Nashville State Professor and Student Win 2020 Statewide Honors
During a meeting of the Tennessee Board of Regents today, the College System of Tennessee announced outstanding faculty, students, staff and colleges of the year for its second Statewide Outstanding Achievement Recognition (SOAR) Awards.
Nashville State Community College has two of the six individual award winners.
- Assistant Professor of Biology Kathleen McAdams was awarded Community College Faculty Member of the Year.
- Mr. Dominic Marcoaldi, an English Major, was awarded Community College Student of the Year.
The individual winner categories are, Faculty Member of the Year, Student of the Year, and Staff Member of the Year – one each from a Community College and a Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT). Additionally, there is one Community College of the Year and a TCAT of the Year. There are 13 community colleges and 27 TCATs.
“I am incredibly proud of Professor McAdams and Dominic for being awarded statewide honors,” said Dr. Shanna L. Jackson, Nashville State’s president.
“Professor McAdams is an embodiment of all that is good about our amazing faculty. She is not only focused on delivering quality instruction, Professor McAdams works hard to understand the individual needs of her students and provide guidance.”
The 2018-2019 Nashville State Faculty Recognition Award recipient, McAdams was nominated for her demonstrated teaching effectiveness, her creativity in engaging students in her Anatomy and Physiology courses, her dedicated work in advising, and her willingness to share teaching ideas and mentor her faculty colleagues.
In the letter of support for the professor, Dr. Jackson said colleagues have noted that she frequently develops specific activities for individual students based on her understanding of what will be helpful to them, and that she has readily hosted students for activities that will facilitate their success, including sessions for improving test-taking skills.
Professor McAdams teaches Anatomy and Physiology, which serves as a gateway course for programs in the health professions, and is among the most difficult courses for students due to the volume and complexity of the material, and the high stakes associated with students’ performance in the course.
Mr. Dominic Marcoaldi is a student majoring in English, carrying a 4.0 grade point average. He is one of many Nashville State students taking advantage of the Tennessee Reconnect program, which provides community college free of tuition for adults without degrees. After graduating this summer, Dominic plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree and become a teacher. Dominic has successfully completed numerous Honors courses, and serves as both the President of the Honors College Association and President of Phi Theta Kappa.
Through both his academic work and extracurricular activities, Dominic has engaged issues of food insecurity and the challenges immigrant students face, and though his honors and PTK service work has exhibited outstanding leadership in assisting several of his fellow students overcome hurdles they face to success at NSCC.
“That Dominic is so willing to give of his time and talents to help his fellow students, while also managing his numerous responsibilities with course work and outside employment is admirable indeed. His leadership serves as wonderful model for all our students,” said Jackson.
