Congratulations To Recipients of the 2024 SUNY Chancellor's Awards for Excellence

SUNY Schenectady is pleased to congratulate four members of the College’s faculty and staff who earned the prestigious 2024 SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence. The SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence were created more than 45 years ago to honor the distinguished performance of SUNY’s teaching faculty, librarians, and members of the professional and classified services. Recipients receive cast bronze medallions to be worn at Commencements, Honors Convocations, and other ceremonies. The College presented the awards during the Annual Employee Service Awards and Retiree Recognition Celebration on Aug. 23.

SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service
Dr. Babette Faehmel, Professor, Division of Liberal Arts

Dr. Babette Faehmel's advocacy for student mentoring, diversity, equity, and inclusion has been tireless and fruitful. In 2017, Dr. Faehmel was appointed to serve as the coordinator of the Student Mentoring Program. Along with connecting students with supportive faculty and staff, she states that this position enabled her to, "create opportunities for the campus community to learn more about the challenges and cultures that our diverse students bring with them to the campus." Professor Faehmel achieved a successful application for a SUNY Performance Improvement (PIF) Grant and during the Summer of 2017, she conceived and presented the first workshop at the College on microaggressions.

In July 2019, she organized a Summer Research Institute on Equity. This weeklong intensive self-study effort included the interactive workshop, "Sticks. and Stones: Understanding Implicit Bias, Microaggressions, and Stereotypes." Dr. Faehmel also conceived a First-Year Seminar course for BIPOC students along with a colleague.

Dr. Faehmel was on the organizing committee for the 2020 national conference of the Organization of American Historians in Washington, D.C. Recently she published her fourth op-ed piece for the Times Union titled, "Language and History are Imperfect Lenses," a piece urging us not to oversimplify the complexity of the Israel-Gaza War.

She was also instrumental in designing, executing, and overseeing an interdisciplinary program meant to increase the success rate and learner satisfaction of criminal justice students in their required liberal arts classes (which was awarded a $96,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.) For the past 2 1/2 years, she has also served as founder, lead researcher, producer, and co-host of the College's first ever podcast.

Dr. Faehmel holds a Doctor of Philosophy, from the University of Massachusetts, a Master of Arts from the University of Cincinnati, and a Bachelor of Arts from Hamburg University.

SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service
Jacqueline Keleher, Director of Library Services

Jacqueline Keleher has been a tremendous asset for SUNY Schenectady, and the larger community, as Director of Library Services since 2017. Her fundamental belief is that libraries should be providers of trustworthy information to everyone. Jacqueline's commitment to access and inclusion guided key decisions when she played an imperative role during the $10 million transformation of the Begley Library into the Begley Learning Commons.

Jacqueline is a staunch supporter of diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice. For example, her collaboration with the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion resulted in the creation of the "Let's Talk About It" and "Currently Current" event series, open forums for the campus community to discuss topics such as the racist shooting in Buffalo, N.Y., the verdict in the shooting of Ahmaud Arbery, the verdict in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, and having a Black woman portray the Little Mermaid. Jacqueline serves on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Professional Development Team Lead group that has planned and hosted open forums and College-wide events including the successful DEi conference in January 2023.

Additionally, Jacqueline’s work as the Academic Technology Committee (ATC) Chair was essential to operations as the committee focused on upgrading campus-wide software and hardware for the betterment of the College community. In addition to her campus service, Jacqueline is the Open Educational Resource (OER) campus liaison with SUNY and a peer reviewer for the most recent round of SUNY OER impact grants. She is a member of the American Library Association, Capital District Library Council, and the State University of New York Librarians Association.

Jacqueline holds a Master of Library Science and Bachelor of Arts in History from the State University of New York at Buffalo and an Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts from Niagara County Community College.

SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Classified Service
Anna Fidler, Principal Library Clerk

Anna Fidler has been an asset to the College and the Begley Library as a self-starter and someone who listens to students, assisting them in any way that she can. Anna taught herself how to use an Application Programming Interface (API) with the Library Services Platform, Alma, to effectively review the library's physical item inventory. She adds and withdraws records and holdings in Alma to keep the library catalog up to date.

Anna understands both the circulation (front-of-the-house) and the cataloging (back-of-the-house) functions in Alma. She helps staff understand how Alma works and has become the go-to person for staff questions or challenges with Alma.

Following nearly four years of dedicated service as a Senior Library Clerk, Anna was promoted to Principal Library Clerk in 2021. Her commitment and expertise continue to play a crucial role in maintaining the Library’s collection and services. For example, when new physical materials are purchased, Anna’s unseen work in every step of the process is necessary, and without it, items would not be on the shelf. She places requisitions in Banner, adds records and holdings into the library catalog, covers books, places call number labels on items, and often shelves the items or places them on display.

Her responsibilities also include staffing the Circulation Desk, troubleshooting basic computer and printer issues for students, working with our student workers, and managing large-scale projects. Anna worked closely with the facilities staff to facilitate the library relocation from Begley to Elston and the subsequent move into the Learning Commons. She also spearheaded and oversaw the Library’s most recent comprehensive inventory project.

Anna possesses outstanding interpersonal skills that enable her to connect with faculty, staff, and students. She exhibits genuine empathy and a sincere desire to assist others; she actively listens to patrons' needs and provides personalized assistance.

 

SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Adjunct Teaching
Michael J. Dzikowski, Adjunct Faculty Member, Division of Math, Science, Technology and Health

Michael Dzikowski, a highly skilled IT (Information Technology) professional with 25 years of experience in higher education, started his journey at SUNY Schenectady as a Student Worker and Tutor while he was pursuing his associate degree. He has become known for his compassion toward his students and his outstanding technological knowledge.

Michael’s role as an Adjunct Instructor at SUNY Schenectady began in 2016 when he started teaching TEL 121 (Introduction to Information Systems) and CIS 121 (Introduction to Computers). He then taught CIS 129 (Programming Fundamentals), CIS 136 (Introduction to Web Development), CIS 221 (Computer Applications), CIS 236 (Advanced Web Design), and CIS 237 (Advanced Web Programming). He now regularly teaches CIS 223 (Database Management) and CIS 256 (Introduction to Systems Management) in the Fall semesters and CIS 229 (Systems Analysis and Design) and CIS 257 (Advanced Networking and Systems Management) in the Spring semesters. He is also a full-time Systems Architect at the University at Albany.

Michael is an excellent instructor held in high regard by students and administrators. His depth of knowledge and quality of instruction is evident when he simplifies difficult concepts for his students. Michael stays current in the technology trades. For example, he has engaged in professional training including No Code AI (Artificial Intelligence) and Machine Learning, Quality by Design Faculty Development coursework, and the Teaching and Learning for New Faculty program. He continuously applies relevant contemporary information gained from his professional development in his teaching.

As one dean summed up, "Michael's disciplinary expertise, pedagogical passion, and commitment to student success make him an exemplary Adjunct Instructor."

Michael holds an M.B.A. in Technology Management with a concentration in Human Resource Management from SUNY Polytechnic Institute; a B.B.A. in Business and Technology Management from SUNY Delhi; and an A.S. in Computer Science from SUNY Schenectady.