MCC Daily Tribune
Nelya Pomayda Awarded 2025 Mathematics Adjunct Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award
The Mathematics Department is pleased to recognize Nelya Pomayda as the recipient of its Adjunct Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award for 2025. She received the award at the department's Adjunct Recognition Dinner on May 14.
Nelya is an adjunct assistant professor, joining our mathematics adjunct faculty team in 2013. Her passion for teaching, her dedication to professional development, and her ability to engage students in the learning process make her highly deserving of this award.
During her 12 years of service, Nelya has taught a wide variety of classes: all of our Flexible Pace courses and conferences, Basic Mathematics, Prealgebra, the algebra sequence from Elementary Algebra through Precalculus, corequisite Elementary Algebra Review with Intermediate Algebra, Survey of Mathematics, Statistics I, and Algebra for Statistics, including when that was a special studies course. She has taught both in the traditional, on-campus modality as well as remote classes via Zoom.
Nelya states that her goal in teaching is to “not only cover the course material but also to make students confident in choosing methods or applying the properties when they solve the given problem which means a clear understanding of the concepts.” To assess and give feedback on their work she has used a critical thinking scoring rubric. During the COVID-19 pandemic she learned new technologies and applications in order to effectively deliver course materials to students and help them learn it. She has used Lumen OER to promote efficient learning. She sees her role as being the type of instructor who engages every student in the learning process.
Nelya has demonstrated a strong commitment to professional development and she has participated in so many that this list is just a snapshot of her participation. She regularly attends the Adjunct Faculty Kickoff and Suppers for Success events sponsored by the Teaching and Creativity Center (TCC) and applies what she learns there to the benefit of her students. She has attended several advising workshops. She has attended a wide variety of math conferences and seminars, such as an Open Education Resources conference, a workshop on Math Common Core, Mathematics Flex-Pace Symposium, and an Inquiry Based Learning for All seminar.
Nelya's students acknowledge her excellent work in the classroom. On the Mathematics Department's narrative surveys, many students speak of their appreciation for her patience and helpfulness. Nelya has received numerous nominations for kudos from students through the TCC. One noted “I would like to nominate Professor Nelya Pomayda as being remarkable because the questions or concerns that I had about different math problems she took the time to clarify.” Another said, “I feel this is a great professor and I would love to be in her class again.” This last comment seems a fitting way to sum up their sentiments: “Professor Pomayda is amazing!!”
Congratulations, Nelya!
Jannette Avery
Mathematics
05/15/2025