Coastal Alabama's Dana Einfeld Honored as Judy Barnes Educator of the Year

Marking the second time in as many years a Coastal Alabama Community College instructor has been honored with the award, multi-discipline Division Chairwoman Dana Einfeld was recently named the prestigious Judy Barnes Educator of the Year for 2024, which is bestowed by the Alabama Student Success Organization.

Einfeld serves as a Math Instructor and the Division Chairwoman over both Developmental Math and College Algebra, as well as Academic Transfer Math and Engineering. In 2023, English instructor Teresa Lucas — who specialized in developmental English and reading courses, and spearheaded the curriculum committee for those subjects — also won the Judy Barnes Award. Dr. Lee Conerly, the college’s associate dean of Academic Instruction submitted the applications for both Einfeld and Lucas to be considered, said something the two share in common is “compassionate diligence.”

“Both Dana and Theresa have such hearts for education and the mission of our college, meaning they truly believe these higher-ed opportunities should be available to everyone in our service area,” Conerly said. “No matter if they come from a rural area or one that doesn’t offer as many opportunities as others.”

Although Lucas recently retired, “Dana continues to dive into that daily. And I say ‘compassionate diligence’ because they never wavered, never stopped, as we’re always working with the students’s needs at heart.”

In addition to her duties as a math instructor, Einfeld manages more than 30 employees and has streamlined the Success Coaching Program, which consists of professional tutors. She also continuously strengthen bridges from Coastal Alabama Community College to nearby University of South Alabama by collaborating with other professionals in her fields. Einfeld is also one of the primary architects of the college’s engineering program, helping the school become one of the top 10 feeder schools to the engineering schools at Auburn University and the University of South Alabama.

The theme of the recent ALSSO conference where Einfeld was honored was Social and Emotional Learning Towards Student Success, which Conerly said was a perfect fit for such an accomplished educator.

“I’d say Dana’s compassionate diligence fits right in there, wouldn’t you?”