Hubert McClure awarded Presidential Medallion for Instructional Excellence

May 13, 2019

 

Anderson native Hubert McClure, who has been teaching mathematics classes at Tri-County Technical College since 1995, was honored May 6 with the highest award presented to the faculty.  He received the Presidential Medallion for Instructional Excellence at the College’s spring commencement.

Dr. Ronnie L. Booth, president, made the presentation.  The medallion is presented each year to the instructor who has contributed the most during the academic year to the profession of teaching, to the development of the College and to the students.

“Hubert projects two prominent qualities —  his concern for his students’ success and his use of technology to teach mathematics,” Dr. Jerry Marshall mathematics instructor in the Arts and Sciences Division, wrote in his nomination letter.  “No one has done more with using the latest technologies to teach mathematics than Hubert,” said Dr. Marshall.

A strong advocate for implementing the latest technology in the classroom, McClure, who teaches at Tri-County’s Anderson Campus, was the first at the College to pilot PolyCom live interactive video stream classes.

The use of the video conferencing systems allow the College to maximize the use of teaching resources, while combining low enrollment sections that may not have been feasible to offer at community campuses as individual, stand-alone courses.

Using Skype software and PolyCom videoconferencing allows students at all of our community campuses to engage live with an instructor on any campus.

McClure was an early adopter of using Smartboards as teaching tools.  Six years ago, he began recording his teachings and uploading them to youtube.  Today he records with Skype for Business and uploads to the Internet for students to access.  He also uses Skype to advise and maintain virtual office hours.

“Hubert’s prime focus is always his students and their success in his classroom and in reaching their goals,” said Keri Catalfomo, mathematics department chair at the College. “He puts extreme effort into what is best for the students — always —  and his students respect him and enjoy his classes. Many of his students actually say that he makes math fun – how unusual,” she said.

One student wrote, “Mr. McClure is my favorite instructor I ever had and makes a subject I find horrifically hard so much simpler.”

Another wrote, “He teaches very well, wants to help students learn new ways to understand things.  He always tries to help in any way he can.”

Catalfomo said when McClure previously taught mathematics in the Comprehensive Studies Division, he introduced the use of computers in those classes and used Internet math disks to help students learn math.  He was responsible for bringing MYMathLab online for use in labs and classrooms.

He helped students conquer the dread of college mathematics classes when he began teaching Jumpstart classes – an intense one-week refresher class for all comprehensive algebras. The goal was to help students place themselves mathematically and serves as a way of rebuilding students’ math foundation.

Following graduation from Westside High School, McClure enrolled at Tri-County, taking some Comprehensive Studies classes himself and earned an associate in science degree in 1989.  He transferred to Clemson University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics in 1994.

McClure joined the College as an adjunct instructor in 1995 and was named mathematics department head for the Comprehensive Studies Division in 1996. In 2003 he transferred to the Arts and Sciences Division where he teaches mathematics.

He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1988 – 94 as a sergeant squad leader.  He earned a Presidential Unit citation, Navy Unit citation, Marine Unit citation, National Defense Award, Overseas Deployment Award, Good Conduct Award, Kuwait Liberation Award and a Southwest Asia Award with three stars.

He has a daughter, Lauren, a junior at Clemson University, and a son, Walter (Walt), a sixth grader at Robert Anderson Middle School.