In recognition of their exceptional teaching, Allison Hutchcraft, Susan Hodge and Joseph Kuhns have received the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences’ Excellence in Teaching Awards for 2016.
Hutchcraft, a faculty member in the Department of English, has received the Award for Outstanding Teaching by a Part-Time Faculty Member. Hodge, a faculty member in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, has received the Award for Outstanding Teaching by a Full-Time Lecturer. Kuhns, a faculty member in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, has received the Integration of Undergraduate Teaching and Research Award.
Allison Hutchcraft
Hutchcraft has been an adjunct lecturer in the English Department at UNC Charlotte since fall of 2013. She teaches introductory, intermediate, and advanced creative writing courses in poetry and fiction. In each of her classes, she fosters creative thinking, which she says supports students in becoming active, engaged and empathetic citizens of the world.
“What I strive to make real and accessible to my students, is how a heightened attention to and engagement with the world enriches our writing and our lives,” she says. “In this spirit, I build into my courses activities and assignments in which students can become more actively attuned to the world around them.”
In addition to teaching, Hutchcraft has served this year as coordinator of the Kingston Visiting Writer Program in the English Department and is currently working on a book-length manuscript of poems. She strives to create an inspiring and supportive space for students where they can imaginatively, and with full attention, inhabit new ideas, voices, and forms in their writing.
The award recognizes a part-time faculty member who has made exceptional teaching contributions to the undergraduate classroom.
Susan Hodge
Hodge currently teaches undergraduate level criminal justice courses. She serves as the advising coordinator for her department, working with students to insure they are on the correct path toward graduation and fulfilling careers in the field of Criminal Justice. Hodge believes that writing is critically important and infuses writing assignments in various ways.
“From the beginning of my career, my philosophy of teaching has remained consistent,” Hodge says. “I believe you must instill an enthusiasm for learning and provide the necessary tools to encourage student engagement and a motivation to learn.”
Her dedication and excellence in advising students result in consistently strong feedback from students and others on campus seeking her counsel through presentations and informal conversations. She was recognized by over 41 students in the 2014-2015 Senior Survey as the “one person at UNC Charlotte who has made the most significant, positive contribution to their education.”
The award recognizes a full-time lecturer who has made exceptional teaching contributions to the undergraduate classroom.
Joseph Kuhns
Kuhns teaches courses in policing, community policing, drugs and crime, and research methods at the undergraduate and graduate levels. His research has focused on three primary areas of the psychopharmacological relationships between alcohol and drug use and violent offending and victimization, the impact of community policing and problem oriented policing, and use of force by and against police officers.
“Since my arrival at UNC Charlotte in 2003, I have made a concerted effort to effectively merge my research and teaching interests,” Kuhns said. “My students have had the opportunity to collect original data in the United States and abroad, visit police departments, present their research at regional and national conferences, integrate data into theses, and use these research experiences in their own research, practitioner or academic careers.”
Kuhns has co-authored 11 peer reviewed publications and several other scholarship products with current and former students. Many of his technical reports, book chapters and other academic projects have involved students as well. Over a dozen of his undergraduate and graduate students have been hired on various funded projects.
The award is awarded to tenured or tenure track faculty who incorporate their research and creative activity into the classroom in meaningful ways, so that students learn successfully and are exposed to and participate in the practice of research and creative activity.
Award Finalists
The college also honored finalists in each of the three award categories. Those are:
Outstanding Teaching by a Part-Time Faculty Member
- Shannon Bauerle, Women’s and Gender Studies
- Susana Cisneros, Languages and Culture Studies
Outstanding Teaching by a Full-Time Lecturer
- Nishi Bryska, Biological Sciences
- Barbara Thiede, Religious Studies
Integration of Undergraduate Teaching and Research
- Concepcion Godev, Languages and Culture Studies
- Ian Marriott, Biological Sciences
Words: Tyler Harris and Adam Austin | Image: Lynn Roberson
