Fresno City College Professor Dr. Robert Boyd is the Hayward Award for “Excellence in Education” candidate for the statewide competition.
 The Hayward Award honors faculty members of California community colleges who demonstrate an outstanding commitment to their students, profession, and school. The winners of the award receive a plaque and $1,250.
  Boyd says that he feels humbled to represent FCC at the statewide completion. “I was honored,” says Boyd. “When I stop and think of the quality of people and faculty of this campus, and find myself representing the faculty, it’s a humbling experience. I was shocked.”
   Boyd has been teaching since 1983. He started teaching at FCC in 1996. He has served on 28 different committees on campus and takes active interest in many aspects of the college.
“On one hand, I’ve been very active on governance issues on campus. I’ve also been extremely active in the academics,” said Boyd.  “The students seem to like me, or some of them do anyway,” he quipped.
   Lee Herrick, English professor, who was the college’s Hayward Award nominee in 2006, said he nominated Boyd for all of the extra efforts he puts into his students and FCC.
“Bob embodies this award in many ways: excellence in the classroom and his commitment to high standards and student learning, the college community, and the profession in general,” said Herrick. “He has authored many books, recently completed his PhD, and has served on many important committees.  I also value his kind and collegial demeanor.”
Herrick said he believes that Boyd deserves the Hayward award for all of the endeavors he has undertaken for FCC. “His contributions are many. But to name a few, he is a driving force behind the long-standing Philosophy Speakers Series, which benefits students each year,” says Herrick.  “He is an active and important voice for accreditation and the betterment of our college and its ability to meet students’ needs.”
  FCC librarian Laurel Doud and Professor of geology, Craig Poole were also nominated for the award.
  Doud has been a librarian for 31 years and has been at FCC for six years. She is active in the community and nature conservation. In 2000, she published a novel titled, “This Body”.
Doud was nominated by English Professor Jeff Tannen, who has been at FCC for four years and has worked closely with Doud for most of that time. “I was very flattered. Even though librarians are classified as faculty, we are not in the classroom per say, so it was really very flattering to have a classroom teacher nominate me,” said Doud.
             Tannen said he nominated Doud for how she engages with the students.
“She has a lot of interaction and engagement with students so she works with them at the front desk, she works with them on RAP sessions (Research Assistance Programs). She does a whole bunch of things on campus that I don’t think a lot of people realize that those are things that librarians do,” said Tannen. “Aside from all of those things that she’s done, she still goes above and beyond her job description to really help out students.”
Doud says that she and the rest of the library staff are trying to make the library more visible to both students and instructors.
“We are just trying to raise the library profile,” said Doud. “On a day to day level, all of the librarians have time at the front desk and we are the first people students see when they walk into the library so we try to make a good impression.”
 Geology Professor Craig Poole was also surprised at his nomination. Poole, who has been at the college since 1999, said that he and other instructors at FCC really work hard for their students’ benefits.
“It’s a very nice honor to be nominated for this award,” said Poole.  “I think there are a lot of very excellent instructors here at FCC, and we’re all part of the team trying to help out young people and trying to make sure that they get going in the right direction with their education.”
FCC Professor Brian Calhoun, who works with Poole in a nature conservancy group, nominated him because of the positive feedback that Calhoun gets from students and for all of the time that he spends with them on frequent field trips to places such as Yosemite National Park and the High Desert.
“He is obviously very, very student-oriented, and he cares about his students,” says tCalhoun. “I’m impressed when I see someone spend that much time and effort with their students, especially with hands on stuff, as opposed to just lecturing in the class.”
According to Calhoun, Poole always puts his students first.
“I try to set very clear expectations for my students. I try to work with them, make myself available. I try to do a lot of extra things with the students such as taking them on field trips,” Poole said.
The selection process for the statewide competition will be completed by Jan. 6, 2012. The winners will be honored at the Board of Governors meeting in Sacramento on Tuesday, March 6, 2012.