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Collin College professor named one of nation’s best
By Kim Nguyen, knguyen@acnpapers.com
It is a huge honor to be home to the U.S. Professor of the Year, but how about being home to three of them?
Dr. Tracey McKenzie, sociology professor at Collin College’s Frisco campus, was honored in a luncheon and awards ceremony Thursday by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) as one of four U.S. Professors of the Year.
“I am extremely honored to have received this award,” McKenzie said. “There is no greater recognition for teaching, and I am so humbled. Teaching is my passion and I never expected this.”
The CASE/Carnegie competition also spotlighted Collin College psychology instructor Jennifer O’Loughlin Brooks in 2006 as Texas’ top college or university professor.
“Our faculty members have established a tradition of excellence. Dr. McKenzie’s U.S. Professor of the Year win exemplifies this, and it is even more appropriate that it is during our 25th anniversary year,” said Dr. J. Robert Collins, chairman of the college’s board of trustees. “We applaud all of our faculty members who excel in teaching, service and innovation in our classrooms—whether the classroom be actual or virtual.”
According to college president Cary Israel, Collin College is the only community college in the country with three national winners, and only two institutions—Williams College and Kansas State University—are home to three honorees.
“We are delighted that our faculty members have been recognized at this level. Dr. McKenzie brings excellence to the classroom and to every project she plays a role in planning,” he said.
In fact, he credits her expertise in the field of learning communities, which pairs courses for joint teaching by faculty in two or more disciplines, as a factor in Collin College winning the national Bellwether Award for innovation in 2001.
“Dr. McKenzie is a pillar of knowledge in learning communities,” he said. “She is an energetic scholar who leads by example.”
According to the CASE/Carnegie competition Web site, which briefly describes why each professor won the award, McKenzie creates a collaborative learning environment in which students are both teachers and learners. Much of her teaching is through “learning communities,” which are interdisciplinary, team-taught courses designed around a theme. She engages students in these communities in original research and encourages them to present their work to a wider audience. McKenzie’s leadership contributed to the program receiving national recognition and interest from colleges in other states. McKenzie also empowers students to take on larger roles on and beyond campus through the Student Leadership Academy, one of only a few community college student leadership academies in the nation.
Israel nominated McKenzie for the award earlier this year.
“That in itself was a huge honor,” McKenzie said. “Actually winning the award was a huge surprise to me.”
Israel said the nomination process is always difficult because of the many high-quality educators employed by Collin College.
“Dr. McKenzie is a fabulous professor, and she’s leading the way not only locally but nationally with learning communities. She’s a consummate educator that inspires and motivates the students,” he said. “We are very fortunate to have person of her caliber at our institution of higher education. Her recognition is exhilarating news for us and we’re also really ecstatic that this is our third national U.S. Professor of the Year in nine years. There is great faculty at Collin College and we are trying to ensure that students coming to our institution have the best quality of education and experiences possible.”
To complete the application process, McKenzie needed two letters of recommendation from former students.
“I know that the students make a difference in my life, or else I wouldn’t still be a teacher,” she said. “But to hear them say that I’ve made a difference in their lives-- that’s the award. I couldn’t imagine a greater honor as a teacher.”
McKenzie said she got into teaching sociology at the community college level after going through the motions herself.
“I started out in community college too and I had professors in college that made a difference in my life. I just want an opportunity to do the same for my students,” she said. “I come to work every day because of my students. They’re amazing and make every day exciting.”
As a sociology professor, McKenzie knows that she has a limited chance to make an impact on her students because sociology courses are not typically mainstream.
“I have always tried to find innovative and new approaches to teaching sociology,” she said. “Winning the award was never the goal. My goal was always to be effective as a teacher and make a difference in my students’ lives even if that means adapting and changing my teaching to each group.”
McKenzie chaired the learning communities program and directed the college’s quality enhancement plan in addition to teaching in the Student Leadership Academy. She has served as African-American History Month coordinator, service-learning campus coordinator and is an active contributor to the Book-In-Common project along with New Student Orientation and the Cultivating Scholars research initiative.
Tracey McKenzie received a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of North Texas, where she also earned a master’s degree in sociology, a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary social sciences and a bachelor’s degree in English literature.
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