5 TU Faculty Recognized With USM’s Highest Honor, Most Of Any System Institution

Press release from Towson University:

March 9, 2021

The University System of Maryland (USM) Board of Regents announced its 2021 Regents’
Faculty Awards on Tuesday, and Towson University has five of the 16 recipients of
the system’s highest faculty honor—the most of all the member schools.

TU’s honorees—clinical associate professors Karen Day and Elizabeth Crusse, associate
professors Katherine Holman, Joel Moore and Natalie Scala—were honored in all four
categories of the prestigious awards and represent the College of Health Professions,
College of Education, College of Business & Economics and the Fisher College of Science
& Mathematics.

"Towson University’s success is driven by an unwavering commitment to academic excellence
and transformational student opportunities for mentorship and research with our outstanding
faculty," says President Kim Schatzel. "I know you join me in congratulating and thanking
these distinguished members of our faculty, who represent the excellence of their
colleagues in research, teaching, mentorship and service to the university."

TU was one of just two system institutions with multiple honorees, joining Salisbury,
which had two faculty members recognized. This system-wide recognition follows a campus-wide
nomination process, which resulted in award winners in all categories. TU shared its
campus-wide nominees last week for faculty and staff awards. USM staff awards are
announced in the summer.

“I’m very grateful for the effort and excellence of our faculty throughout the past
year,” says Melanie Perreault, provost and executive vice president of academic and
student affairs. “These honorees are but a representation of our fantastic academy,
and I’m proud that these five faculty members have been recognized for how they and
their colleagues have fueled exceptional teaching, research, service and innovation
at TU."

Institutional faculty nominating committees make recommendations to the institutional
presidents, who review nominations and supporting material and forward recommendations
to USM Chancellor Jay A. Perman. The Regents Faculty Review Committee makes the final
recommendations.

“It’s an honor to recognize these faculty members, whose impact on their students
is profound. And while these awards recognize years of dedication, we know that the
past 12 months have involved extraordinary challenges unique to COVID,” Chancellor
Perman says. “System-wide, our faculty have worked hard to maintain instructional
quality under circumstances none of us wanted, and I’m grateful for that. The efforts
of these honorees are especially impressive and contribute so much to the USM’s resilience
and strength.”

Chancellor Perman and Board of Regents Chair Linda Gooden will recognize the winners
as part of the scheduled Zoom meeting of the full board on April 16.

Each award carries a $2,000 prize provided by the institutions and the USM Foundation.
Last year, four Towson University faculty members received the highest accolade presented by the board to exemplary faculty.

Learn more about this year's recipients from TU below.

Excellence in Teaching

Karen Day, Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology
& Audiology

Day’s approach to teaching integrates scientific principles and clinical application
to ensure students are equipped with the knowledge and experience they need to be
successful speech-language pathologists. She augments her classroom teaching by supervising
undergraduate and graduate students in the Speech and Language Center. This past year—in
response to COVID-19—Day collaborated with the center director to shift normal, face-to-face
clinical teaching to telepractice and clinical simulations.

Katherine Holman, Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director for the Teacher
as Leader in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) M.Ed. Program

Holman led the development of the Teacher as Leader in ASD graduate concentration
and continues to coordinate this growing program, advising students and maintaining
a professional learning community for faculty. Her dynamic teaching approach was rewarded
with the 2017–18 USM Wilson H. Elkins Professorship. She used the professorship to
establish the Connection Immersion and Training Classroom, providing students the
opportunity to gain experience implementing evidence-based practices for young children
with ASD.

Excellence in Public Service

Natalie Scala, Associate Professor of Business Analytics & Technology Management

Scala is a nationally recognized expert in election security. Her research is the
first academic work to holistically define election threats as coming from cyber,
physical and/or insider sources. Her research is critical to improving security at
polling places. Scala has involved students from multiple USM institutions into her
research projects. This work has led to the creation of training models that question,
acknowledge and bring to light election security vulnerabilities.

Excellence in Mentoring

Elizabeth Crusse, Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Nursing

Over her 17 years at Towson University, Crusse has established a strong record centered
on mentoring students, practitioners, faculty and community partners. Through the
Nurse Education Support Program, Crusse teaches a nurse leadership course, mentoring
and advising up to 450 nursing students. Beyond her mentoring impact at TU, she positively
affects nursing programs and professionals in the greater Maryland community, working
with Good Samaritan Hospital, Stevenson University and the Community College of Baltimore
County.

Excellence in Research/Scholarship/Creative Activity

Joel Moore, Associate Professor in the Department of Physics, Astronomy & Geosciences

Moore’s work expands Critical Zone Science—the study of the surface and near-surface
environment—to urban and urban-fringe areas, where land use and management can cause
rapid changes. This work has implications that include sustainable agriculture and
forestry, water quality, ecosystem evolution and climate change. Moore is a respected
lecturer who is published in top journals in his field. He helps inform public works
and public policy, and he facilitates significant student research opportunities.

These honorees will also be recognized at TU’s Annual Faculty and Staff Recognition Event on March 23.

The other honorees include faculty from Coppin State University; Salisbury University;
the University of Baltimore; the University of Maryland, Baltimore; UMBC; the University
of Maryland, College Park; and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

This press release was produced by Towson University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.