Friends faculty receive teaching awards

Friends University congratulates the recipients of the W.A. Young Excellence in Teaching Award and the Jan LaFever Award for Adjunct Teaching. Faculty, students and staff nominate full-time and adjunct faculty members for these awards.

Dr. Kassia Waggoner, assistant professor of composition, received the W.A. Young Excellence in Teaching Award. Dr. Waggoner pushes her students to continue their learning in the classroom after they graduate. She makes her classroom interactive by asking questions that allow students to look deeper into their writing and the literature they read. She also brings an energetic style to her lectures that make her classes fun! Dr. Waggoner’s classes are a model of what it takes to encourage learning. One student said of Dr. Waggoner “Her faith shows through her kind words and the way that she cares for every student that she teaches. I believe that is what identifies the Friends University experience.”

Stacey Hodges, adjunct professor of marriage and family therapy, received the Jan LaFever Adjunct Faculty Teaching Award. Students describe her classes as engaging and enlightening, bringing understanding and a greater grasp of the applicability of the topics and deeper insight into the necessity for each topic. Hodges is well-read and her personal standard of staying up-to-date on professional protocol, techniques, and knowledge motivates students to learn. Her students noted that she is organized, attentive, patient and was amazing during the transition to online learning.

Friends University, a Christian University of Quaker heritage, equips students to honor God and serve others by integrating their intellectual, spiritual and professional lives.