Northwest celebrates 13 instructors completing ACUE certification
By Sarah Smith
Northwest Mississippi Community College faculty completed their first full certification cohort of American College and University Educators (ACUE). ACUE’s mission is student success through exceptional teaching. All 13 educators at Northwest who completed their full ACUE certification were honored April 26. Northwest is the first Mississippi Community College to offer ACUE Certifications to their faculty.
The honorees from the Senatobia campus are Beth Adams and Dr. Jay Sarver who teach English, Chris Tingle who teaches history, Mary Katherine Jones who teaches business, and Stacy Taylor who teaches nursing.
The honorees from DeSoto Center are Piyatilake Adris and Dr. Darrell Barnes who teach biology, Rebecca Allen who teaches psychology, Carla Townsend who teaches history, Carrie Wigley who teaches business, and Audrie McCann who teaches Business and Marketing Management Technology.
The Oxford Center honoree is Carol Cleveland who teaches biology.
Online adjunct honoree is Shay Carter who teaches chemistry.
The 13 honorees at the afternoon event represented all three instructional divisions (Career-Technical Education, Health Sciences, and Academic) and campuses at Northwest in this cohort. When Northwest first implemented this program, there were 25 to 30 faculty who signed up, and the maximum group was 33 faculty per module, so Dr. Carolyn Wiley, associate vice president of Academic Instruction and Institutional Effectiveness, stated that this is a fantastic success. Afterward, they maintained 10 to 12 on the waiting list for courses to start the classes.
“They love it,” Dr. Wiley said.
Dr. Wiley explained that the courses offered have spread to being completely full to wait-listed due to the word of mouth about the teaching method’s impact.
This teaching method employs what is called the “Effective Practice Framework,” which is learn, refine, reflect, collaborate, and implement. ACUE defines this as the “underpinning of our entire approach is a deep commitment to efficacy, pedagogical best practice, and a research-backed methodology.”
ACUE lists its impact as stronger outcomes from students, better learning experiences, greater equity and belonging, and improved faculty engagement and well-being.
ACUE is funded by Northwest, but is a transferrable certificate, so anywhere faculty may go after Northwest these methods and their certification will go with them.
