Paradise Valley Community College in Phoenix, Ariz., boasts a robust creative writing and women's studies program, complete with certificates and a visiting writer and scholar lecture series, thanks to Lois Roma-Deeley.

The professor of creative writing was recently named the 2012 Outstanding Community Colleges Professor of the Year by CASE and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Roma-Deeley is one of four national winners honored last month at a celebration in Washington, D.C. In addition, a Professor of the Year was recognized in 30 states and the District of Columbia—three of which are community college instructors.

Roma-Deeley "expands students' understanding of what is possible for them as well as the social and economic forces that have shaped their lives," wrote a colleague in her nomination letter. To that end, Roma-Deeley holds essay-writing contests and an annual creative writing competition that culminates in the publication of the Paradise Review.

And even though she has already transformed her campus, Roma-Deeley continues to develop initiatives to improve the student experience—whether that is "writing an opera with her colleague in the music department, bringing in speakers and artists or working on plans for a fine arts center," said an English professor at the University of Wisconsin Waukesha at which Roma-Deeley lectures.

Visit the U.S. Professors of the Year Awards Program website for more information about how to nominate a deserving professor for next year's award. The nomination period for the 2013 awards program begins Jan. 7, 2013, and ends April 15, 2013.

This article is from the December 2012 issue of the Community College Advancement News.

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