UF-wide teaching and advising winners announced

Five faculty members were announced as winners of the highest UF-wide 2024-25 teaching and advising awards Tuesday — including two from the College of Journalism and Communications.

Victoria Pagán, a professor of classics in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, was named UF Teacher/Scholar of the Year — UF’s oldest and most prestigious faculty award.

Cynthia Barnett, a senior lecturer and director of Climate and Environment Reporting Initiatives at the CJC, was named the UF Undergraduate Teacher of the Year.

Harrison Hove, interim chair and senior lecturer in the Department of Journalism and interim director of the Innovation News Center at the CJC, was named Undergraduate Faculty Advisor/Mentor of the Year.

Paul Higgerson, academic advisor in the Department of Sport Management in the College of Health and Human Performance, received the award for Undergraduate Professional Advisor of the Year.

And Swapna Kumar, a clinical professor of educational technology in the College of Education, was named the 2025 Online Educator of the Year.

UF Interim Provost Joe Glover announced the university-wide winners, along with other faculty and advisor awards, at an evening reception at the Powell University House. 

“These individuals do an exceptional job teaching, guiding and mentoring our students, which is really our most important work at the University of Florida,” Glover said. “They have tremendous energy, creativity and commitment, and I am grateful for how they change students’ lives for the better.”

Pagán is a scholar of Latin literature and Roman historians —Tacitus in particular. She has authored five books and 30 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. As a teacher, she helps her undergraduates learn to be skeptical readers who search for unstated assumptions — and ethical writers who “think for themselves in a diverse and constantly changing world,” according to her summary of her teaching accomplishments and philosophy submitted with her award nomination.

“Her ability to teach complex topics, such as ancient and modern conspiracy theories and ancient history, has enriched students’ global and cultural competence across a diverse range of learners, including majors, non-majors, domestic and international students,” wrote CLAS Interim Dean Mary Watt in a recommendation letter.

Barnett, an award-winning author and journalist who reports on water and climate change around the world, creates professional experiences for students and sets high standards — with the expectation that students will “get their boots muddy” by immersing in communities, she wrote in her teaching summary. Her students report statewide, nationally and internationally, and for the past four years in a row have won Hearst awards, the collegiate Pulitzers.

Ted Spiker, associate dean of undergraduate affairs in the department of journalism, wrote in his nomination letter that Barnett often earns a perfect 5.0 in “overall rating of instructor” in student assessments of her classes. It is “not uncommon for students to describe her as their favorite professor, or to say that she changed their lives,” Spiker wrote. Students who have trained in her science and environment reporting classes now serve as some of the nation’s leading environmental reporters.

Harrison Hove is known for his personal commitment and care in helping and mentoring students. He strives to listen carefully, allow students to guide conversations, nurture their creativity and critical thinking, and help them launch and grow in their careers through tapping his professional network, he wrote in a summary of his mentoring philosophy.

“One of the things that makes Prof. Hove stand out as a mentor is that he is continually looking for and seizing opportunities that expand a student’s world beyond campus and beyond north-central Florida,” Spiker wrote in his letter, noting that Hove had led students on trips to the Republican and Democratic conventions and presidential inauguration.

Higgerson is an “exceptional leader in advising” according to Yong Jae Ko, professor and interim chair of the Department of Sport Management.

Higgerson seeks to both challenge and support students through advising grounded in theory, research and continual assessment, he wrote of his advising philosophy. Koh wrote, “Paul has consistently demonstrated a forward-thinking and student-centered approach to advising. [He] has exceptional ability to communicate effectively and responsively with students, as well as his skill in collaborating successfully with other academic support units on campus.”

Kumar has developed and taught ten online graduate courses, mentored 32 doctoral dissertations online and developed a highly ranked online doctoral program in educational technology. Her students are working professionals, so she grounds her courses in theories of adult learning, applying course content in the real-world setting and emphasizing critical reflection and sharing with peers, she wrote.

In a letter of support for Kumar’s nomination, UF Professor Kara Dawson wrote, “Dr. Kumar’s work as an online educator goes far beyond simply designing and teaching courses. It is important to note that her online course design and instruction has influenced more than 200 UF professional doctoral students and countless UF M.Ed. students engaged in online/blended education in addition to making an impact on online educators…”