Jaclyn Crawford, Candice Hux and Kerith Woodyard named 2025 Excellence in Online Teaching Award winners

Congratulations to Jaclyn Crawford, Candice Hux and Kerith Woodyard, NIU’s 2025 Excellence in Online Teaching Award winners.

Crawford is an instructor in the Department of Marketing, Hux is an associate professor in the Department of Accountancy, and Woodyard is an associate professor in the Department of Communication.

Presented by the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITL), this award recognizes faculty and instructors whose performance exemplifies a commitment to excellence in online teaching, course development and student engagement. Award recipients receive a plaque and a $2,000 one-time stipend.

Jaclyn Crawford

Jaclyn Crawford’s courses integrate many methods of synergistic teaching, incorporating peer reviews, industry expert-led lectures, varied assignment formats, and regular virtual office hours to enhance the online learning experience, while prioritizing collaboration and community in the online environment.

Patrick Hilliard, a former student of Crawford’s, credits her with creating an environment that makes students feel connected and invested in learning.

“She meets students where they are, whether that means providing timely, thoughtful feedback or setting up virtual check-ins to keep them on track. She’s built an environment where students actively participate, ask questions, and engage with each other – a challenge in many online courses, yet something she navigates with ease,” Hilliard said. “Her approach ensures students don’t just get through the material – they apply it, engage with it and see how it connects to their future goals.”

Colleagues describe Crawford as someone who demonstrates an exceptional commitment to ensuring the quality of students’ online learning environment through meticulous course design, innovative use of technology and thoughtful engagement strategies.

Innovation is at the core of Crawford’s approach to online teaching. She has developed and implemented creative methods to enhance course delivery, such as her “Digital Dialogues” program for students to learn more about how digital marketing functions in the field from individuals currently working in that career.

“The impact of Jaclyn’s work is evident in the positive feedback she receives from students, who frequently praise her engaging teaching style, clarity of instruction and genuine care for their success. Moreover, Jaclyn’s contributions have inspired colleagues and advanced the overall effectiveness of online education within the Department of Marketing and the College of Business,” Ursula Sullivan, Department of Marketing chair said.

Candice Hux

Candice Hux takes great responsibility in ensuring asynchronous courses are thoughtfully designed, interactive and mirror the connection of an in-person class. She is actively present in course videos and problem demonstrations and creates a personable and supportive culture for learning.

By breaking material into concise, digestible segments followed by immediate application via problems, simulations, or articles, Hux helps ensure students remain actively involved in the learning process, creating experiential learning opportunities rather than passive listening. Hux strives to create an engaging and impactful online learning environment that prepares students for success in their academic and professional careers.

“Dr. Hux broke down complex accounting principles into easily digestible pieces that not only made sense to me but also provided articles alongside the coursework that showed how these concepts are interpreted by real-world companies and provided examples of how they are utilized in the profession,” said Marianne Barthel, a former student in Hux’s online ACCY 532 course. “The ability to link the concepts I learned to real-world examples helped me master and apply them to my work outside the classroom. The framework for marking investments to market is something I am utilizing today for the IT company I work for.”

ACCY 532 was among the first courses designed, developed and delivered in Blackboard Ultra. Candice embraced the challenge and saw opportunities to rethink how to leverage the new layout, tool and functionality.

“Candice has been continually finding ways to improve the different elements of the course to ensure she is delivering a quality online course,” Cynthia Paralejas, assistant director of Instructional Design for CITL said. “While the design is well executed, what really impressed me about Candice’s ACCY 532 course is her commitment to making her course a safe, inclusive space for her students.”

Bradrick Cripe, Accountancy chair and Presidential Teaching Professor credits Hux for engaging with professionals, alumni and stakeholders by leveraging their knowledge inside the online learning space.

“She consults with her colleagues at other schools, attends research and teaching seminars offered by public and private institutions, and successfully blends the leading academic literature on online education with the leading thought from accounting practice into a classroom environment rich in content, relevance and value for our students,” Cripe said.

Kerith Woodyard

Committed to providing online students with an inclusive, student-centered and rigorous learning environment, Kerith Woodyard demonstrates exceptional dedication to implementing best practices for course design and delivery, while fostering strong student engagement.

Woodyard strives to use innovative teaching strategies and successfully used Yellowdig, a community-focused learning platform, to adopt a gamified approach to class discussion and interaction in COMS 230. This approach  motivates students to learn and boost their engagement.

“The instructional materials Professor Woodyard provided were meticulously chosen to align with the course’s learning objectives. The combination of textbooks, video tutorials, exercises, and guided discussion topics offered a well-rounded understanding of the subject,” online student, Emily Pierson said. “Professor Woodyard has profoundly impacted my educational journey. Her exemplary responsiveness, thoughtful communication, positive encouragement and rigorous academic standards all contributed to an unparalleled online learning experience.”

Kerith’s commitment to providing a quality online learning environment for her students is evident in her thoughtful and intentional course design. Using the CITL template as a starting point in building COMS 305 and COMS 310, she put exceptional effort into making further enhancements to ensure her courses are learner-centered and effectively support student success.

“Kerith’s dedication to providing engaging and accessible content for her students is evident in the variety of technologies she uses in her courses,” Christiane D. Ong-McCarthy, CITL senior instructional designer said.

Woodyard’s colleagues note the additional challenges that come along with eight-week courses, and how she has created online learning environments that enhance student success.

“Dr. Woodyard’s courses provide students with instructional design that is well-organized and thoughtfully crafted. It is a space where, according to evaluative comments, they never feel lost once the rapid pace of the semester begins,” Laura Vazquez, director of undergraduate studies for the Department of Communication said. “Her modules are well-organized, and the resources and assignments are easy to locate. From the outset, students are guided through demanding pedagogical concepts in a well-structured approach to the material.”