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ACC Annual Awards Celebration

The ACC Teaching & Leadership Excellence Awards celebration will take place Thursday, April 9, 2026. More details to follow.

Queen Samantha Ackers College Values

This award honors the enduring legacy of Queen Samantha Ackers, a beloved member of our ACC community whose light, leadership and laughter touched countless lives. Queen embodied our college values—Courage, Compassion, Joy and Yes—with every interaction. Whether through her work in the Theory of Change, as a Joy Ambassador or simply in the way she uplifted others, Queen led with purpose and heart. This award recognizes individuals who carry forward her spirit by showing up with bravery, care, positivity and a bold commitment to saying “yes” to inclusion, connection and transformation.

    • Nina Almasy, Associate Vice Chancellor, Health Sciences
    • Laurie Dillon, Department Chair, Professional Nursing
    • Wayne Johnson, Specialist, Evening & Weekend, Campus Management
    • Maze, Coordinator, Job Skills & Readiness, Student Affairs Strategy and Transformation
    • Matthew Olson, Farm Manager, Agricultural Sciences
    • Sarah Porter, Adjunct Faculty, Student Development
    • Angelica Cancino de Sandoval, Senior Director, Basic Needs System & Advocacy
    • April Seabourn, Regional Coordinator, Student Life
    • Marci Shrull, Coordinator, Workforce Projects, Continuing Education
    • Jordan Sommerville, Coordinator, Upward Bound

The Leadership Awards

ACC celebrates outstanding employees who demonstrate strong leadership and have gone above and beyond the duties listed in their job description for the ACC community.

    • Administrator of the Year: Ana Rummer, Associate Vice Chancellor, Student Affairs Strategy and Transformation
    • Classified Employee of the Year: Manal Mahmoud, Coordinator, Micro-Credentials and Badging, Office of Curriculum Management
    • Faculty Leader of the Year: Anne-Marie Thomas, Associate Dean, Honors Program & Faculty, Composition and Literary Studies
    • Professional-Technical Employee of the Year: Alejandra Polcik, Manager, Student Success Programs

Teaching Excellence Awards

The ACC Teaching Excellence Awards honor one full-time and one adjunct faculty member who promotes special learning opportunities, student interaction, depth and breadth of knowledge in a subject area, and innovation. Nominations are made by students, faculty and staff, and the honorees. Recipients are selected by a committee and presented with an award and a $1,000 cash prize.

Top Teaching Excellence Award

    • Ted Hadzi-Antich Jr., Faculty, Government & Humanities
    • Blake Hardy, Adjunct Faculty, Emergency Med Services Professions

NISOD Teaching Excellence

    • Jason English, Adjunct Faculty, English
    • Bryan Hudson, Faculty, Biology
    • Silke Morin, Faculty, Biology
    • David Reeves, Adjunct Faculty, Dental Hygiene
    • David Rice, Faculty, English
    • Amber Sarker, Faculty, Student Development
    • Kate Thompson, Adjunct Faculty, Social Work
    • Jonathan Young, Adjunct Faculty, Drama

DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Faculty

The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Faculty honors nursing faculty who inspire their students to remember that nursing is more than tasks and technology. The DAISY nurse faculty is one who ensures that both the art and science of nursing are brought to every patient experience. This award celebrates nursing faculty for their inspirational influence on the nurses of today and tomorrow.

    • Julie Kent, Faculty, Professional Nursing

eFaculty of the Year Award

This award recognizes an outstanding ACC faculty member who has creatively utilized appropriate internet-based technologies to teach online and/or hybrid courses at ACC. The recipient must have designed and taught one or more online or hybrid courses with an imaginative approach, well-designed course materials, instructional strategies, and a demonstrated rapport with the course participants.

    • Alex Watkins, Faculty, Technical Communications

The Piper Professor Nominee Award

The Piper Professor Nominee Award is a statewide award that recognizes outstanding full-time faculty in the teaching profession. Higher education institutions must be invited to submit a nominee and only ten professors are selected to receive this award each year. Awards of $5,000 are given to those selected for their superior teaching at the college level.

    • Courtney Mlinar, Faculty, Library Services

NISOD Excellence Awards

The National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) has emphasized the importance of teaching and leadership excellence in institutions of higher education. Recipients of the NISOD Excellence Award are recognized at the annual International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence, and this award honors the world’s best in higher education. Please join us in congratulating the following ACC faculty and staff members receiving the NISOD Excellence Award.

    • Jason English, Adjunct Faculty, English
    • Bryan Hudson, Faculty, Biology
    • Julie Kent, Faculty, Profesional Nursing
    • Manal Mahmoud, Coordinator, Micro-Credentials and Badging, Office of Curriculum Management
    • Silke Morin, Faculty, Biology
    • Alejandra Polcik, Manager, Student Success Programs
    • David Reeves, Adjunct Faculty, Dental Hygiene
    • David Rice, Faculty, English
    • Amber Sarker, Faculty, Student Development
    • Kate Thompson, Adjunct Faculty, Social Work
    • Alex Watkins, Faculty, Technical Communications
    • Jonathan Young, Adjunct Faculty, Drama

The League Excellence Awards

In recognition of the long tradition of excellence in community college teaching and leadership, the League Excellence Awards (formerly Roueche Award) celebrate outstanding contributions and leadership by community college faculty and staff. Selected by a committee, recipients will be recognized at an awards celebration at ACC and have the opportunity to attend the League for Innovations Conference in the spring.

    • Nina Almasy, Associate Vice Chancellor, Health Sciences
    • Laurie Dillon, Department Chair, Professional Nursing
    • Ted Hadzi-Antich Jr., Faculty, Government & Humanities
    • Blake Hardy, Adjunct Faculty, Emergency Med Services Professions
    • Wayne Johnson, Specialist, Evening & Weekend, Campus Management
    • Maze, Coordinator, Job Skills & Readiness, Student Affairs Strategy and Transformation
    • Courtney Mlinar, Faculty, Library Services
    • Matthew Olson, Farm Manager, Agricultural Sciences
    • Sarah Porter, Adjunct Faculty, Student Development
    • Ana Rummer, Associate Vice Chancellor, Student Affairs Strategy and Transformation
    • Angelica Cancino de Sandoval, Senior Director, Basic Needs System & Advocacy
    • April Seabourn, Regional Coordinator, Student Life
    • Marci Shrull, Coordinator, Workforce Projects, Continuing Education
    • Jordan Sommerville, Coordinator, Upward Bound
    • Anne-Marie Thomas, Associate Dean, Honors Program & Faculty, Composition and Literary Studies

Contact

Please contact the Office of Faculty Development at facdev@austincc.edu if you have any questions.