official press release came out.
“When I could finally tell co-workers and friends this past week, their response was the real honour inherent in this award and it was somewhat overwhelming. The appreciation of my peers means so much.”
As an active faculty member she is known for both her commitment to her students and for her dedication to collaboratively advancing teaching and learning at CNA. In one letter of support, a colleague stated, “it would be difficult to find anyone as committed to mentorship as Holly is”.
As a faculty trainer, Morris provides enthusiastic and high-quality instruction on the college’s learning management system (D2L) and supports faculty in developing best practices in online teaching. In addition to her duties as a full-time instructor and faculty trainer, she chairs the Business Administration program development committee and the professional development and knowledge share committee, and serves on several others. This exemplifies her dedication to academic quality and peer leadership.
“I am delighted that Holly has been recognized with the prestigious College Sector Educator Award,” said Theresa Pittman, CNA’s Chair of Distributed Learning. “She is a dedicated College of the North Atlantic faculty member and enthusiastically promotes and supports the development of her peers with regards to teaching excellence and student support.”
The College Sector Educator Awards will be presented at the STLHE Annual Conference and Awards Ceremony from June 19-22, in Sydney, Nova Scotia.
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Media Contact:
Roger Hulan
Communications Specialist
College of the North Atlantic
(709) 643-7938
roger.hulan@cna.nl.ca