Medical assistant instructor receives BOT Excellence in Teaching Award
Margaret Noirjean, a medical assistant instructor at Dakota County Technical College, is the college’s Board of Trustees Excellence in Teaching Outstanding Educator for 2015. The BOT Excellence in Teaching Nomination Committee completed the selection process and Interim DCTC President Tim Wynes, J.D., designated Margaret for the prestigious award.
As the Outstanding Educator from DCTC, Margaret will participate in the BOT Excellence in Teaching awards ceremony, where she will receive a hand-crafted silver medallion, a framed certificate, and recognition at Celebrating Excellence, which will be held April 22, 2015, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in St. Paul. Margaret’s application and portfolio will be considered for the Educator of the Year award at the MnSCU statewide event. Individuals selected will receive a hand-crafted gold medallion and a $5,000 award.
“We are honored to have such great faculty at DCTC,” Wynes said, “and we are delighted to individually recognize Margaret for her years of outstanding service to our college as an instructor, advisor, Faculty Shared Governance Council secretary, Academic Affairs and Standards Committee member, and so much more.”
“When I initially read the e-mail from Mike Opp [DCTC interim vice president of academic and student affairs] notifying me about the award, I was just awed and flabbergasted,” Margaret said. “Winning the award was a little unbelievable. I work with so many gifted and talented people. I was humbled that I was selected.”
As the DCTC Outstanding Educator, Margaret is completing a 75-page teaching portfolio, including attachments, that demonstrates her consistency in providing exemplary instruction along with evidence of her contributions to student learning. Margaret’s portfolio focuses on her students-come-first mission and elaborates on her formula for student success, a formula that emphasizes service-learning and civic engagement.
About Margaret Noirjean…
Margaret began teaching at DCTC in 2002. She is an instructor for medical assistant and nursing courses. She also teaches biomedical students in anatomy and physiology, clinical procedures, administrative procedures and pharmacology.
Margaret is a licensed registered nurse. She has a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Adelphi University in Garden City, New York. She has CPR and Public Health Nurse certifications and has completed the Teacher Education Series.
Her extensive experience in the health care profession includes the following positions:
- Clinical Services Manager
- Allina Medical Clinics, Parkview Ob/Gyn
- Health Educator
- CommonHealth Clinic & Home Care
- Special Care Areas Director
- Humana Hospital, Saint Luke’s
- Head Nurse
- Coronary Care Unit, University of Virginia Hospital
- Staff Telemetry Nurse
- Huntington Hospital
Along with several Golden Apple Awards, Margaret won a 2006–2007 Café Award for her work related to creating an online enhanced curriculum for the Medical Assistant program, and a 2003 All-Star Award when her program received Medical Assisting Education Review Board (MAERB) 10-year accreditation.
Teaching philosophy: “I strive to teach in a manner that encourages students to succeed while demonstrating qualities of professionalism and participating in civic-engagement projects.”
The best part of her job as a DCTC instructor is working and interacting with people on campus. Her hobbies and interests include needlework, gardening, skiing, hiking, walking and spending time with family and friends.
To learn more about civic engagement in the Medical Assistant program, read “Medical Assistant Students Serve at Food Shelf” in DCTC News. You can also get updates about the program on the Medical Assistant blog.
For more information about the Medical Assistant program at DCTC, contact:
Margaret Noirjean
Medical Assistant Instructor
651-423-8540
Patrice Nadeau
Medical Assistant Instructor
651-450-8355
Kathleen Tettam
Medical Assistant Instructor
