Crestron Honors St. Petersburg College Professor with Summum Bonum Award for Excellence in Teaching
Jan 15, 2014
Professor of English Composition Receives Esteemed Teaching Award
Crestron Electronics, Inc. awarded Professor Jennifer Haber of St. Petersburg College the Summum Bonum Award for Excellence in Teaching during a special awards ceremony at the Tarpon Springs Campus. The annual award recognizes the crucial mentoring role that teachers play in the academic and personal development of students. Jeff Singer, Crestron Director of Marketing Communications, presented Dr. Haber with a commemorative plaque and cash prize during the blue ribbon event, recognizing her long-term commitment to her students, education, and technology. The ceremony was attended by more than 100 faculty, staff, students, friends, and family.
The journey for Dr. Haber began more than ten years ago when as an Assistant Professor in English, she was asked to participate in the Project Eagle grant program. The program tasked participants with creating a completely online course for composition, which had never been done before at the school. Dr. Haber accepted the challenge and piloted the first Composition I online course. Dr. Haber went on to successfully establish several other online courses including Composition II, Technical Writing, and Creative Writing.
Dr. Haber continues to expand her range of teaching styles by incorporating some of the latest software programs and social media channels into her classroom including Prezi®, Tumblr®, Facebook®, and Twitter®. She believes it is important for her students to embrace and utilize growing technologies to advance their technical aptitude. This will mark the first year Dr. Haber’s students will obtain writing advice from her through Twitter. Her humanities students will review and respond to posts on Facebook, as well.
“We applaud Dr. Haber for her contributions to St. Petersburg College and her students,” said Crestron Executive Vice President and Summum Bonum Award Committee Chairman, Randy Klein. “Dr. Haber continually challenges herself to incorporate new tools and resources into her curriculum, enabling her students to think differently and enhance their writing and technology skillsets. We commend Dr. Haber for her dedication to advancing education through technology.”
Crestron, a global leader in communication and control technologies, is committed to innovation through education and created the award to celebrate passionate educators. Latin for “highest good,” Summum Bonum is an expression used in philosophy to describe the ideal we should all strive for: to provide the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.
In addition to pioneering online education at St. Petersburg College, Dr. Haber has assisted in bringing new technology into the classroom, including software programs Smartthinking and Turnitin®. She created blended classroom learning programs using online videos and conferencing tools so students could spend half their time in the classroom and the other half online. Last year, she was asked to share her experiences with Smartthinking and Turnitin at the Writing Symposium at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, FL. Recently, she presented on Blended Learning at the Sloan Conference in Milwaukee, WI. There, she shared her experiences in teaching in blended environments. Dr. Haber is a strong supporter of technology and advocates for others to embrace the powerful tools around them.
“Dr. Haber has long been committed to incorporating technology into all of her courses to support learning outcomes and promote student success,” said St. Petersburg College Dean of Communications, Dr. Martha Campbell. “She is fully deserving of this award as she continues to seek opportunities for technological innovations to assist her and her students each semester.”
Crestron congratulates Dr. Haber on this distinguished award and wishes her continued success in her truly outstanding career.
To get all the latest news, information and product updates subscribe to our blog, “Like” us on Facebook® and follow us on Twitter®.