| “She is always willing to teach whatever she is asked to teach, and she invariably performs at the highest level. With her humor, knowledge, and indomitable work ethic, she is a superb role model for both her students and her colleagues outside of the Business Administration division as well as in it.”
Helms earned her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from the University of Memphis and taught at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga from 1987 until 2000. At that time, she joined the newly-created Business Administration division at Dalton State as the Sesquicentennial Endowed Chair and Professor of Management.
In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Helms serves on two USG committees, including as chair of the Dalton State College Presidential Search and Screening Committee, nineteen college-wide committees and eighteen divisional committees. She is the faculty advisor to the Business Networking Club and to the newly-established business honor society, Sigma Beta Delta.
Helms belongs to sixteen professional organizations, serves as a peer-reviewer for twenty academic journals, and has published fifty peer-refereed journal articles of her own since 2000. In addition, she has thirteen peer-reviewed journal articles which have been accepted for publication and nine journal articles under review.
“Receiving this award was quite an honor,” says Helms, noting that she was shocked when Dr. Hutcheson called to give her the news. “I see this is as a validation that I am doing what I need to be doing to prepare the students for the world of work.”
Helms says that she views herself as a guide linking students to the knowledge and skills they need to become better thinkers, decisions makers, leaders and problem-solvers. She uses such teaching methods as classroom discussions about current events, lectures, video clips, small group work, field trips and problem solving activities to stimulate students’ interest in the subjects she teaches.
Other 2007 Award for Excellence in Teaching award winners include Dr. Mary Garner of Kennesaw State University, Dr. Sharmistha Basu-Dutt of the University of West Georgia, Dr. Kirk Bowman of the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the Professional Sales Degree Program at Kennesaw State University. Recipients of the 2007 Award for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning included Dr. Deborah Vess of Georgia College and State University, Dr. Laura Frost, of Georgia Southern University, and Dr. Marguerite Brickman of the University of Georgia. |
