2024 Center for Teaching Excellence Instructional Coach of the Year
Recipient: Professor Michelle Wilson

The Center for Teaching Excellence at Franklin University is delighted to announce the recipient of the prestigious 2025 Instructional Coach of the Year Award. This annual award recognizes the outstanding efforts and commitment of a Franklin-certified instructional coach who exemplifies coaching excellence and is dedicated to the professional development and success of their coaching recipients. 

This year, the esteemed Instructional Coach of the Year title is bestowed upon Professor Michelle Wilson. Professor Wilson has been an active and invaluable coach within the Franklin University community for several years. Her unwavering dedication to guiding and supporting new faculty members through their journey at the University has earned her this well-deserved honor. 

The Instructional Coaching Award is granted to an instructional coach who demonstrates excellence in several key areas, including: 
* Strong Engagement with Coaching Recipients
* Providing Quality Feedback and Goal Setting in Teaching Observation
* Adapting to the Needs of Each Coaching Recipient
* Stand-Out Effort to Ensure New Faculty are Supported Throughout the Coaching Process

Coaching recipients had this to say about Professor Wilson's coaching: 
"Michelle truly defines what it means to be supportive and dedicated. She was always there to help, from regular meetings to quick replies when I had questions. She also shares her own teaching experience to help me learn Canvas more effectively, design meaningful assignments, and give meaningful feedback that helps students grow."

"I couldn't have asked for a better coach. Michelle made my first teaching experience a lot less stressful and a lot more rewarding."
 

Franklin University is proud to honor Professor Michelle Wilson as a dedicated and exceptional instructional coach. 

For more information, please contact: 
The Center for Teaching Excellence 
cetl@franklin.edu  

2025 Center for Teaching Excellence Inclusive Teaching Excellence Award 
 
Recipient: Dr. Isidoro Talavera

The Center for Teaching Excellence at Franklin University proudly names Dr. Isidoro Talavera as the recipient of the 2025 Inclusive Teaching Excellence Award. This prestigious accolade honors educators who exemplify unwavering commitment to inclusive teaching practices, creating diverse, equitable, and welcoming classrooms. 

The Inclusive Teaching Excellence Award acknowledges educators who: 
· Promote classroom inclusion through articulated teaching strategies. 
· Surpass conventional classroom practices with inclusive methods. 
· Exhibit care and attention to student needs. 
· Model sound pedagogical practices. 
· Cultivate an inclusive educational environment through strategic approaches. 

Highlights from Dr. Talavera's nomination:

His willingness to identify and address potential barriers to success in traditional inclusion efforts has positioned Dr. Talavera, and the coursework under his direction, to better serve our students from a diverse collection of backgrounds.  You will find discussions in his courses that ask students to bring their own understanding of “critical thinking” to the table.  What is particularly remarkable about these conversations is the variety of perspectives represented in the student responses. In academia, there are many discipline-specific definitions of critical thinking (for example, psychology and nursing have very different definitions). Similarly, definitions of critical thinking shift from culture to culture.  In the courses under Dr. Talavera’s direction, students are positioned to respectfully explore those differences in a way that widens everyone’s lens.


For more information, please contact: 
The Center for Teaching Excellence 
cetl@franklin.edu

2025 SOCHE Excellence Award Winners

Community Leadership Honoree – Dr. Chenelle A. Jones

The 2024 Community Leadership Award goes to Dr. Chenelle A. Jones, whose extensive work has had a profound impact on public safety, education, and community relations. As the Chair of Public Safety Programs and Director of the Center for Public Safety and Cybersecurity Education at Franklin University, Dr. Jones has been instrumental in implementing initiatives that improve police-community relations, like the Columbus Division of Police Community Immersion Training. Her efforts extend beyond academia into real-world applications, enhancing community connections and understanding.

2024 Center for Teaching Excellence Instructional Coach of the Year
Recipient: Dr. Gail Baumlein

The Center for Teaching Excellence at Franklin University is delighted to announce the recipient of the prestigious 2024 Instructional Coach of the Year Award. This annual award recognizes the outstanding efforts and commitment of a Franklin-certified instructional coach who exemplifies coaching excellence and is dedicated to the professional development and success of their coaching recipients. 

This year, the esteemed Instructional Coach of the Year title is bestowed upon Dr. Gail Baumlein. Dr. Baumlein has been an active and invaluable coach within the Franklin University community for several years. Her unwavering dedication to guiding and supporting new faculty members through their journey at the University has earned her this well-deserved honor. 

The Instructional Coaching Award is granted to an instructional coach who demonstrates excellence in several key areas, including: 

* Strong Engagement with Coaching Recipients
* Providing Quality Feedback and Goal Setting in Teaching Observation
* Adapting to the Needs of Each Coaching Recipient
* Stand-Out Effort to Ensure New Faculty are Supported Throughout the Coaching Process

One coaching recipient had this to say about Dr. Baumlein’s coaching: 
“Gail was very helpful and made my first class a great experience.”  Another said, “Dr. Baumlein was very helpful and genuine during our interactions. It was a pleasure working with her.”

Franklin University is proud to showcase Dr. Gail Baumlein as a dedicated and exceptional instructional coach. 

For more information, please contact: 
The Center for Teaching Excellence 
cetl@franklin.edu  

2024 Center for Teaching Excellence Inclusive Teaching Excellence Award

Recipient: Dr. Jessica Arends

The Center for Teaching Excellence at Franklin University proudly names Dr. Jessica Arends as the recipient of the 2024 Inclusive Teaching Excellence Award. This prestigious accolade honors educators who exemplify unwavering commitment to inclusive teaching practices, creating diverse, equitable, and welcoming classrooms.

The Inclusive Teaching Excellence Award acknowledges educators who:
· Promote classroom inclusion through articulated teaching strategies.
· Surpass conventional classroom practices with inclusive methods.
· Exhibit care and attention to student needs.
· Model sound pedagogical practices.
· Cultivate an inclusive educational environment through strategic approaches.

Dr. Arends' teaching strategies transcend online learning challenges, creating a connected and inclusive virtual classroom.  Franklin University commends Dr. Arends on her efforts to promote inclusivity in her courses.

For more information, please contact:
The Center for Teaching Excellence
cetl@franklin.edu

2023 Lead Faculty of the Year Award Recipients

The Faculty Personnel Committee, under the auspices of the Franklin University Faculty Senate, solicited nominations for the 2023 Lead Faculty of the Year Award. This award serves to honor an outstanding full-time faculty member having lead faculty responsibilities such as course management, adjunct faculty management, and teaching.

The 2023 Lead Faculty of the Year Award recipient is Dr. Jennifer Van Winkle. 

Here are a few things Dr. Van Winkle’s nominating faculty expressed about her:

Dr. Jennifer Van Winkle has been responsible for hiring a good number of adjunct faculty for our growing programs. She holds orientations, town-hall meetings, checks in regularly, and counsels/coaches as needed. She mentors faculty on the expectations for our “clinical pearls,” aka Meet sessions, feedback, etc. She has worked to provide announcement banks. She is developing feedback banks along with the team to ensure that multiple sections of the same course provide students with the same information and consistent feedback.

Dr. Van Winkle has a great deal of teaching effectiveness and innovation. For example, she created our newest course to cover advanced pathophysiology and pharmacology for nurse educators. The course uses state-of-the-art technology (Shadow Health) and a case study approach to learning. To ensure formative assessment and development, quizzes were added that students could retake until they were able to demonstrate competency in each area. This competency-based learning is a movement in nursing education and our first course to include this pedagogy.

 
Two faculty members are recognized as 2023 Lead Faculty of the Year Honorable Mention.

Dr. Isidoro Talavera

 The nominating faculty member expressed the following about Dr. Talavera:

Dr. Talavera has been the driving force for creating high-quality online coursework within the Humanities department. I have taught several sections of HUMN 210 (Critical Thinking) and HUMN 345 (Philosophy of Science). In course evaluations, students always comment about how much they appreciate the relevance of the material and the intuitive organization of the course. While I would like to take credit for these aspects of the class, I cannot. They are 100% a tribute to Dr. Talavera’s robust understanding of the learning process. In managing adjuncts, Dr. Talavera is committed to continuous quality improvement, collaborating with faculty to identify struggle points and solutions. When seeking to identify best practices in instruction for tricky topics such as argument forms, he seeks and integrates the feedback of adjunct faculty, honoring their investment and insights from their instructional efforts. He makes everyone feel valued as he leads improvements.

Dr. Kelly Renner

The nominating faculty member expressed the following about Dr. Renner.

Dr. Renner is a very supportive and easily approachable mentor. She has a strong leadership style where she praises your efforts and provides critical feedback to help you build your skills. She is always available and is open to feedback from instructors on how to improve courses, as well as how to make our courses more accessible to all students. She is very clear about policy and procedure and also very clear about the importance of facilitating an open and accepting environment in our courses. From providing guidance on wording and responses to challenging situations to continuously monitoring the wording in our courses to make sure that we are inclusive, she is always very thoughtful and aware of the importance of these issues in the classroom. At a recent faculty meeting, she invited adjunct faculty to present and share their experience and expertise on how to improve students’ writing, use of technology, and navigate challenging issues.

2023 Center for Teaching Excellence Inclusive Teaching Excellence Award

Recipient: Dr. Arian Moore

The Center for Teaching Excellence proudly names Dr. Arian Moore as the recipient of the 2023 Inclusive Teaching Excellence Award. This prestigious accolade honors educators who exemplify unwavering commitment to inclusive teaching practices, creating diverse, equitable, and welcoming classrooms.

The Inclusive Teaching Excellence Award acknowledges educators who:

• Promote classroom inclusion through articulated teaching strategies.
• Surpass conventional classroom practices with inclusive methods.
• Exhibit care and attention to student needs.
• Model sound pedagogical practices.
• Cultivate an inclusive educational environment through strategic approaches.

Key Highlights from the nomination of Dr. Moore:

Personalization: Dr. Moore addresses students by name, spelling their names correctly and utilizing preferred names to foster a sense of belonging.
Multimodal Learning: She provides images and videos to accommodate diverse learning styles, ensuring all students can grasp course material.
Ongoing Support: Weekly emails offer assistance and additional resources, promoting individualized attention and support.

Dr. Moore's teaching strategies transcend online learning challenges, creating a connected and inclusive virtual classroom.

For more information, please contact: 
The Center for Teaching Excellence 
cetl@franklin.edu  

2023 Center for Teaching Excellence Instructional Coach of the Year

Recipient: Professor Wendy Bartkus 

Franklin University is delighted to announce the recipient of the prestigious 2023 Instructional Coach of the Year Award. This annual award recognizes the outstanding efforts and commitment of a Franklin-certified instructional coach who exemplifies coaching excellence and is dedicated to the professional development and success of their coaching recipients. 
This year, the esteemed Instructional Coach of the Year title is bestowed upon Professor Wendy Bartkus. Professor Bartkus has been an active and invaluable coach within the Franklin University community for several years. Her unwavering dedication to guiding and supporting new faculty members through their journey at the University has earned her this well-deserved honor. 

The Instructional Coaching Award is granted to an instructional coach who demonstrates excellence in several key areas, including: 

Strong Engagement with Coaching Recipients: Professor Wendy Bartkus's exceptional commitment to her coaching recipients is evident through her ongoing support, availability, and responsiveness. Faculty members have praised her for her unwavering support and readiness to assist them whenever they have questions or concerns. 
Providing Quality Feedback and Goal Setting in Teaching Observation: Professor Bartkus has consistently provided invaluable feedback to her coaching recipients, fostering an environment of growth and improvement. Her dedication to setting clear and achievable goals for teaching observation has made her an exemplary coach. 
Adapting to the Needs of Each Coaching Recipient: Professor Bartkus' coaching approach is marked by its flexibility. She tailors her guidance to the unique needs of each individual, ensuring that every faculty member receives personalized support and mentorship. 
Stand-Out Effort to Ensure New Faculty are Supported Throughout the Coaching Process: Professor Bartkus goes above and beyond to ensure that new faculty members receive the guidance and mentorship they require to thrive in their roles.  

One coaching recipient had this to say about Professor Wendy Bartkus's coaching: 
“Wendy was very supportive, and I could reach out to her at any point with any questions that I had about the course. I appreciate the feedback that she gave me. I also love that she's flexible with either weekly meetings or check-in emails. For my experience, we did both depending on my needs for the week.” 

Franklin University is proud to showcase Professor Bartkus as a dedicated and exceptional instructional coach. 

For more information, please contact: 
The Center for Teaching Excellence 
cetl@franklin.edu  

2023 SOCHE Excellence Award Winners

Faculty Excellence Award Winner (Nominated by Dr. Kody Kuehnl) 
 
Dr. Todd Whittaker
Chair, Department of Computing Sciences & Mathematics

Dr. Whittaker has exemplified excellence by leading the creation of three new academic programs for the University (BS Analytics, BS Cloud Computing, MS Information Systems), by teaching, facilitating, and ensuring all academic needs of a new international partnership that boasts more than 160 new students on Franklin’s campus are met, and by creating a model and industry partnership that furthers Franklin’s Marketplace while also increasing student value and opportunity via certification and prior learning. 

Student Testimonials:
“The way Dr. Whittaker presents the lesson makes me eager to listen to him and to learn more.”
“Dr. Whittaker gives us everything we need to succeed in his courses.  He shows a passion and desire to teach and help students learn.”

Campus Impact Award Winner (Nominated by Dr. Kody Kuehnl)
 
Michael Klingler
Chair, Department of English & Humanities

Professor Klingler epitomizes Franklin’s motto of “being at our best for our students” by ensuring every individual has a positive experience. This was exemplified through his creation and teaching of a course for our international students focused on adapting to the US, and also facilitating a subsequent mentoring program, both of which increased retention, persistence, and student success. In addition, Prof. Klingler served on numerous search committees and supported our CCP and prison-education programs.

Student Testimonials:
“Professor Klingler is amazing, he really engages with his class and pays attention to each student.  He is patient and is willing to help any time we ask.”
“Professor Klinger demonstrates what it means to love and care for students, especially Franklin’s international students. He has personally invested his time, energy, and resources to help guide me so that I am on the right path to success at Franklin University.”  - Oluwafemi Fasuyi

Staff Excellence Award: Student Success & Services (Nominated by Dr. Lynne Rouzer)

Jessica Leber
Undergraduate Academic Advising Team Lead

Jessica supervises a staff of eight professional advisors in three colleges at Franklin University.  She displays extreme professionalism, empathy, and student focus in all her interactions with staff and students. As Empathy is one of her top 5 traits by Strengthsfinder 2.0, Jessica cares faithfully about her students and employees. There are many instances where she has connected with students who are struggling with an illness or tragedy and Jessica has talked them through their rough times. She is regularly and often commended by students as an outstanding advisor and is a key contributor to Franklin University’s multi-year Red Carpet Service Initiative that focuses on student-centered service.

She is an unrelenting advocate for students, serves as a positive role model for her employees, makes a difference in student’s lives, and being one of the founding members of Franklin University Red-Carpet Service Initiative, Jessica performs as a passionate ambassador of Red-Carpet Service.

2022 Center for Teaching Excellence Instructional Coach of the Year

Recipient: Dr. Jeffrey Ferezan

Our Instructional Coaches all demonstrate excellence by virtue of their role, and it is not uncommon for our coaches to go the extra mile in support of their coaching recipients and the cause of student-centered learning.  Starting this year and each year moving forward, the Center for Teaching Excellence would like to celebrate this culture of excellence by selecting an Instructional Coach of the Year: a coach who goes above and beyond even the superlative demands of the coaching role to support the success and development of their colleagues.   

This year, we are delighted to name Dr. Jeff Ferezan the Instructional Coach of the Year.

Dr. Ferezan is one of our longest-serving coaches.  Distinguished by his enthusiasm and responsiveness, he cultivates encouraging and meaningful relationships with his coaching recipients that introduce them not only to teaching at Franklin, but to the warmth and collegiality of Franklin’s culture.  During the initial phases of the SRC project this year, which saw a significant increase in instructor hiring volume, Dr. Ferezan took on a truly astonishing amount of coaching recipients, helmed small groups in order to ensure that these  new instructors would receive a smooth and welcoming introduction to the University, and taught their onboarding course as well.  It is notable that, despite the time and effort required to manage so many coaching recipients, Dr. Ferezan made a point to establish meaningful relationships with each of them, and many new instructors expressed their appreciation for his guidance and availability.

For this reason, and because he embodies the spirit of Instructional at Franklin, we are delighted to acknowledge Dr. Ferezan as this year’s recipient.

For more information, please contact: 
The Center for Teaching Excellence 
cetl@franklin.edu  

2022 Community College Alliance Faculty Champions

Franklin University partners with community colleges to maximize credit transfer to our degree programs, which support community college retention rates and graduation outcomes. Several of our faculty serve on community college advisory boards, review community college curriculum to help in the pathway development process, and present to students in community college classes. I join Franklin University’s Bill Chan, Senior Vice President for Strategic Alliances, and Samantha Shear, Executive Director of Community College Alliance in expressing appreciation to the following faculty members for their special efforts to support our Community College Alliance partners.  

2022 Franklin University Speakers Bureau

The Franklin University Speakers Bureau is part of the University's ongoing commitment to community involvement and development. Founded in 1972, the Speakers Bureau provides free presentations on contemporary topics of interest for business meetings and other civic gatherings. I want to thank the following faculty members for their service as members of the 2022 Franklin University Speakers Bureau: Rachel Althof - Patrick A. Bennett, Ed.D. MBA, PMP - Alyncia M. Bowen, Ph.D. - Debbie Conner, PhD, MSN, ANP-BC, FNP-BC, FAANP - Kelly Evans-Wilson - Dorothy "Gail" Frankle - Joel L. Gardner, PhD - Brenda J. - Chenelle A. Jones - Bilge Karabacak - Jonathan McCombs, Ph.D. - Mike P. - Kelly B. Renner, Ph.D., LPC - Doug Ross - Tim Reymann, Ph.D. - Wendell Seaborne, PhD - Isidoro Talavera - Constance Wanstreet

Franklin University Provost Selected as a Fulbright Specialist Roster Candidate

For Immediate Release: Feb. 5, 2015
For More Info Contact: Sherry Mercurio, Director of Public Relations
614.9947.6581 or sherry.mercurio@franklin.edu


Columbus, Ohio –Franklin University, one of the leading educators of working adults, is proud to announce that Dr. Christopher Washington, Provost & Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, has been selected for the Fulbright Specialist Program Roster. The program, coordinated by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and the Institute of International Education’s Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES), provides grant opportunities to Fulbright Specialists.

 Fulbright Specialists are consultants with expertise in their academic discipline, who collaborate on projects in diverse settings of higher education in a wide range of eligible disciplines and fields. The program promotes relationships between U.S. scholars and professionals and their counterparts at host institutions overseas.  The specialist program awards grants for short-term collaborative projects at institutions in over 140 countries.  Specialists may be requested to provide academic services, such as short-term lecturing, conducting seminars, teacher training, assessments and evaluations, special conferences or workshops, as well as collaborating on faculty development and curriculum or institutional planning.

 Dr. Christopher Washington serves as the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs for Franklin University, a private, nonprofit institution of higher education enabling the broadest possible community of learners to achieve their goals and enrich the world. Working with his cabinet and colleagues, Dr. Washington promotes student success through a variety of instructional approaches, academic resources, and learning support services.

 Active in the higher education community, Dr. Washington serves as a Consultant Evaluator for the Higher Learning Commission and on committees for the Ohio Board of Regents. He is actively engaged in the international education community, and facilitates relationships with partnering universities in Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine, Macedonia, Oman, Nepal, Guatemala and El Salvador. He currently serves on the Board of the International Visitors Council, an organization that works to build partnerships between American citizens and citizens of other countries, promote democratic ideals, encourage economic development and promote cultural understanding through the exchange of knowledge and ideas. He is the Vice Chair of the Education Committee of the Columbus Council on World Affairs, He serves on the Research Council of the Poznan School of Banking Research Journal and the journal Studies in Management and Finance.

 As an advocate for Workforce Development, Dr. Washington presently serves on the Board of the Central Ohio Workforce Investment Corporation (COWIC), an organization whose mission is to meet the employment needs of business and job seekers to support economic development in Ohio.

“I’m honored to be selected to represent the Unites States and Franklin University in such an altruistic approach to improving education across the globe,” stated Dr. Washington. “I am a strong believer that through the sharing of our individual expertise through programs like the Fulbright Roster, we create a collective knowledge that allows for the improvement of the broadest possible community of learners to succeed.”

To be considered for the Fulbright Specialist Program, the U.S. scholar must possess advanced academic expertise beyond teaching and research. U.S. faculty and professionals applications are reviewed by peers in their discipline and by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (FFSB), who then make their recommendation.

The Fulbright Program was established in 1946 under legislation introduced by then-Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas. The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs sponsor the Fulbright Program. The Fulbright Program awards approximately 8,000 grants annually. Roughly 1,600 U.S. students, 4,000 foreign students, 1,200 U.S. scholars, and 900 visiting scholars receive awards, in addition to several hundred teachers and professionals. Currently, the Fulbright Program operates in over 155 countries worldwide.