Marie Guest Named NFCC Instructor of the Year

College honors Guest with Professional Educator Leadership Award

MADISON, FL – North Florida Community College has selected Marie Guest, an instructor in the Business and Social Sciences Department, as the NFCC Instructor of the Year. Guest received the prestigious 2019 Professional Educator Leadership Award on May 7 during NFCC’s annual employee recognition ceremony.

"Marie’s commitment to innovative teaching, best design practices for the distance learning environment, program redesign, and assessment for quality improvement is demonstrated daily; however, most impressive is her work with and dedication to NFCC’s students,” said Jennifer Page, NFCC Dean of Academic Affairs. “Marie has time and time again raised the bar for quality teaching at NFCC. She is constantly looking for new and innovative strategies for delivering course content in a way that best reaches her students in a meaningful way.”

Guest’s main areas of teaching are economics, general business and various computer applications. Using the economic concepts of rational decision making, incentives and efficiency, she specializes in leveraging the use of instructional technology to better serve student learning styles while effectively managing heavy course and duty loads. She also serves as a campus innovator and mentor for her fellow faculty.

“I am so proud to be chosen as NFCC’s Instructor of the Year!” said Guest. “The application process was rigorous but I have had an exceptionally productive year while focusing my efforts on continuing to improve instruction to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse student body, providing resources to assist students, reducing textbook costs to improve accessibility to a college education by improving affordability, and presentations of my research and results at conferences. To do all of this, I have had the support of my Business and Social Sciences Department colleagues, Sharon Brave Heart, Michelle Ginn and David Palomino. I also must thank my Academic Dean, Jennifer Page, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Kristin Summers, and, most importantly, NFCC College President John Grosskopf. Any initiative I have ever suggested to better support our students has been fully supported by administration and by my fellow faculty. I am so thankful that circumstances led me to this career and this place where my particular skill set has been used to make a difference in so many lives.”

Guest has a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Arts in Economics from the University of Central Missouri where she was honored as the Outstanding Undergraduate Student in Economics and Outstanding Graduate Student in Economics. She most recently completed an Education Specialist Degree in Instructional Technology at Valdosta State University.

“It goes without saying that Mrs. Guest is one of our best,” said Page. “Her influence and leadership on campus has seen the implementation of best design practices for online learning. She takes feedback from her students and uses it to better her course design and delivery of instruction. Because of her dedicated research to best practices and classroom implementation, she has shared her expertise with other instructors at conferences locally, regionally and nationally. Her commitment to student success is illustrated through her active involvement in reducing textbook costs as well as helping to make the AS degrees in Business Administration and Accounting Technology accessible to students completely online.”

Former students praise Guest for her dedication and quality instruction as well.

“Professor Guest cares about her students on a professional and personal level, always making sure that they have the resources they need to succeed, not only in her courses, but in any courses a student is taking,” said Cheri Green. “Although Professor Guest provides a high level of support and encouragement for her students, she also holds them to a high standard; she would push me out of my comfort zone and encourage me to set the bar higher for my level of achievement.”

NFCC is proud to honor Marie Guest as its Instructor of the Year. For more information, contact the NFCC College Advancement office at 850-973-1653 or news@nfc.edu.

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