(L-R) Gina Leffers, Nicola Burrmann

Heartland Community College honors two with Outstanding Faculty Awards

 

[April 30, 2022]   Heartland Community College has recognized both a full-time and part-time faculty member with an Outstanding Faculty Award.

Nicola Burrmann is the recipient of the 2022 Outstanding Full-Time Faculty Award. Gina Leffers is recipient of the 2022 Outstanding Part-Time Faculty Award.

Dr. Nicola (Nikki) Burrmann received her BS in chemistry from Wisconsin Lutheran College, and her MS and PhD degrees in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Burrmann’s exemplary service to the College includes several important leadership posts, including Faculty Co-Chair of the College Quality Improvement Committee, Vice Chair of Heartland’s Assessment Committee, Faculty representative on both the College Advisory Council and the Institutional Effectiveness Council. Her significant achievements at Heartland include authorship of an open-educational resource (OER) textbook for use in CHEM 120: Fundamentals of Chemistry, as well as several laboratory manuals for organic chemistry courses.

Among the comments from students nominating Burrmann was, “She ensures each student understands and is confident before going into more material and takes time to sit down with students and help them feel comfortable with the material.”

Ms. Gina Leffers received her MS in mathematics from Illinois State University, where she currently also serves as a mathematics educator, and was recently awarded the 2021 Impact Award to acknowledge her tremendous individual contributions to students’ success, persistence and degree completion. Ms. Leffers’ 16 years of service at Heartland have been no less tremendous. She is an ardent student success advocate, meeting students where they are in their academic careers, and providing resources and materials tailored to each individual. Students nominating Leffers stated, “She is understanding, fun and encouraging, which helps me learn in a good environment.”

Ms. Leffers is an active member of the faculty body at Heartland and has contributed to many institutional efforts, including most recently the HCC Safe Reopening Plan phone bank, and the 2022 Active Learning Extravaganza.

Both Outstanding Faculty Awardees were recognized at the Heartland Community College Board of Trustees meeting on April 19, 2022.

[Steve Fast
Assistant to the President, Public Information and Communication]