Recognized for their professionalism and commitment to student learning and success, this year’s Lone Star College-CyFair Adjunct Faculty Excellence Awards Winners are Dave DeJohn, Judy Josey, Tiffany Martin and Jerre Schoffstall.
Chosen from student and coworker nominations, these adjunct faculty members also demonstrate innovation and a passion for their respective disciplines with a focus on student goals that include an encouraging atmosphere supportive of student success.
“As a struggling video producer, I stumbled into education and found a passion for helping young people find their way through media or whatever path they desire,” said DeJohn, Director of Digital Cinema for CFISD, who has taught LSC-CyFair Visual Communication courses since January 2017. “I ensure students dive right into the craft of production and can tie themselves to the lessons in ways that go well beyond the classroom.”
For example, DeJohn and his students collaborate with the college relations team to produce video marketing material, which serve as class assignments that provide students real-world experience in order to reach their fellow students and the community.
After raising a family of three children and working part-time in a public school, Josey has found the last eight years teaching Transitional Math at LSC-CyFair rewarding and fulfilling.
“Teaching is a way to be involved in the community, share knowledge, and encourage others to pursue their dreams,” said Josey. “And the classroom should be a comfortable place (for students with different learning styles) to discover, imagine, calculate, and explore ideas and concepts.”
One student nomination says this math teacher “is amazing, very patient, kind and makes my weakest subject easy.”
Another student said majoring in biochemistry is a joy thanks to Martin, who has taught biology at LSC-CyFair since 2014 with pride and keeps her students engaged in the classroom and labs.
“Classroom activities engage students with the material and their classmates, group projects encourage students to problem solve and work together to accomplish a shared goal, and Service Learning projects extend our classroom community into our campus and beyond,” said Martin, who believes such active learning builds a sense of community in the classroom.
She also brings experience in volunteer work in CFISD’s Science Resource Center and in establishing protocols using molecular-based cross-matching techniques in organ transplantation at UT’s Health Science Center to help her students get to the next step in their educational journey.
With more than 25 years of experience in the accounting field, Schoffstall has used this knowledge to passionately guide adult learners to achieve success both in and out of the classroom for the past three years at LSC-CyFair
“I have a desire to inspire and a hope to make an impact on students to find excitement in accounting (a field that is commonly perceived as boring),” she said. “I want to help students realize their goals and dreams for any career path they can imagine.”
Believing student engagement is critical to higher levels of success, she seeks new and innovative ways to bring the real world into her extremely interactive classroom. For example, the practical knowledge students obtain through an exercise, in which they run a company and report the results in a semester-end Financial Reporting Project, can be applied to a wealth of majors, such as accounting, business, marketing, supply chain, logistics, economics and more.
These four adjunct faculty members were honored at college and system events this spring.
For information on LSC-CyFair, adjunct faculty opportunities, late start class registration as well as college degree and workforce programs, go to LoneStar.edu/cyfair.