Honoring Teaching Excellence winners

College of Lake County (CLC) is recognizing two faculty members for their dedication to teaching excellence as recipients of the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) Teaching Excellence Award. CLC’s 2023-2024 recipients are Mick Cullen, full-time human services faculty, and Crystal Radcliffe, adjunct English faculty.

NISOD is an organization committed to celebrating excellence in teaching, learning, and leadership at community and technical colleges. Each year, NISOD member colleges make their own nominations based on their own selected criteria.

Cullen has worked at CLC for 19 years, 18 as a full-time faculty. He previously worked in clinical social work, focusing on helping people with addictions. He wanted an opportunity to reach more people, so he decided to teach and train students who would be helping clients in the future.

“I literally gasped when I opened the email saying I won,” Cullen said. “There are a lot of people who have won this award that I respect and am honored to work with.”

Cullen describes his teaching style as individualized, trying to understand where each student is coming from like he would with a client. He likes to meet people where they are and encourages everyone to bring their own experiences to the table.

Radcliffe started teaching at CLC in 2017. Her education is in elementary education, and she came to CLC to earn her ESL endorsement. She saw an adjunct teaching position and decided to take it.

“I was totally floored and stunned when I saw the news,” Radcliffe said. “I was not expecting to win at all.”

The class Radcliffe teaches focuses on academic reading and writing for students who are typically adult learners and international students. She also works as the adjunct faculty development coordinator in the teaching learning and educational technology center.

The two winners will be formally recognized at the NISOD International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence May 25-28 in Austin, Texas.