For Immediate Release
Delta College:
Academic Senate Recognizes Distinguished Faculty
(Stockton, CA) – Every Year our faculty nominates individuals for our distinguished faculty awards. The criteria for being nominated is based on innovative leadership/teaching skills, outstanding service to students, enhancement of division and college instructional programs, and participation in professional and community organizations and activities
The Distinguished Faculty members for 2006 are Mel Simmons, Martha Villareal, Lynn Welch, and Narcisa Ann Tuliao. Each was selected for their contributions at San Joaquin Delta College and in community activities.
Full-Time Instructors
Mel Simmons
Mel has been a Delta College instructor for many years. He is never self interested and has tried to make the computer science certificates, degrees, and curriculum the best possible. He is dependable, student-interested, and extremely knowledgeable. Mel demonstrates innovative teaching and leadership skills. He is the" sage" of our computer science department. He is the person to ask when you need to know how or why to do something. He has the knowledge that only comes with long experience. Mel is not the most outspoken faculty member, but when he speaks it is for good reason and cause. His quiet, professionalism is to be admired and imitated.
For many years, Mel has made students and student needs his priority. I have seen him work with a single student for many hours until the student fully understands the concept. His patience is unbelievable.
Mel never complains about extra work done to improve student success, programs, or courses. He has made sure his skills have remained current (not easy in computer science), marketable, and excellent. He attends courses (most at his expense and always on his time) each year to make sure that he is able to teach all the most recent topics in computer science.
For years he has built computers for community members, faculty members, students, and his church without charging for his time or effort. Often he even donates the parts and pieces required to build the system. Once the computer system is built, he provides support in their homes, offices, and temples at no charge.
Martha Villareal
Martha does a tremendous job of motivating students in her courses. The projects she has them complete have led many students in to their own businesses as well as in to new careers.
Martha has sought new approaches to help her courses better fit with student needs. She teaches one unit vocational courses to help provide students with basic information. These one unit courses have helped to attract students to continuing on with their business degree/certificate work. Martha has also learned new technologies to provide students with Online and Hybrid course options. She has also worked with Student Response Systems to help enhance her courses.
In the community Martha has been a long time member of the Advisory Board of the Small Business Development Center. Plus, she has been active in other community organizations that have helped link Delta College with various community groups.
Lynn Welch
Lynn is a true trail blazer. Lynn has taken the raw concept of an online curriculum system and turned it into a sophisticated and functional system. The current CurricUNET system is a statewide model which has been examined by other colleges.
Lynn worked very diligently and worked through the many challenges that a new system presents. Through the design, training and utilization of CurricUNET, Lynn maintained a commitment to see the process through to the end. For the past four years, she has also chaired the curriculum committee as the 1st Vice President of the Academic Senate.
Lynn’s trail blazing personality also led her to a new position as the Professional Development Center Coordinator. As is her style she again worked diligently to train faculty and staff in identified key areas of interest and need, as well as develop a New Faculty Academy.
Adjunct Instructor:
Dr. Narcisa Ann C. Tuliao
Dr. Tuliao has taught English as a Second Language for many, many years. In addition to being an adjunct teacher at Delta College, she is also a teacher with Stockton Unified.
Dr. Tuliao began her continuous association with Delta College in 1981 as an adjunct instructor in ESL and Basic Writing. Until recently, Dr. Tuliao taught ESL classes for Delta College in Rio Vista. Her classes were popular with migrant students and filled every term with both young and old. Many returned annually to "La Profesora" so long as her classes were offered there. Grateful students would often bring her seasonally fresh, personally hand-picked fruits and vegetables.
Outside of the classroom environment, Dr. Tuliao participates in numerous professional and community organizations/activities. The following is a partial list:
• Phi Delta Kappa (PDK) - UOP Charter Member
• Asian Pacific Coalition, USA
• California Association of Bilingual Educators (CABE)
• California Association of Teachers Teaching English as a Second Language (CATESOL)
• California Association for Asian Pacific Educators (CAFABE)
• Filipino American Educators Association in California (FAEAC), Treasurer.
• The Association of Filipino Americans in Education (AFAE) of Stockton
and Vicinity, Board Member and Past President
• The Filipino American Historical National Society (FAHNS)
At Delta College, she has trained MiniCorp students on ESL Teaching Methods and Strategies. Dr. Tuliao has also been published numerous times in The Philippine Journal of Education. This year Dr. Tuliao is retiring from Stockton Unified, however she plans to keep teaching for Delta College as an adjunct ESL instructor for as long as the passion remains.
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