Awards & Showcases
Join us for our annual Celebration of Excellence in Research and Teaching
We hope that you will save the date and join us to celebrate these distinguished faculty members at our upcoming Celebration of Excellence in Research and Teaching on May 3, 2022 at 4pm over Zoom.
2022 Award Recipients
Symons Award for Excellence in Teaching
Dr. Christine Goodwin-De Faria, Child and Youth Studies
Recognizes faculty and staff members who encourage learning and who offer unique experiences to their students, challenge them to do their best work, and inspire them to learn.
Christine Goodwin-De Faria is an Assistant Professor in the Child and Youth Studies Program at Trent Durham GTA. She is a creative, inspiring, and compassionate teacher who supports student learning by incorporating multiple means of instruction and engaging assessments. Professor Goodwin-De Faria shares her passion for youth rights and justice with her students, inspiring and supporting them as they pursue their interests through independent research projects and volunteer work. Perhaps most significantly, she has encouraged students to deepen their understanding of their own abilities. Students and alumni recognized the important role Professor Goodwin-De Faria has played in their development, helping them to move from nervous first-year students to confident upper-years and graduates who feel “capable and worthy” of presenting their research at university-wide events. Even as she challenges them to move outside of their comfort zones, students celebrated Professor Goodwin-De Faria’s exemplary concern for their well-being, noting that she made extraordinary efforts to listen and respond to students’ concerns and invited students to seek her counsel on academic and professional matters well beyond the end of a given course.
Award for Educational Leadership and Innovation (Two awards in 2022)
Dr. Joel Baetz, English Literature
Recognizes faculty and staff who have distinguished themselves through their educational leadership, teaching, innovation, and successful communication.
Joel Baetz is an Associate Professor, Teaching Intensive and Acting Chair of the Department of English Literature. Professor Baetz is recognized for his extraordinary pedagogical leadership and innovation at the course and institutional levels. In his Communications and Critical Thinking courses, Professor Baetz reshaped the bounds of traditional humanities instruction by incorporating experiential learning projects that allow students to research and author reports for community partners. Of equal significance is the pedagogical leadership Professor Baetz displayed “in his innovative and compassionate teaching of the faculty” throughout the many Covid-related disruptions to teaching and learning. While Director of the Centre for Teaching and Learning, Professor Baetz developed innumerable resources on remote course design and instruction including Going the Distance, a course for instructors on online instruction. Faculty recognize the wide reach of Professor Baetz’s pedagogical innovations noting that his work is “everywhere manifest in the best aspects of Trent’s pedagogy.”
Dr. Susan Hillock, Social Work
Susan Hillock is a Professor in the Department of Social Work and is recognized for her extraordinary pedagogical innovations and leadership at the course and program levels. As the Department of Social Work’s Founding Director, Professor Hillock helped to build the program from the first-year curriculum through to the professional years. She developed and taught fifteen new courses, infusing each with insights from her research into teaching and learning and her steadfast commitment to anti-oppressive practice and principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion. Professor Hillock has been instrumental in guiding Social Work into a successful academic department and professional program, authoring multiple comprehensive reports to achieve pre-accreditation approval and designing the field education courses that place BSW students into professional practicums. In addition to her work within Social Work, Professor Hillock has taken leadership within Trent and beyond in “advocating for more inclusive and anti-oppressive teaching practices across the university.”
Award for Excellence in Online Teaching
David King, Chanie Wenjack School for Indigenous Studies
Recognizes instructors who have demonstrated a passion for, and commitment to, online teaching and who have implemented effective approaches to fostering active learning and student involvement.
David King is an instructor with the Chanie Wenjack School for Indigenous Studies. Professor King goes to great lengths to support students through online learning, presenting materials in an accessible and digestible format and developing discussion posts that encourage students to “look past the content, not regurgitate it.” His students appreciate his creative use of technology and social media to connect them to Arctic peoples and communities noting that they almost felt like they were in the North when they took his class. Sharing his passion for the field of Circumpolar World Studies, Professor King inspires his students to learn more about the North, “opening up an entirely new perspective on Canada as well as their degree.”
CUPE 3908-1 Award for Excellence in Teaching
Catherine Davis, Chanie Wenjack School for Indigenous Studies
Recognizes contract faculty who have a strong, positive impact on students’ learning.
Catherine Davis, is a workshop leader with the Chanie Wenjack School for Indigenous Studies. Students value the ways in which Ms. Davis creates safe space within her classroom, ensuring that “every single voice is heard, appreciated and valued.” They note her meticulous preparation for each class and the way she incorporates materials that “reflect Indigenous peoples as contemporary authors, scholars, researchers, and leaders, ensuring that Indigenous students … can see themselves as potential research leaders.” Students and faculty also appreciate the care with which Ms. Davis responds to students’ work and describe Ms. Davis as a “fearless guide,” who “humanizes” learning by sharing examples from her own experience and research process.
Award for Excellence in Teaching Assistance
Kalyca Hebert, Psychology
Recognizes teaching assistants who excel at encouraging learning in workshop, tutorial, seminar, laboratory, or field settings
Kalyca Hebert, a Teaching Assistant in Psychology, is recognized for her extraordinary support for students’ learning. Students and faculty see the ways in which Ms. Hebert provides “unique, directed, and personal attention” to students. She interacts with students throughout class meetings, striving to understand each individual’s questions and concerns and providing tailored support to small groups, always engaging with students with the attitude of “how can I help you?” Students also appreciate how approachable she is, noting that Ms. Hebert goes above and beyond to answer emails “at all hours” and to “speak privately” with students who are hesitant to share their ideas and concerns with the larger class.