TIFTON—Dr. Rachael Price, an Associate Professor in the School of Arts and Sciences, has been selected as the 2022 recipient of the W. Bruce and Rosalyn Ray Donaldson Award for Teaching Excellence at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.
The award continues a tradition of faculty recognition which began at ABAC in 1965. The purpose of this prestigious award is to publicly recognize superior instruction and exemplary service to the college by honoring one faculty member each year, as chosen by a special committee of faculty and students.
Price was honored with a recognition plaque and a monetary award. In order to be eligible for consideration for the award, a faculty member must be a full-time instructor with five or more years of continuous service to the college.
A faculty member at ABAC since 2016, Price holds Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in English from the State University of New York, and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Arkansas.
One of Price’s references for the award said, “As a teacher, she is creative and thoughtful, with practices, activities, and assignments based on sound pedagogy and an empathy for her students’ needs. She has shown a strong commitment to creating an inclusive classroom where students learn with hands-on experiences.”
Here’s how Price describes her classroom strategy.
“I incorporate collaborative activities in any way that I can, whether it involves staging a live storytelling series in my freshman composition classroom, creating skits involving literary characters, using improvisational theatre games to teach discourse analysis, or teaching technical writing students how to write clear instruction by building Lego structures and seeing if another student can replicate the same structure using their written instructions.”
A student evaluation stated: “This class has made me a more confident writer. When I started the class, I was worried I would be behind, but I was completely wrong.”
A former student said, “Aside from her incredible classroom instruction, she radiates an energy that makes you want to learn. She is kind, empathetic, and hilarious, and my classmates and I always looked forward to her classes.”
Price was selected by the University System of Georgia as one of three ABAC faculty to be a Chancellor’s Learning Scholar and was twice awarded Gail Dillard Faculty Enrichment Funds.
As a result of Price’s course development and behind the scenes work, ABAC operates the only student-run college press in Georgia, the Horseman Press.
Associate Professor Emerita of English Rosalyn Ray Donaldson presented the award.
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