This story is the second part in a series on the 2021 Award of Excellence winners. Read the story on the Outstanding Team award winners here.
This past fall, three members of the Niagara College team were honoured for their exceptional service and accomplishments with NC’s highly coveted Awards of Excellence. A new Team Award of Excellence was also awarded. The awards celebrate the achievements of faculty, support staff and administrative employees for all that they do to help our students succeed while exemplifying the spirit of NC.
The 2021 recipients were recognized in a rather unique way at the College’s annual Niagara Day event – by surprise visit to their homes!
InsideNC caught up with the 2021 recipients to recap their achievements and see what they had to say.
Natasha Patrito Hannon, Director, Teaching and Learning Innovation
Administrative Staff Award
Natasha Patrito Hannon is the Director, Teaching and Learning Innovation in the Centre for Academic Excellence. She is described by her colleagues as a humble, encouraging, and passionate collaborator whose belief in the power of education is inspiring. She is a talented facilitator who leads by example with her strong work ethic.
Natasha understands the transformational benefits of education and has supported key initiatives like a college-wide Open Educational Resource program, the annual Spotlight on Teaching and Learning conference, the Part-Time Teachers’ Development Program and the College Educator’s Development Program.
She is a well-respected expert among her peers and embodies the welcoming, passionate, and trailblazing qualities so near to the heart of this College.
What does it mean to you to be recognized by your colleagues and the College with this award?
It felt surreal. Since I joined NC in 2014, the Awards of Excellence announcements have been a highlight of my year. I love the sense of mystery and the joy that is so abundantly clear on the faces of the honorees, but also on the faces of the colleagues who nominate them. But I never thought I would be the person whose name was called. In the moment it felt unreal and with the opportunity for reflection it feels humbling. I am so appreciative of the individual recognition, but everything that the Centre for Academic Excellence does is a true team effort. I work with the most talented and generous colleagues in the world.
You were recognized for being a facilitator; for being collaborative and including all perspectives in your work. What is it like to work with and lead faculty and staff at NC?
I think listening – the ability to set your own opinions aside for a moment and really listen to the experiences and perspectives of others – is an essential part of being an excellent teacher, mentor, and leader. I definitely do not always listen well, but I do try to create conditions in which many voices can be heard and feel valued. Every time I have the opportunity to connect with anyone in the NC community, I am blown away by their commitment to their work and by the expertise they bring to the table. Working with different people across all different areas of the college is one of the absolute joys of my role.
What do you consider to be the most rewarding aspect of your work?
I have a job that allows me to learn continuously – learn from my brilliant colleagues, learn about new program areas, learn about new technologies, learn about new professions. I’m doing my best work when I can share that learning with NC educators and help to translate it into inspiring academic experiences for NC students. It is so rewarding to hear about the incredibly innovative and student-centered teaching that happens at NC. And I get a birds-eye view of so much of it!
Barbara Smith, Professor, School of Business and Management Studies
Faculty Award
Barbara received the Faculty Award of Excellence for embodying a committed, professional, and student-centered approach to her role as professor, whose love of learning has benefitted countless students and colleagues.
As a faculty member and program coordinator, Barbara is known as a warm and helpful colleague who can always be counted on for advice, suggestions, insight, and resources on current practices in education or technology.
Barbara is passionately dedicated to the field with a strong commitment to student success and innovation in teaching. Over 28 years at NC, she has dedicated a tremendous amount of time to integrating technology curriculum across the school, and to mentoring fellow faculty members on effective delivery strategies for technology courses.
Her dynamic courses challenge her students and create a positive, interactive learning culture in her classrooms. Barbara is involved with the HR@NC student association, facilitating industry-focused events and connections for students, along with many field trips and guest speakers.
She embodies the spirit of community building and has spent time with the Centre for Academic Excellence sharing her passion for knowledge and technology as a learning facilitator, supporting faculty to develop hybrid delivery courses.
“I was honored to be recognized by my colleagues after 30 years of teaching and helping faculty integrate new technologies into their course design and lesson plans,” said Barbara.
Jody Thomas, Academic Advisor, Academic Advising
Support Staff Award
A member of the Community and Health Studies division, Jody Thomas is a supportive and resourceful advocate for student success who is known for exceptional dedication and work ethic. As an Academic Advisor, Jody is a team player, providing assistance and information to students, staff and faculty alike with a big smile and sympathetic heart.
She embodies the College’s passionate and welcoming traits with her student-centred approach. Jody is focused on solutions that are fair and compassionate as she helps to ensure a smooth student experience from admission to graduation.
Jody supports the School of Nursing and Personal Support Work in recruitment activities, admissions, timetable selections, open house and guest speaker events. A leader among her peers, she has shared tried and tested processes within her advising team and taken on additional responsibilities to support the new PSW-Accelerated program.
What does it mean to you to be recognized by your colleagues and the College with this award?
At first winning the award was overwhelming. It took a few days for me to be able to process the whole situation. I had the opportunity to read all the emails and letters that my colleagues sent in to support my nomination. They were so touching. They made me cry and they made me laugh. It was wonderful to see all the kind words, stories and to see how the small things that I have done touched their lives or made their jobs just a little easier. I work with so many wonderful individuals across the college that work just as hard and are just as student focused as me and it made me realize that we go through our everyday work lives and often forget to appreciate what a good team we are. Winning this award means the world to me.
You were recognized for taking on additional responsibilities to support the new Accelerated PSW program. How does it feel to support your students from admission to graduation where they will make a difference in the lives of others?
Anyone who knows me knows that I love to be challenged. When the government announced a fully funded program and, suddenly, 160 new PSW students were handed to the program, I was so excited to be here to support them. We knew the students in the accelerated program would be not only be challenged by the heavy course and fast-paced nature of the program, but also with being fully online.
This program permitted students from all different backgrounds, experience and education to participate which contributed to many challenges with supporting them. I was excited to come up with new ways to support them in their success throughout the program. Weekly video chats and weekly newsletters to the students allowed me to build better connections with my students like I would build with students in the regular stream programs. Having been able to develop a personal connection with these students, I was better able to support them through the many bumps in the road. Many of them struggles with deaths in the family, kids at home doing virtual learning or who were sick. I felt like a proud parent when I saw them overcome all of this and complete their program with high grades.
We are starting our bridging program this spring and there are several names of the list from the accelerated programs. I am so happy they are able to continue their educational journey here at Niagara College and also achieve their dreams of becoming nurses, especially during this difficult time in the industry when we are so desperate for nurses.
What do you consider to be the most rewarding aspect of advising and supporting students? What do you wish other faculty and staff knew about our students?
Advising is a tough job because we generally see students at their worst. They are not attending classes, they are failing classes or something in their personal lives has been turned upside down so they come in to see an advisor to explore their next steps. These are often difficult conversations with outcomes students do not want to hear or accept. I believe the most rewarding aspect of this job is to work with these students, see them struggle, but to watch them overcome whatever obstacles they have had to endure and make it successfully through the program. The students that show the most determination and resiliency throughout the program are often the ones that will be the compassionate, caring health care professionals, so when they reach out and say ‘thank you, I could not have done it without you,’ that is the most rewarding part of the job.
Our students, especially over the last several years during COVID, have had to learn to pivot, to adjust to change, and learn to adapt to a new normal. For the most part they have risen to the challenges. The next several years will be challenging for students, especially those coming from high school that have had an education that has been largely disrupted by COVID.
Our faculty and staff have also worked hard to pivot and adapt and they have risen to the challenges of the past couple years as well. Hoping that the lessons learned throughout COVID will continue to follow us as we move back to a somewhat “normal” and we will continue to use that creativity in supporting our students.
