This year’s “Moving the Needle” award went to the School of Behavioral and Social Sciences chairperson Dr. Michael Flota and the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences for the first time in department history. The award recognizes organizations and individuals at Daytona State who have pivoted their programming to meet the needs of their students and community, especially during the pandemic.
The success rate of students across all ethnicities increased by 70% in the department. Social scientists from the department were worried about the achievement gap between all people of color and started to envision new ways of improving student success. Social scientist Dr. Amy Locklear, Vice President of Academic Affairs, stated, “It is our mission and joy to grow the mind’s mobility.”
Professors were asked why they teach, their voices created a catchphrase, “Happy professors & Happy students.” Meanwhile, Flota, who once attended community college, said, “Social mobility is what we believe at this department and what we want the students to take with them are skillsand curiosity and use them for good.” He also said that the next mission is to provide gateway classes such as general psychology with full lectures as well as virtual learning services to help students gain a better understanding.
Furthermore, their department has worked with museums like the Museum of Arts and Sciences and several organizations to revamp the educational system. This resulted in students being able to engage with ways to navigate their courses in an easier fashion for students that cannot attend in person.
Finally, the School of Behavioral and Social Science felt that it is their responsibility to respond in a way that imitates what they are looking for by providing resources for students. Flota said he thinks the reason for winning the award stemmed from having great students and great faculty coming together to achieve at least one goal.