Alvin Community College News
Two instructors have been named as ACC’s recipients for the 2018 League of Innovation in the Community Colleges’ John & Suanne Roueche Excellence Award.
Accounting instructor Sheila Woods and Biology instructor Dr. Nancy Fitzgerald were nominated by their peers for the award.
“It is an amazing feeling to be one of the winners of this year’s Roueche award,” Woods said. “I was honored to receive the nomination with such a great group of faculty.”
“I’m greatly honored to be chosen for this award,” Fitzgerald said. “Realizing that ‘to whom much is given, much is expected’ I anticipate even more interesting work to come.”
The Roueche Excellence Award recognizes outstanding contributions and leadership by community college faculty and staff. Recipients are recognized in a series of activities and promotions, and honored at the annual League for Innovations Conference in February in New York.
“I am very pleased with the selection of Dr. Fitzgerald and Ms. Woods for this outstanding faculty award,” ACC President Dr. Christal M. Albrecht said. “Our students and community benefit tremendously for instructors so passionate and talented teaching at Alvin Community College.”
Woods has been an instructor at ACC for three years and is honored that her faculty members nominated her for the award.
“Knowing that my fellow faculty members nominated me is a wonderful feeling and makes this award special,” she said. “It is great to know that my efforts to educate the students of ACC do not go unnoticed. I do my best to provide an educational experience for my students that they can enjoy and relate to.”
Woods said she pursued a career in education because she wanted to benefit students and their careers.
“I became an educator to have an impact on as many lives as I can,” she said. “I enjoy helping others learn and ultimately achieve their goals along their educational journey. My goal has always been and continues to be to impart knowledge my students can use throughout their lives.”
Fitzgerald first joined the ACC staff as an adjunct instructor three years ago before becoming a full-time instructor in January 2018.
“To be recognized by my peers means a great deal to me,” she said. “My colleagues in science, who see me on my worst as well as my best days, are a major reason why I’m so happy and productive here. We exchange ideas often, work hard together, and support one another.”
Fitzgerald is a former diagnostic radiologist who wanted to become an educator to fulfill a personal aspiration.
“This wasn’t so much of a decision as a calling,” she said. “I retired early from practice, but realized I wasn’t finished with my own learning or with clinical teaching. I also feel a debt of gratitude to many memorable teachers along my own path. You can’t ever pay them back, you can only pay that experience forward.”
