Amy Murphy is Outstanding Teacher of the Year
Director of Allied Health and Nursing, Amy Murphy, has been selected by a vote of her peers as the Loren P. and Velma Dallas Outstanding Teacher of the Year at Southeastern Illinois College for 2014-15.
Criteria for the award include at least three years of full-time employment; participation above and beyond classroom assignments; competence in one’s field or discipline; continuing one’s education and participating in professional development activities; rapport with students; personal commitment to higher education and the transfer of knowledge to students; upholding and encouraging ethical behavior of self and students; and giving freely to prepare students for their chosen careers
Murphy is a graduate of SIC’s Associate Degree in Nursing program. She then furthered her education by receiving her Master Degree in Nursing from University of Southern Indiana in 2011.
“SIC is where my nursing education began,” said Murphy. “I love the dedication of the faculty and support that our program receives from our community partners, our administration and the board of trustees. So many of our students are now in the professional arena and are continuing on to bachelors and more advanced nursing degrees.”
Murphy started working at SIC as an adjunct faculty member and tutor in 2000. She has been a full-time instructor since 2007 and assumed the position of Division Chairperson in 2012. In addition to teaching the nursing program and serving as Division Chairperson, Murphy serves on many institutional committees and assists with many nursing club activities. She also provides leadership to the multiple allied health programs offered by SIC through the Southern Illinois Collegiate Common Market (SICCM). Murphy works closely with local health care providers that serve as clinical sites for Southeastern’s students.
“Amy Murphy is an example of the excellence you can find in SIC faculty,” said SIC President, Dr. Jonah Rice. “Her dedication to her students and the rigor that she requires are part of what she and her whole staff do to make SIC’s nursing program one of the tops in the State. Amy is what I call a total package employee—she works hard in the classroom as well as outside the classroom on committees and with students. She’s not a clock-in, clock-out type of person. She stays to get the job done and has a positive attitude to boot. She continues to want to do better for her students and the organization, combining a great mix of being humble and being progressive at the same time. All those qualities combine to make her a wonderful choice for the Outstanding Faculty Member of the year as voted on by her own teaching peers. That’s quite an endorsement.”
The selection of Murphy as SIC’s outstanding faculty member for 2014-15 also makes her eligible for the 2015 Illinois Community College Trustees Association (ICCTA) Outstanding Faculty Member Award.
“I am very humbled and honored to have been elected as SIC’s Outstanding Faculty Member by my peers,” said Murphy.
Lorna Dallas-Brown, who lives in New York and England, and the late Ellen Wiggins, daughters of the late Loren P. and Velma Dallas of Carrier Mills, established the Loren and Velma Dallas Outstanding Teacher Award in honor of their parents in 1996. Their father, a founding member of the Southeastern Illinois College Board, was passionate about education. Loren and Velma Dallas gave tirelessly to young people and wanted to provide opportunities for higher education in southern Illinois. Each year the Dallas endowment through the SIC Foundation awards $500 to the Outstanding Teacher of the Year.
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