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COCC Home > Prospective Students > Why COCC > Outstanding Faculty

Outstanding Faculty

COCC prides itself on the quality of our faculty. In transfer areas, half of the faculty members have earned their doctorates and our professional technical faculty are grounded in professional, real world experience. Add to such credentials the high performance standards that faculty meet—such as availability to students, innovation in instruction, continual professional development—and you will see why we believe that your access to these faculty members should be a prime factor in your decision to attend COCC.

Meet a few of our outstanding faculty members...

 
Jon Bouknight

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- Professor of Speech and Writing
Jon Bouknight
Jon Bouknight
Following the examples of some of the greatest educators in Western history such as Socrates, Aristotle and Cicero, discussion is the cornerstone of all my classes and is what makes them interesting, I hope. I love watching students who get excited about a topic, or who admit to having their long-held beliefs challenged. Also enjoyable are students who reach a personal goal — even in a course they’d love to skip. Best of all, though, and selfishly, I most enjoy it when the students teach me something.
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Patricia O’Neill

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- Professor of History
Patricia O'neill
Patricia O'Neill

Patricia O'Neill teaches history of Western civilization, world history and European history courses.

“I try to show the students the big ideas and events and encourage them to change the kaleidoscope slightly so they can view those events from the eyes of the people in the culture or time period we are studying,” says O’Neill.

In addition, O’Neill blends her extensive travels in Asia, the Middle East and Europe and her natural storytelling ability to make history come alive for her students.

“I tell stories, bring in food, costumes and slides — anything else I can think of — to make the class more enjoyable for the students.”
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Kiri Simning

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- Associate professor of nursing

Kiri Simning
Kiri Simning
It’s an amazing process to watch our students’ learning progress from day one to graduation. They come in so nervous, hands shaking as they open a pill package and leave us with the confidence to perform complex skills and communicate professionally.

The best aspect of teaching is working with students in the clinical sessions. I love the direct patient contact and the real-time learning that happens in the hospital setting. It’s so rewarding to see the “light bulb” moments when concepts and content click for a student.

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Ralph Phillips

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- Assistant Professor I of Computer Information Systems
Ralph Phillips
Ralph Phillips
My teaching style is pretty casual. I think most people learn by doing and making mistakes, so I’m a big fan of trying something different to see if it works.

My favorite course to teach is Web development, because the opportunities for students to experiment and create cool, creative stuff are very high. Entry-level computer courses are great, too, because so many of the skills learned and practiced can be applied immediately to students’ home, work and school lives to have fun and increase productivity.
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Mark Eberle

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- Professor of Biological Sciences
Mark Eberle
Mark Eberle

Raised on a cotton farm near Bakersfield, California, Eberle became interested in insects as a youngster. While teaching in graduate school, Eberle discovered that he liked to talk to people about the “things that interested him.”

“Microbiology is my favorite course to teach because I get to be *plague doctor, read from “Huckleberry Finn” about scarlet fever and wax indignant about the misuse of antibiotics,” says Eberle. “My students are delightful people, and it’s a real privilege to work with them.”

He also teaches the human anatomy and physiology and anatomy and function series. To help students be successful, Eberle has developed “course paks” that contain lecture notes, lab guides and sample exams. These packets, he says, allow more class time for multi-media presentations and computer work.

*What is a Plague Doctor?

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