By Keenan A. Mount
L&C has nominated Associate Professor of Mathematics Brandon Huff for the Illinois Community College Trustees Association (ICCTA) Outstanding Full-Time Faculty Member Award for 2022. Professor Brandon Huff is an 11 year full time teacher veteran of Lewis and Clark.
Professor Huff presently teaches General Education Statistics, General Education Mathematics, College Algebra, Trigonometry and Business Mathematics. Huff excels in teaching these courses by crafting additional resources, including review documents, that he shares with not only his students but fellow faculty. Huff was also selected for this nomination based on his reputation for stepping up to teach classes that proved difficult to locate an instructor for.
Fellow math professor, Stephanie Killion Hawk, said, “He is patient, compassionate and generous to both students and peers,”as well as, “he demonstrates cooperation, dedication and teamwork, all of which are invaluable commodities in education,” in reference to Brandon Huff.
Huff structures his class as “one large, guided discussion, rather than a lecture” and aims to maintain an environment that is comfortable while still fostering high expectations. Professor Huff also ensures to provide context and application to what is being learned in his class’s discussion. But above all else, Huff wants students to feel seen. He accomplishes this by connecting with and maintaining contact with students, noting that this is especially important with students that may be missing class. Brandon believes this feeling of being seen to be one of “the most important and impactful” things when it comes to securing a student’s motivation and eventual success.
This nomination is just one of a long list of rewards Brandon gets from his teaching career. He cites seeing the success of his students as “the best part” of his work as Associate Professor of Mathematics. “It’s always fun to see and hear from former students who have gone on to reach their goals and do great things. I love seeing my students walk across the stage on graduation day.”
In response to this nomination, Brandon highlighted his fellow faculty members and their work as to what makes this nomination such an honor that he “will always be proud of.”
Outside of his teaching career Brandon finds solace in his family. “We enjoy going for hikes and exploring local parks, spending time in the garden, and lots of board games/movies in the winter.”
This following June Brandon hopes to attend the ICCTA awards banquet. In regard to the banquet, Huff noted that “It will be great to meet other faculty members from around the state.” The awards banquet in June will host all nominees from the state as well as announce the overall winners of each award category.
