CHAMPAIGNE, Ill. — Jessica Kubiak, associate professor of reading and composition at SUNY Jamestown Community College, has been named the inaugural recipient of the 2021 Outstanding Teacher Award by the Conference on College Composition and Communication. Kubiak is one of two recipients of this award.
Award winners were chosen by a committee based on evidence illustrating research-based practices; student learning among a diverse group of learners with multiple literacies and language practices; pioneering teaching methods, assignments, and activities; and an engaged classroom with thoughtful curriculum delivery; among other practices.
Currently serving as interim dean of Arts, Humanities and Health Sciences, Kubiak joined JCC’s faculty in 2013 and has served as the college’s director of academic initiatives and experiential learning coordinator.
She attended Boston College and earned a bachelor’s degree in English at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford and an undergraduate certificate in African Studies at the University of Pittsburgh at Oakland in 2006. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Old Dominion University’s doctoral program in English and was a recipient of the State University of New York Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2020.
“I’m honored to be a recipient of this award from NCTE and CCCC, and I’m grateful that such influential national organizations are invested in honoring work that supports diverse student populations,” Kubiak said. “My colleagues and students at JCC deserve just as much recognition as I do.”
“Dean Kubiak is a highly respected member of our faculty who possesses a special talent for engaging students in the learning process,” Dr. Marilyn Zagora, vice president of academic affairs, said. “I am very pleased that her exceptional skills and commitment to student success are being recognized with this prestigious award.”
“Jessica Kubiak represents the best among us at JCC,” Dr. Daniel DeMarte, president, said. “She continuously takes those small steps every day to hone her skills for the benefit of her students, her colleagues and her profession.”
Established in 2020, the CCCC Outstanding Teaching Award is presented annually to honor the discipline’s practitioners and make visible the best teaching practices of the field. The intent of this award is to honor teaching and CCCC members who do their primary work in the classroom every day. CCCC offers two awards each year—one for an Emergent Outstanding Teacher (first 10 years of teaching first-year writing) and a Sustained Outstanding Teacher (11 or more years of teaching first-year writing).
The CCCC is a constituent organization within the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), the largest organization of English teachers in North America. Kubiak will receive the award during a presentation in the spring.