Six Faculty and Staff Members Receive 2020 SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence
May 12, 2020
Six faculty and staff members from Hudson Valley Community College were named recipients of the prestigious SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence for 2020.
Instituted in 1972 by the State University of New York, the Chancellor's Award recognizes exceptional contributions to the university by dedicated professionals. Recipients must show a markedly strong dedication to their work or scholarship. Since its inception, more than 180 faculty and staff members from Hudson Valley have received the Chancellor's Award.
“We take great pride in announcing this year’s recipients of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award,” said President Roger A. Ramsammy. “These individuals join a long list of outstanding teachers and professionals who have been recognized for their service to the college.”
2020 Recipients
Excellence in Classified Service
Donna Craver, Data Analysis Coordinator I
Marvin Library
Donna Craver began her career at Hudson Valley’s Marvin Library in 1992 as a clerk and she has served the library and Hudson Valley students for nearly 30 years. In her current position, she helps oversee and maintain the reserve textbook collection and is involved in processing and tracking new reserve textbooks for student use. She also provides outstanding service for students while working at the first floor circulation desk.
Craver is an alumna of the college and was awarded the college’s 2009 Meritorious Service Award for Classified Staff.
Excellence in Faculty Service
Michael Connell, Associate Professor and Education Specialist
Computer Learning Centers
Michael Connell has been teaching in Hudson Valley’s Computer Learning Center since 2006 and previously served as a program director at the Capital District Educational Opportunity Center. He is a 20-year veteran of the United States Air Force.
During his career at Hudson Valley’s Computer Learning Center, Michael has assisted thousands of students. He has also been active in a wide variety campus activities including the Academic Senate, Faculty Workshop Day Committee and the Strategic Planning Committee, which recently completed its “Future Forward” plan for the next five years.
Michael Shea, Assistant Professor
Department of Biology, Chemistry and Physics
Michael Shea has been a faculty member at the college since 2010 and has been praised for his innovative and creative teaching, his service to students in the Science Study Center and his willingness to take on leadership roles on campus. He has led efforts to create “hands-on” instructional materials for chemistry students and acts as his department’s coordinator for the first-level chemistry courses for non-majors.
He currently serves as vice chairperson of the Curriculum Committee and co-chair of the Retention Committee.
Excellence in Librarianship
Valerie Lang Waldin, Associate Professor and Faculty Librarian
Marvin Library
Valerie Lang Waldin, a recipient of the President’s Award in Teaching in 2009, has been an integral part of the Marvin Library since her arrival on campus in 2002.
A reference librarian, she has developed numerous study guides and resources for students and is also recognized as a champion of open education resources (OERs). Waldin has developed an OER comprehensive subject guide and over the past two years, OERs have saved Hudson Valley students more than $250,000 in potential textbook costs. For more than a decade, she has also led the committee that annually reviews student research paper submissions for the Dr. Joseph J. Bulmer Award for Excellence in Library Research.
Excellence in Professional Service
Gayle Healy, Director
Center for Careers and Transfer
Gayle Healy has served as director of the Center for Careers and Employment and later as director of the Center for Careers and Transfer since joining the college in 2008.
In her current role, she oversees not only the application of the college’s numerous transfer agreements with four-year colleges and universities, but also counseling and outreach for the thousands of current students and alumni who are looking to begin their careers. As the job market has continued to change, her office has worked to find new and creative ways to support the changing needs of the student population and the Capital Region’s employers.
Jennifer Moran, Advising Specialist
Individual Studies
An advising specialist in the college’s largest and most diverse academic department since 2009, Jennifer Moran has built a reputation for student advocacy and made it her goal to collaborate with other departments with the goal of success for her student advisees.
Moran received the Center for Academic Engagement Faculty/Staff Appreciation Award in 2018 and has also been very active in campus life, serving as a member or advisor on the Fine Arts Advisory Board, the Retention Committee, SUNY Guided Pathways, Faculty Workshop Day and the Faculty Association.