Christina Burnett: 2020 Outstanding Part-time Faculty

 

Christina Burnett teaches biology at Cuyamaca College. She has been described as “incredibly passionate about the success of students – not just to pass classes – but to truly learn the material so students will be successful in their future endeavors.” This theme of long-term student success is highlighted throughout the narrative for her nomination as the Outstanding Part-time Faculty for 2020.

 

Burnett is recognized for her commitment to students and her service to the community. Her nominators note her many hours spent outside the classroom to create innovative strategies to build student success. This includes integrating games and hands-on activities into the curriculum, and building a community for students to support each other and share ideas. She serves her fellow faculty by leading workshops that highlight dynamic interaction and illustrate how these tools can be adapted for other classrooms.

 

Using her platform as an educator, Burnett informs student about environmental issues and wildlife conservation. She organizes field trips for students to show them first-hand how to address these issues and to apply classroom lessons. She uses hikes to educate students about the community around campus and to discuss restoration efforts.

 

She volunteers with the Lakeside River Park Conservancy and I Love a Clean San Diego as part of her commitment to wildlife restoration and the environment. A peer noted that she is always the first in the department to volunteer to serve at events, and particularly those events that support students. She has personally organized and facilitated cleanups of the Cuyamaca Nature Preserve.

 

“In all my years as a student, I have never had a more enthusiastic professor as passionate about their role…every encounter I have with (her) is accompanied by her interest in how I am doing or my progress in school,” noted one student.