Greensboro College Awards 2019-2020 Moore Professorship to Michelle Plaisance
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Greensboro College has named Michelle Plaisance, associate professor of English and of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, its Moore Professor for 2019-2020.
Since her appointment in August 2014 to the Department of English, Communication & Media Studies and to the directorship of the college’s M.A. program in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, Plaisance has developed the program from a few dozen students to more than 120.
In two weeks she leaves for invited travel to Colombia to visit colleges and universities to recruit students and establish partnerships so that even more students may become proficient teachers of English to speakers of other languages.
Plaisance “has demonstrated that she is an untiring and effective academic administrator,” said Paul Leslie, senior vice president and chief academic officer. “During one trip to China to recruit students, an educational company referred to the Greensboro College graduate TESOL program as ‘the best in the world.’ …
“She is considered an expert teacher and her students evaluate her as an outstanding faculty member who has been invaluable to their advanced education in TESOL.”
Plaisance has presented and published more than 50 seminal research papers and book chapters on such topics as “Varied Educational Outcomes of Migrant Students in the U.S.,” “The Professional Growth of Classroom Teachers in Online Environments,” “Authentic Assessment for English Learners,” “Bridging Theory to Practice: Language Complexity and English Learners,” and “Considerations and Practical Implications for Serving Young, Dual-Language Learners.”
Plaisance holds a B.A. in Spanish from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and an M.A.T. in Teaching English and Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction in Urban Education, Teaching English as a Second Language, from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
The Moore Professor Award is presented annually at Commencement to a member of the college’s full-time faculty for the subsequent academic year. It recognizes an outstanding accomplishment or set of accomplishments, such as the publication of a scholarly work, the creation or performance of an artistic work, meritorious service to the college, or recognition by a professional organization.
The award was established in 1971 by the late Annie Elizabeth Moore ’27 in honor of George Edgar Moore and Minnie Moore. The recipient is selected by a committee chaired by the president of the college and including the three most recent recipients of the award and three students.
Greensboro College provides a liberal arts education grounded in the traditions of the United Methodist Church and fosters the intellectual, social, and, spiritual development of all students while supporting their individual needs.
Founded in 1838 and located in downtown Greensboro, the college enrolls about 1,000 students from 29 states and territories, the District of Columbia, and seven foreign countries in its undergraduate liberal-arts program and six master’s degree programs. In addition to rigorous academics and a well-supported Honors program, the school features a 17-sport NCAA Division III athletic program and dozens of service and recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.greensboro.edu.
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