Three Polk State College professors have been named as recipients of the PSC Foundation’s Endowed Teaching Chairs for 2009. They are Rosalinda Rivera Collins, Rebecca Heintz, and Penny Morris.
Through the generosity of local philanthropists and companies, the Endowed Teaching Chair program rewards full-time faculty and professional/technical (instructional) members for outstanding teaching and service to the College, students, and the community. Each Endowed Chair holder will receive a monetary award of $5,000 to be used to further enhance the recipients’ professional performance.
Rosalinda Rivera Collins is the recipient of the Theatre Endowed Teaching Chair. Collins, who has been teaching Spanish and French at PSC since 1994, holds a master's degree in foreign language education from USF. When she taught at Kathleen High School, Collins was Teacher of the Year and runner-up Teacher of the Year for Polk County in 1989-1990.
In 1996-1997 she received the Excellence Award from the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD). This is her third Endowed Teaching Chair. Collins has been a faculty advisor for the International Circle Club at PSC since its inception in 2000.
Rebecca Heintz is the recipient of the Georg
e Jenkins Endowed Teaching Chair. A PSC graduate, Heintz holds a master’s degree in English from the University of Alabama. Before coming to PSC, she taught grades 7-12 at a rural school while also teaching at the University of Alabama.
A faculty member for 20 years, Heintz teaches English and is active on numerous committees. She helped create the PSC Honors Program, and has been awarded the Endowed Teaching Chair twice. In addition to her regular classroom duties, Heintz organizes off-campus experiences for the Honors Program students to enrich their college experience.
Penny Morris has been awarded the Thelma Raley Endowed Teaching Chair. Morris, who began teaching mathematics at PSC in 1998, began her college studies at Northwest Florida State College when she was 30. She won an Outstanding Mathematics Student award and was inducted into the Math Honor Society there. She has a master’s degree from the University of West Florida.
Penny has taught every math class offered at PSC and has written materials for five new courses. She has been an active Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Honor Society faculty advisor for the past 10 years and has been honored by that group. PSC’s chapter has received the Five Star Chapter award, which is the pinnacle of achievement for a PTK chapter. The international PTK also recognized Morris’ service over the past years and awarded her the Robert Giles Distinguished Advisor Award.