Students selected teacher of the year – other employees also awarded in personnel event

The student union congratulated Petri Martikkala, the teacher of the year, with a bouquet and student overall.

SAMK personnel event was organized online due to the current corona situation. Topical issues were presented during the day, and distinguished SAMK employees were awarded. The awards given included the project operator of the year, the publisher of the year, the publication of the year, the success story of the year and the communicators of the year. Student union SAMMAKKO selected the teacher of the year based on the votes given by the students. The personnel chose among its members the person of the year at SAMK.

Reasons for selecting senior lecturer Petri Martikkala as the teacher of the year were described as follows: “Petri knows how to teach in an interesting way, with humour included! Petri is easily approachable and knows how to have a chinwag over other topics than school only!” “Petri keeps to the point but can also be funny. He also makes the lectures interesting this way. Fair evaluation in study units, and knows how to help if there is something to ask.” “He always supports and encourages in studies. During the lectures, there are always interesting and instructive discussions. Definitely the best teacher!”

Nopsa path studies were selected as the success story of the year. The choice was justified as follows: “Nopsa project meets well SAMK targets, graduating within the planned time. Nopsa students are committed and motivated, and it is highly likely that they will graduate on time. The route planned in the Nopsa project has become a permanent part of SAMK functions, and Nopsa has increased the cooperation between SAMK and vocational education institutions.”

Communicators of the year awarded for the first time

The communicators of the year were awarded for the first time. Two persons were awarded, research manager Minna Keinänen-Toivola and researching principal lecturer Sari Merilampi. The selection was based on the active functioning of these communicators of the year. Both have brought out SAMK personally either on social or traditional media, and have been proactive operators in bringing matters to the official communication of SAMK.

Researching principal lecturer Sanna-Mari Renfors was selected as the publisher of the year. The following reasons were given for her selection: “In 2019, SAMK personnel published altogether 17 original articles in scientific journals. The publisher of the year has written three of these articles, being either the sole or the first author. In 2019, the articles of this this doctor active in the research and project activities dealt with drawing up and developing an international curriculum from different perspectives.”

The publication of the year was Hoitotyön taidot ja toiminnot (Nursing Skills and Interventions) written by senior lecturers Hanna Rautava-Nurmi, Airi Westergård, Tarja Henttonen and Mirja Ojala from SAMK and Sinikka Vuorinen from Diaconia University of Applied Sciences. The awarded publication is a new edition of a significant textbook in Finland. The authors have told at an interview that “it is a solid base where to return even after graduation. You can easily confirm those things from the book that are not needed on a daily basis.” The incentive for writing the textbook – and also revising it – was simply the need for better educational material, the writers explain. The idea was to make the textbook as concrete and understandable as possible.

44 nominations were received for the person of the year award at SAMK. Katja Lempinen, online education coordinator, was selected for being e.g. friendly and polite and always willing to help and guide. She was also described as a positive and sunny colleague, a team player that quickly tackles challenges and a developer of new things.

The project operators of the year were project assistants Maija Hannukainen, Anu-Susanna Koskela, Sinikka Kyngäs, Heli Leppäniemi and Annu Rantanen, project secretaries Minna Jaakkola, Susanna Jänismäki and Pirjo Tuomi, R&D coordinator Marjo Lehto and planning officer Leila Tasku. The reasons for their selection were described as follows: “The work of these project operators is appreciated at SAMK and by project partners. These persons receive extremely good feedback from their project implementation colleagues, project managers, researchers and project financiers.”