Adjunct Teaching Excellence Award

Nell Hill - 2012 Adjunct Teaching Excellence AwardeeNell Hill

2012 Adjunct Teaching Excellence Awardee

The Adjunct Teaching Excellence Award recognizes an adjunct member of the Ferris faculty who has demonstrated excellence in teaching.  Recipients of this award demonstrate teaching excellence in ways such as:

  • Exceptional teaching as evidenced by students’ performance and/or students’ ratings of instruction

  • Development and/or implementation of innovative teaching and learning strategies

  • Unusual effort devoted to ensuring the quality of the students’ learning experience

  • Possession of high scholarly standards for both the rigor and currency of course content and for the level of student performance with respect to these standards

  • Evidence of creativity in instructional approaches

In 2012, Nell Hill was named the recipient of the 2012 Adjunct Teaching Excellence Award.

Hill’s teaching style has resonated positively with her students.  Her students describe her as welcoming, inviting, patient, and enthusiastic.  One student stated in a letter of nomination, “She is, by far, the best foreign language instructor I've ever had.  Her enthusiasm for teaching French cannot be surpassed. It is evident in every activity we undertake in class, and it has never wavered in the four semesters I've been in her classes. Her bright humor, knowledge, and passion have made going to French class not only an enjoyable experience, but one to look forward to every day.”  Her colleague also remarked on her dedication to her students and the hundreds of hours she will spend educating and interacting with students outside of the classroom and on the road.

Hill is an adjunct instructor in the College of Arts and Sciences and joined Ferris in 2005.  She has taught French, English, English as a Second Language, and First Year Seminar courses for students at Ferris State University. 

History of Awardees

2011 - Kevin Besey
2010 - Mary Alkire and Megan Dixon