Adjunct teacher earns CMC collegewide honor
By Mike McKibbin
Joanne Yantz, an early childhood education instructor at Colorado Mountain College in Summit County who also teaches online, is the collegewide adjunct faculty of the year. Surprising her on Jan. 31 were Alton Scales, left, vice president of Colorado Mountain College in Dillon and Breckenridge, and college President Dr. Stan Jensen. Photo Jim Lamb
Joanne Yantz meets only some of her students in person, but she’s earned praise for how well she guides them to learn, even at a distance.
And for those skills, her colleagues at Colorado Mountain College have named her the collegewide adjunct faculty of the year, an honor she learned of when college President Stan Jensen visited her class in a surprise visit Jan. 31.
Yantz has taught at the college since 2006, and also in online courses since 2007. She teaches early childhood education, plus English composition and creativity and other courses from Dillon, while her students are anywhere there’s a computer. Her consistent approach to online learning made her that department’s adjunct faculty of the year, the first step to her collegewide honor.
Every year, each of the college’s seven campuses, plus the department of online learning, can nominate an adjunct (part-time) and a full-time faculty of the year. From those honorees, senior administrators select a collegewide award recipient in each category.
Dr. Deborah “Sunny” Schmitt, assistant vice president for academic affairs, arts and sciences, served on the committee that selected the collegewide honorees. She said Yantz’s dedicated involvement on an important college committee was a key factor in their choice.
That committee researched and recommended a new learning management system for the college, which will debut in the fall. Learning management systems are used to provide online course sites for credit and noncredit classes.
“This committee talked to other colleges about the approximately one dozen software companies they were considering,” Schmitt said. “They also listened to presentations from the companies, and their decision was very significant to the college’s direction. You usually don’t get that kind of involvement and dedication from many adjuncts, because they have other jobs or own their own businesses.”
Gabrielle Popoff, learning management systems administrator and faculty trainer, chaired the committee Yantz served on and said the instructor was very involved.
“I could always count on her doing her homework, and she was a great team player,” Popoff said. “I know she deeply cares about teaching, and her students and I know she wanted us to get the best product to help her do that. And she has a really warm personality, too.”
Yantz said she knew she wanted to teach since about 1974. “When I help some young child learn how to read, you can see the joy on their faces when they read their first words,” she said.
As an online instructor, she said she talks with her students by phone, then continues communicating via online discussion boards and emails.
“It takes a little extra effort to make sure they understand what you’re teaching,” she said.
Yantz experienced some of the ins and outs of learning online herself when she earned her master’s degree online in 1998.
“I think [online learning] has really opened up avenues for people to get their degrees,” she said. “One thing that’s rewarding is that a lot of online students are adult learners, so they tend to be more serious and get the idea that what they’re learning can help them attain a degree.”
Daryl Yarrow, the college’s vice president for online learning, wrote in his nomination letter that Yantz “is known for quality, competent instruction with careful attention paid to student progress.”
Her students agreed, according to comments from the annual reviews of faculty that Yarrow cited in his nomination: “Joanne is a great teacher, and gave us the right amount of work to teach us what we need to know, since we don’t meet to get knowledge directly from her,” wrote one student.
“She is a very good teacher who gives assignments that are clear to the student. She also was there for any questions that I had on subjects. I was very pleased that I took this class with her,” wrote another.
“It is clear that Joanne makes the college and our students a priority,” Yarrow said.
Technology helps – but key elements of teaching, learning remain
Barbara Jackman, an early childhood education instructor at Colorado Mountain College in Summit County who also teaches online, enjoys time with her two dogs, Ky and Bodhi. Jackman is the college’s online learning full-time faculty of the year.
Even though Barbara Jackman uses some of the latest technology and communication methods to reach her online students, she said the reward still comes in helping students learn and understand.
Jackman has taught early childhood education at Colorado Mountain College in Dillon for the past decade, becoming a full-time instructor two years ago. She was recently named the college’s online learning full-time faculty of the year for her excitement and enthusiasm about teaching.
“It’s a real privilege to watch the shifts and changes in people as they learn something new,” she said. “You see their confidence and skills grow. And I just like working and learning with other people.”
Jackman said she teaches about half of her classes online and the other half in person in Dillon. She said tools like podcasts, PowerPoint presentations with voice recording or the college’s Elluminate online classroom program help reach students wherever they may be.
“Elluminate allows us to do small breakout sessions online, so students can hold small group discussions to communicate with each other and with me,” she said. “It’s fun to see when a student first says they’re not very good at things like email, and then when they grasp something important in an online class, you see their confidence level rise as the course goes on.”
Podcasts allow Jackman to include a lecture with each assignment, making the experience closer to an in-person class.
Students say they appreciate Jackman’s efforts to reach out.
“My experience with this course changed my perception about exceptional children and will make me a better teacher when these children are in my classes. Thanks,” wrote one student in completing an annual rating of faculty. “I really enjoyed taking this class from Professor Jackman,” wrote another. “She is highly professional and has enthusiasm and a passion for the subject.”
In his nomination letter, vice president for online learning Yarrow wrote that Jackman “consistently demonstrates a level of enthusiasm and excitement about her field. Her approach to students and to fellow educators is positive. Barbara does an exceptional job of balancing both the needs of her individual students and the needs of the college in general with respect to course delivery and program development. ”
Other Colorado Mountain College full-time and adjunct faculty of the year 2011
Collegewide and Carbondale, Glenwood Springs, Spring Valley full time: Dr. Kimberly Harding, science
Aspen full time: Dr. Tom Buesch, humanities
Aspen adjunct: Kerry Wirth, American Red Cross training
Breckenridge and Dillon full time: Drew Mikita, psychology
Breckenridge and Dillon adjunct: Justin Pollack, anatomy & physiology
Carbondale, Glenwood Springs, Spring Valley adjunct: Janet Wolf, business and accounting
Edwards full time: Aggie Ramos-Doyle, developmental education
Edwards adjunct: Bart Ducey, English as a Second Language
Leadville and Buena Vista full time: Kelli McCall, developmental education
Leadville and Buena Vista adjunct: Rich Utech, English
Rifle full time: Nephi Thompson, science
Rifle adjunct: Cathy Slaymaker, computer science
Steamboat Springs full time: Fred Hampel, business
Steamboat Springs adjunct: Tim Opyt, history
