James Tanda retired from one career on a Friday and began another at the start of the next week.
After spending 27 years in law enforcement, Tanda started teaching at Waynesburg University in 2013.
Last Tuesday at the annual chapel service to commemorate Charter Day, Tanda, instructor of criminal justice and director of security management and emergency management, was one of three university faculty members honored with the 2018 Lucas-Hathaway Teaching Excellence Award, being recognized as a faculty member with teaching excellence in
introductory subjects.
The awards are presented annually to three faculty members, nominated by students, alumni or fellow faculty. Winners receive a commemorative plaque and $1,200. Along with Tanda, Dr. James Hepburn, professor of psychology and director of the Graduate Counseling Program received an award as a faculty member with a history of teaching excellence.
Rev. Christy Wise, lecturer of biblical ministry studies and communication, was honored as a non-full-time faculty member.
Tanda didn’t know he would be one of the three recipients until Provost Dr. Dana Cook Baer announced the winners towards the end of the service. When he heard his name called, he was moved because of the award’s history and prestige.
“I was absolutely thrilled and excited to be a recipient of that award, and humbled,” Tanda said. “Because I’m aware of how many great educators that came before me to win this award and I just couldn’t explain the feeling that the university and whoever nominated me would feel that way [about me], and I was so proud to be able to receive it.”
Some of the past Lucas-Hathaway Award winners were honored at the Charter Day service as well. Anthony Bocchini, who won the award in 2012, along with Dr. Nancy Mosser (2008) and Susan Phillips (2004), were all honored along with Dr. Marilyn Roberts with professor emeritus status.
Until the morning of the service, Wise didn’t know that she’d even be eligible to win the award since she is an adjunct professor. Wise has been teaching at the university since 2007, while also serving as a pastor at Bates Fork Baptist Church in Sycamore, where she was ordained three years ago. When Wise found out she was one of the recipients, “tears welled.”
“Even though I’m part time, [the university] looks at me as valued and important to the structure of the education of the students that I have,” Wise said.
Hepburn has been at Waynesburg University for a quarter-century, and what he takes the most pride in throughout his 25 years at the university isn’t just his work in improving the Graduate Counseling Program, but helping it come to fruition.
“I think in terms of my work at Waynesburg University, the most important thing is the establishment of the Graduate Counseling Program itself,” Hepburn said. “When I came to Waynesburg in 1993, we didn’t have any programs at all. And then [former president Timothy Thyreen] began to develop graduate programs, first in business and in other areas. We worked to develop a counseling program, and I was part of that initial thrust for that.”
For each recipient, Baer read an excerpt from a student nomination written for their professors. One student said of Tanda:
“He is a true professional and treats everyone with fairness and respect. He inspires and motivates me to do my best academically and professionally. I am a better person because of this teacher.”
Ever since arriving at Waynesburg, Tanda, father of three boys, hoped to communicate with his students in the same way he does with his children. He sees that nomination as a sign that his teaching has made an impact.
“One of the mantras that I adopted when I got here almost six years ago was that I wanted to be able to treat every one of my students as if they were my own child coming into school,” Tanda said. “Meaning with care and concern and compassion and understanding, and trying to bring everybody up to the level of their highest potential. For a student to echo that back to me unsolicited, and say that I mattered, that I was relevant in their life in that way, professionally and academically, it reminds me that I’m on the right track and I should stay the course. I’m hopeful other students feel the same way.”
Although Tanda had experience in teaching before coming to Waynesburg, teaching at a university forced him to make adjustments. He credited the Criminal Justice Department for a successful transition, which has given him the opportunity to be recognized with the Lucas-Hathaway Award.
“I thank [Chairperson Adam Jack] and Dana Baer for showing me that way in the department,” he said. “They were absolutely vital in teaching me how to teach the right way. So, I learned from those who came before me, and I continue to try to improve. I still have a lot
to learn.”