Savitha Krishna and Allen Beatty to Be Recognized at Friday Event
Two Wilmington College faculty members will be honored with 2018 Faculty Excellence awards at a banquet hosted by the Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education (SOCHE) Friday (Nov. 2) in Dayton.
Dr. Savitha Krishna, assistant professor of biology, and Allen Beatty, assistant professor of accounting, are among faculty members from 10 SOCHE member colleges and universities who will be honored for their outstanding contributions to teaching and learning.
Krishna, who joined the faculty in 2015, is an applied biologist with a special interest in studying public health issues that connect organismal biology and human health.
Dr. Steve Szeghi, interim vice president for academic affairs, praised Krishna’s passion for undergraduate teaching and her ability to integrate her broad research experience to the classroom in such courses as general biology, anatomy, physiology and biomedical research.
“She crafts courses to build in-depth knowledge on the subject matter and connect the theories with hands-on lab activities,” he added, noting Krishna has a “student-centered teaching pedagogy” that not only promotes students’ enthusiasm in learning biology but transforms them with career-related skills as they graduate from WC.
Her recent research projects have focused on such public health issues as the physiology of e-cigarettes, antimicrobial activity of herbal medicines, and vector ecology and human health.
“Through these projects, she seeks to build long-term research partnerships, professional development and service to the College community, Szeghi said, noting that, In the past three years, she has mentored more than 12 students’ research projects, reviewed research articles and published two student co-authored peer-reviewed papers.
Szeghi said that Beatty is being recognized for his excellence in teaching, his hands-on approach to learning and for “epitomizing the spirit of service” that is so valued at Wilmington College.
Beatty taught at several colleges in an adjunct capacity prior to assuming a full-time role at the College in the fall of 2017. He holds dual degrees in finance and business management from Franklin University and a master’s in taxation from Capital University Law School.
He is also an IRS Enrolled Agent and a Certified Public Accountant, and served for 30 years in corporate accounting and finance functions, in addition to his income tax preparation business, Apple Tax Services.
Beatty redesigned the IRS’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program at WC in which students are trained to prepare tax returns free of charge for those of low to moderate income. His students prepared 82 returns in 2017 and 150 this past tax season. There are currently 20 students in training for 2019.
Szeghi cited Beatty’s enthusiasm and promotion of hands-on learning experiences for helping to double the number of accounting majors among entering students this fall.
“Al incorporates technology in the classroom on certain projects while also teaching in a traditional format to illustrate to the students the ‘how to’ of accounting prior to being incorporated in a software system,” Szeghi said, adding that field trips and simulation projects provide “hands-on learning” experiences to complement what is learned in the classroom.
SOCHE is a regional leader for higher education collaboration, working with colleges and universities to transform their communities and economies through the education, employment and engagement of nearly 200,000 students in southwest Ohio.
