Five faculty members are nominees for 2025 House/Bruckmann Awards

Five faculty members have been nominated as finalists for the House/Bruckmann Faculty Excellence Awards for 2025:

• Dr. Ronnie Gladden
• Dr. Heather Hatchett
• Professor Paula Kirch-Smith
• Professor Alyce Thompson
• Professor Nancy Wright

Voting by faculty members and academic administrators to determine the two award recipients for 2025 ends March 26, 2025.

The award recipients and the other nominees will be honored at a campus reception on April 21, 2025, along with the recipients of the Adjunct Faculty Excellence Award and new recipients of Professor Emeritus status.

The 2025 House/Bruckmann Award nominees are:

Dr. Ronnie Gladden, Professor of English (Humanities & Sciences)

Ronnie is nominated for their Commitment to Student Success and Collaborative Spirit, including:

• Consistently creating engaging lessons for students in English classes that “captivate students but also challenge them to explore new ideas and perspectives,” and “earning high praise from students who appreciate Ronnie’s genuine support and interest in their learning.”
• Collaborating with English Department colleagues to help implement initiatives including College Credit Plus, the English 101A Intensive Composition course, and the Exemplar Essays Project.
• Serving as faculty advisor for two student organizations: In the Zone, whose mission is to provide a safe, inclusive space for LGBTQ+ students and their allies, and the Creative Writing Club, which helps students “find their voices.”

Ronnie also is nominated for Contributions to the College, including:

• Serving as co-chairperson of the JAIDE Council (Justice/ Access/ Inclusion/ Diversity/ Equity) and “working tirelessly to advocate for a culture of belonging,” and striving to ensure that “every student and employee at Cincinnati State feels valued and empowered.”
• Providing Convocation presentations and “State of Safe Space” training to give faculty specific ways to be allies for our students. 
• Serving on the Sabbatical Review Board to provide opportunities for faculty to engage in research and projects that will enhance student learning.

Dr. Heather Hatchett, Professor of Psychology & Department Chair, Social & Behavioral Sciences (Humanities & Sciences)

Heather is nominated for her Collaborative Spirit and Contributions to the College, including:

• Leading the College Credit Plus (CCP) Committee through difficult challenges and completing projects to create more efficient and effective CCP programming. She led the committee in creating guidance documents for CCP coordinators college-wide and worked with administrators and faculty to rewrite the College’s Memorandum of Understanding that guides relationships between Cincinnati State and participating CCP high schools. In addition, she “facilitated communication, policy, guidance, and structure for college faculty working with CCP.”
• Providing “leadership, vision, and tireless effort” as well as research and data analysis to assist the College in securing a Federal Title III grant ($2.1 million) that resulted in the creation of the CState Complete program, which supports student success by preventing students from “stopping out” and helping them achieve degree completion.
• Serving as Faculty Champion for CState Complete, providing leadership to the faculty advisory team and working with the program staff to gather, analyze, and report on qualitative data and provide invaluable insights about student and faculty needs.
• Helping to ensure that scheduling of courses in Psychology is responsive to the needs of other programs and departments, so students have access to required courses that fit their schedules. 
• Providing “unwavering commitment to collaboration with colleagues,” “willingness to share her expertise and experiences as a trusted resource for other faculty,” and “dedication to the success of students and faculty.”

Paula Kirch-Smith, Program Chair, Hospitality Management (Business)

Paula is nominated for her Contributions to the College and Collaborative Spirit, including:

• Serving as a “staunch advocate for reform, improvement, and employee and student advocacy” and demonstrating “commitment to excellence, equity, and understanding” in governance groups that affect many aspects of College operations, such as the Academic Policies and Curriculum Committee (APCC), the Academic Calendar Committee, and the Safety Committee, as well as serving as Vice President of Cincinnati State AAUP. Her nomination notes that Paula’s “constant nudging of Cincinnati State in the right direction has had significant and lasting impact” at the College.
• Through her work with APCC, she has helped guide programs towards specific improvements, and has contributed to “student-centered language and policies” regarding administrative withdrawals, no-shows, posthumous degrees, and other policies.
• In her AAUP role, she has worked diligently to resolve faculty concerns and has been “a driving force in building faculty and student camaraderie” through projects like student stress-relief kits. 

Her nomination states that “Paula has served as both an official and unofficial faculty mentor to many in and outside of the Business Division” and notes that her “collaborative spirit extends toward the College’s long-term success,” such as a conversation with an adjunct instructor who applied for but was not selected for a full-time position, encouraging them to “continue on their path so they are ready when the next opportunity presents itself.”

Alyce Thompson, Professor of English & Department Co-Chair, English Composition/Literature (Humanities & Sciences)

Alyce is nominated for her Collaborative Spirit and Contributions to the College, including:

• Providing ongoing leadership for the English Department’s Teaching and Mentoring Program (TAMP) that provides “intrusive mentoring” for graduate students “to shape them into the best community college faculty they can be.” Alyce’s nomination states that she inspired the creation of this program because after she was hired at Cincinnati State, fresh out of graduate school, “she immediately demonstrated subject matter expertise, facility with instruction, ability to connect with students, and willingness to learn” and she “became an anchor of the adjunct faculty for English.”
• Serving as one of the founding members and the primary subject matter expert for Communications on the College’s Learning Outcomes Assessment Committee. Her nomination states, “Alyce helped to bring the College in two short years from the need for an interim report to the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) on assessment to high praise for our assessment efforts.” Her work on the committee included creating initial assessment rubrics, collaborative design of assessment projects, and the creation of entirely new institutional learning outcomes for the College. Her nomination notes, “There are few people in the College who have done more than Alyce to get us and keep us where we are related to our HLC accreditation.” 

Nancy Wright, Professor of English (Humanities & Sciences)

Nancy is nominated for her Excellence in Instruction, Commitment to Student Success, and Contributions to the College, including:

• Serving as the Academic Support Specialist for the course ENG 101A, Intensive Composition, providing “intrusive tutoring” that focuses on academic support as well as alleviating barriers to student success for students who are referred to her by their ENG 101A instructors. For these students, who are struggling with course material or may have stopped attending, Nancy reaches out and creates a plan to help them succeed. She meets regularly with these students to develop connections and provide support for these students. Her nomination states, “With Nancy’s help, many of the students who were once at risk of failure or dropping out of college go on to successfully complete the class and progress in their degree and certificate programs.”
• Serving as the course keeper for ENG 101A. In this role, she has developed course content for Live Web and on-campus course sections of ENG 101A, and she mentors and advises other course instructors.
• Collaborating with other English Department faculty as a “willing, steady, and thoughtful collaborator” for a variety of projects, such as piloting a new ENG 102 proposal and essay assignment, serving as the course keeper for ENG 105 when there was need, and working on a department project to provide exemplary essays for instructor use, including adjunct and College Credit Plus (CCP) instructors.
• Serving on College committees including the Scholarship Committee and the Professional Development Committee, and assisting the Peer Mentoring Advisory Committee.

Background

The House/Bruckmann Faculty Excellence Award was established in 1985. Award criteria have been revised several times since the inception of this recognition program.

• The award is named for Clifford R. House, the first president of Cincinnati Technical College, and Alice P. Bruckmann, a member of the College’s first Board of Trustees. 
• Tenured faculty members may be nominated by faculty and academic administrators based on demonstrated excellence related to the following criteria:
  • Excellence in Instruction
  • Commitment to Student Success
  • Collaborative Spirit
  • Contributions to the College
  • Contributions to the Community
  • Professional Achievements
  • Other
• Nominations are reviewed by a Screening Subcommittee comprised of past award recipients, and up to five nominees may be recommended for recognition as finalists.