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STLCC Faculty Recognized by MCCA

STLCC faculty receive awards from MCCA

Five faculty members from St. Louis Community College recently received awards from the Missouri Community College Association during its recent annual convention.

Layla Goushey, associate professor of English at Forest Park who also serves as the coordinator for global education, earned the MCCA Global Educator Award. Recipients of this award have demonstrated outstanding accomplishments and contributions in the promotion of global education. Their work aligns with the Missouri Consortium for Global Educations objectives.

Goushey is a past recipient of the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Roueche Award from the League for Innovation. She also served as chair of the English/Reading/Foreign Languages/Interdisciplinary Studies department at Wildwood. She is a frequent presenter and lecturer on topics that include adult literacy, global education, philosophies of education, Arab culture, the Middle East and Palestine at conferences across the country.

A prolific writer and poet, Goushey’s work has been published in journals such as “Mizna: Journal of Prose, Poetry and Art Exploring Arab America,” and “Yellow Medicine Review.” She also writes a blog titled “Transnational Literacies.”

Janice Nesser-Chu, Christie Cohoon, David Shields and Mark Weber each received the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Each year, institutions across the state, including STLCC campuses, present this award to one faculty member who exemplifies effective teaching, effective advising, service to the university community, commitment to high standards of excellence and success in nurturing student achievement.

Nesser-Chu is the dean of liberal arts at Florissant Valley. She has been with the college in a full-time capacity for 16 years. Janice has served as interim dean, chair of the art and humanities department, associate professor of art, photography program coordinator and gallery director.

Nesser-Chu has also received numerous awards for teaching, art and activism. They include the David L. Underwood Memorial Lecture Award, Adria for Trailblazing Women, the Emerson Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Faculty of the Year Award and Freedom of Human Spirit Award. In 2014, she received the President’s Award for Art and Activism at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, Illinois. Nesser-Chu also serves on local and national art boards, and has organized several conferences.

Cohoon is the director of the physical therapist assistant program at Meramec. She has been with the college for eight years and continues to practice in the clinical setting during semester breaks. She holds her doctorate in physical therapy and has a clinical specialization in orthopedics.
Her favorite teaching moment occurs each year as the students return after their first clinical, sharing all the stories of how they actually used the "stuff" they learned in school. She is committed to student success and has the respect of her students and colleagues.

Shields is a professor in the Social and Behavioral Sciences department and coordinator of the teacher education programs at Meramec and Wildwood. He is a prolific researcher and writer, with more than 100 publications. Shields also has presented papers around the world, including at Harvard University, Oxford, University of Birmingham, and universities in Greece, Iceland, Finland, and Germany.

Shields has also taught at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and was the director of a child development research center at the University of Notre Dame before coming to STLCC-Meramec.

Weber recently retired after 30 years of service and now is an adjunct instructor at Wildwood. Weber began his career at STLCC in 1988 as an adjunct art instructor. In 1995, he was hired full time at Forest Park, and in in 2008, was tapped to build the fine arts program at Wildwood.

Over the years, he has spearheaded numerous fine arts initiatives. In addition, he has worked to infuse cultural opportunities into the student experience through his role as the global education coordinator.

Throughout his career, Weber has participated in nearly two dozen solo art exhibitions and more than 50 group exhibitions. His artwork has been displayed in numerous public and private collections, including the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City, Ralston Purina, and Hunan Normal University in Changsa, China.

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