by Madison Broeker
What greater honor is there than to be seen by students, colleagues, and administrators as someone who stands out as such an excellent employee? That’s what Dr. Brian Camp, Ann McNellis, and Crystal McKee got to experience at Convocation this year. Camp won the Distinguished Teacher Award, given to someone who has taught at OBU for at least five consecutive years. McNellis won the Promising Teacher Award, given to someone who has taught less than six years full-time at OBU. McKee won the Meritorious Service Award, given to individuals whose time as a staff member made a long-time impact on OBU.
Camp, who has been professor of Family Science at the university since 2004, spoke on what winning the award means to him personally.
“Personally, it is hard to describe because there’s a peer recognition that I have been, I have for some period of time, been doing what we are supposed to do, and so this is a recognition of that, and so it’s kind of a humbling award because only one a year is given out, and I’ve been teaching here for 22 years, so it’s very, very humbling to have that done personally.”
He also compared that to what it means to win it professionally,
“It is kind of a validation of the work that I do, right? So now it’s just a little different focus because I am a teacher. That’s what I love doing, and this has been said, and you’re doing it well enough, right? Well enough to be recognized for it.”
McNellis, assistant professor of Communication Studies, says when asked what it meant for her to win personally,
“That is probably what it means the most to me is just recognition for, yeah, just making me feel honored for what I have, what I try to do on a daily basis, which is teach and help students and love on them and things like that. So yeah, just being recognized for it, I think, is a nice feeling.”
McKee, Senior Director of Donor Relations and Data Analytics, when asked what winning the award meant to her said,
“It means a whole lot. I’ve been here through multiple presidents, because I’ve been here 21 years, I’ve been through multiple presidents, I’ve been through multiple transitions in our office, and have gained a lot of knowledge in 21 years. And for the people around me, the university, to notice what I do and the impact it makes on the university is very meaningful because my job is not the typical job that would get recognized because I’m not a faculty member. What I do has always been related to fundraising, and so it’s kind of a behind-the-scenes”
The recipients of these awards all deemed the award as such an honor. They were all honored by the university for such impactful work here. One thing all of them had in common was their care for the students and the other faculty. Camp talked about how special of a moment it is when something clicks for students. He said, ‘there is this part of teaching, and that’s when a student gets what I’m saying. Where the light bulb goes off, their pencil stops writing, and their brain begins to activate, and they think about the thing that we’re talking about, and you can just see a change in their demeanor because this idea has finally been internalized, rather than just some fact to write down on a piece of paper, that’s that’s the real joy of teaching.”
McNellis, when asked what her favorite part of being a professor is, said, “I just, I love the college age. I loved being in college. I love that age of student and kid. I think it’s just such a fun time to watch people grow from kind of being a kid and under their parents and stuff like this, like you know their freedom and their independence and figuring things out on their own”.
McKee, when asked what the most rewarding thing that has happened to her while working here said, “You get to know a student while they’re here on campus, but then you get to see them flourish and stay connected and see the amazing things that God is allowing them to do, and that brings me joy that being able to see a student take what they’ve learned here and go out and make a difference is probably the most joyful thing that I would say that I’m experiencing here.”
Each of them truly seemed to love their job and those around them. They all spoke very joyfully about what God has done for them during their time at OBU.
