The President’s Award for Excellence was created in 2022 by President Thomas Isekenegbe, on behalf of the College Senate, to recognize the incredible hard work and dedication of the BCC faculty and staff.
What are the awards?
In Spring 2024, the President’s Awards for Excellence Committees will be accepting nominations for the President’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching, Research and Creative Activities, and Service. Any faculty member, full-time and adjunct, hired prior to Spring 2021 may apply for the Excellence in Teaching or Research and Creative Activities Awards. Any employee hired before January 2021 may apply for the Excellence in Service Award. Questions about any award can be directed to the chair of the committee, Dr. Seth Offenbach.
Award winners will receive a $200 award and will be honored at the annual commencement in June. In addition, they will be asked to present about their work to the BCC community. All application packages will be reviewed by the President’s Award for Excellence Committee which includes stakeholders from throughout the BCC community. The Committee is chaired by a faculty member from the Academic Senate. The Committee will carefully consider and weigh all the evidence submitted of an applicant’s record of excellence. All material should be submitted by the applicant, including the letters of support (which will remain unsealed to the applicant). The Committee will recommend award recipients to the President, who will make the final determination of Excellence Awards for the year. Recipients will be notified prior to June convocation. Applicants who are not selected for awards are eligible to re-apply in future years; award winners are ineligible to apply for the same award for the next ten years.
Nomination Process
Any member of the BCC community may nominate someone for any of these awards. Self-nominations are accepted, but not required.
Nominees will be asked to submit supporting materials to the President’s Awards for Excellence Committee.
The nomination period is now closed.
Awards for Excellence Winners 2023
President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching
Full time
Monique Guishard PhD
Monique A. Guishard, PhD (she/her/hers) is a tenured Associate Professor of Psychology within Bronx Community College’s (BCC) Social Sciences Department. She is an entirely CUNY educated scholar (BCC, Herbert H. Lehman College, Hunter College, & The CUNY Graduate & University Center). Dr. Guishard is a womanist community social psychologist, abolitionist educator, research ethicist, and organizer. She identifies as Afro-Latine/x.
President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching
Adjunct
Amy Van Natter
Amy Van Natter earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and a Master of Arts degree in History from Wayne State University, as well as a Doctor of Philosophy degree in History from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Dr. Van Natter began her career at CUNY as a teaching assistant at Baruch College in 2002 and has been teaching at CUNY since 2003.
President’s Award for Excellence in Research and Creative Activities
Professor Eugene S. Mananga
Professor Eugene S. Mananga research span a range of topics in condensed matter physics, atomic and molecular physics, materials science, computational chemistry, thermodynamics, and nuclear medicine. More recently, Professor Mananga’s team paired with Dr. Hubertus van Dam, HPC Applications Architect in the Energy and Photon Sciences Directorate at Brookhaven National Laboratory.
President’s Award for Excellence in Service
Tiffany J. Dubon-Yard
Tiffany Dubon-Yard is the Student Life Specialist in Civic Engagement for the Office of Student Life at Bronx Community College. Tiffany was born and raised in the Bronx and first generation Honduran American with a bachelors in arts double majoring in Journalism and Sociology from SUNY Purchase College and a master’s in Student Affairs and Administration from SUNY Binghamton University.
There shall be two separate Teaching awards, one for adjunct faculty and one for full-time faculty members. For the full-time faculty award, nominees must have taught at Bronx Community College in a full-time capacity since at least Spring 2021. For the adjunct faculty award, nominees must have taught at least one class a semester at Bronx Community College since at least Spring 2021.
Nominees will be asked to demonstrate their dedication to the craft of teaching, while guiding and inspiring our students. As teachers, they should foster classes that are intellectually enriching environments while using inclusive and innovative pedagogies that facilitate the acquisition of knowledge for all students.
Nominees will be asked to submit:
- Your CV
- 250-500 word statement of teaching pedagogy
- 1-2 teaching observations
- Letters of support from former students
- Faculty may also choose to include examples of student assignments or projects, assessment instruments, documentation of student learning, or letters of support from a peer
- Letters from current students should be excluded due to the appearance of impropriety
For the Research and Creative Activities award, nominees must have served at Bronx Community College as a member of the faculty in any capacity since at least Spring 2021. Nominees will be asked to demonstrate that they have contributed groundbreaking and outstanding scholarship which has contributed to the creation of knowledge and furthered their academic field. Those in the creative arts will be asked to demonstrate the importance and value of their contributions to the field.
Nominees will be asked to submit:
- Your CV
- 500-750 word summary of the research or creative activity and its importance for the field
- 1-2 letters by a colleague at BCC or someone outside of the college supporting the importance of their work
- Examples of the material referenced in the summary and letters
For the Service award, nominees must have served as employees at Bronx Community College in any capacity since at least January 2021. Nominees will be asked to demonstrate that they have worked to make the college a more welcoming community and that this employee goes the extra mile to help us become a growing, vibrant, and inclusive workspace.
Nominees will be asked to submit:
- Your CV
- A 250-500 word statement of your excellent service
- 2-3 letters of support by a member of the BCC community
Questions:
All questions can be directed to the committee chair Seth Offenbach.
Committee Members:
Seth Offenbach (Chair), Full Time Faculty
Katherine Acevedo-Coppa, Academic Affairs
Jeanette Batiz, Chief CLT, Biological Sciences Department
Jacqueline Barbour, Staff, IT Assistant/PM, PMO Production Support & Quality Assurance
Claudia Jacques De Moraes Cardoso, Adjunct Faculty, Art & Music Department
Latitia Collins, Student
Monique Guishard, Full Time Faculty, Social Sciences Department
Melanie Robles, HEO, ASAP Associate Director
Dickens St. Hilaire, Full Time Faculty, Chemistry, Environmental Sciences & Earth Sciences Department
