Oakland Community College English Professor Suba Subbarao has received the Keith A. Pretty “Distinguished Faculty Member of the Year Award” from the Alliance for Excellence in Online Education at its annual online learning symposium at the Walsh College Novi campus.

A Rochester Hills resident, Professor Subbarao received the award for pioneering online teaching at the Oakland Community College’s Auburn Hills Campus, where she chairs the English department.  As part of the award, named for sponsor Northwood University’s president, OCC will receive a donation to the scholarship fund of its choice.

Her OCC students describe Professor Subbarao as “dedicated, smart, patient, and a great listener” who motivates them to learn.

Between 1996 and 2000, Professor Subbarao was the only OCC instructor teaching online.  She developed OCC’s first online writing class in 1996 and continues to use leading online technologies in her courses.  She has written award winning grants from the American Association of College and Universities and the Department of Education to devise ways to humanize online classes.  Professor Subbarao also frequently presents at national distance learning conferences.

Her bachelor and master of arts degrees in English are from the University of Madras and the University of Delhi, India, respectively.

She has taught at Oakland University, Macomb Community College, the University of Massachusetts, and Delhi University in New Delhi, India.

Locally, Professor Subbarao volunteers as a reading tutor with the Oakland Literacy Council.

Founded in 2002, the Alliance for Excellence in Online Education is a group of Great Lakes educators, administrators, and student services employees who share best practices as they rise to the challenge of educating a student population with high expectations for online learning and other uses of technology in education.  The Alliance also works to ensure that all students benefit from new online degree programs relevant to the job market.  The group also showcases online technologies, and annually honors a “Distinguished Faculty Member of the Year.”  Institutions may join the Alliance for a $250 fee.  For more information, visit http://www.a4eoe.org/.

#     #     #

PR48/gc