Apr 19, 2012

New fulltime instructors

Central Lakes College recently announced the hiring of six full-time instructors for the 2012-13 academic year. Scheduled to start on Aug. 22, 2012 are three English and three mathematics faculty. Selected for the English posts were CLC adjuncts Lori-Beth Larsen and Adam Marcotte of Brainerd and Brandon Hoffmann, a writing studies instructor at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Selected for the mathematics posts were CLC adjunct Anne Nelson-Fisher of Brainerd, Mamfe Osafo of Mankato, and Deana Bobzien of Kewanee, Ill.
Larsen has taught at CLC for three years and has over 15 years’ experience in education. She earned her Master of Arts in English from St. Cloud State University and a bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Hawaii. She began her career in Minneapolis as a teacher of English as a Second Language.
            Marcotte is in his second year at CLC. His experience includes eight years in upstate New York as a secondary-level English teacher and six years at a U.S.-based community and technical college for American service members in Asia. He holds a master’s in English literature from State University of New York at Cortland. His English BA is from Ithaca College.
            Hoffmann, a Duluth resident, in 2011 earned an Outstanding Teaching Award from the UMD College of Liberal Arts. In 2005 he received a $5,000 graduate assistant fellowship based on demonstrated talent and interest in English studies. He earned his master’s from UMD in 2005 and became a graduate instructor in the English Department. His English BA is from the University of Minnesota-Morris.
            Nelson-Fisher has been an adjunct instructor at CLC from 1998-2005 and 2007-present. She also served as a long-term substitute teacher for Advanced Placement calculus in the Brainerd School District (2011) and was a University of Iowa graduate teaching assistant from 1994-97. She earned her BA in mathematics from the College of St. Benedict and her master’s degree from the University of Iowa.
            Osafo has been a math instructor in the Mathematics and Statistics Department of Minnesota State University, Mankato, teaching algebra and developmental mathematics. In 2006-07 he was an assistant statistician for the Ghana Statistical Service Ministries. Osafo’s degrees are from MSU (master’s in math, statistics option) and University of Cape Coast Ghana (bachelor’s).
            Bobzien has been a mathematics professor at Black Hawk College in Keanee, Ill., since 2002. From 2005-10 she served as co-chair of the Liberal Arts and Sciences Department. She has held teaching posts at Springfield College (Ill.), Williamsville High School (Ill.), and Rochester Junior and Senior High (Ill.). Obzien earned a master’s in math education from the University of Illinois at Springfield and a bachelor’s from Western Illinois University.