CENTRAL — Southern Wesleyan University professor Dr. Steven Hayduk was honored by South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (SCICU) as an Excellence in Teaching award recipient for 2020.

The award acknowledges superior teaching and an unrivaled dedication to students. Hayduk has been with Southern Wesleyan for 24 years and chaired the social sciences division from 2005-2012, and from 2019-2020. In his role as division chair, Hayduk led development of the criminal justice major, the human services major and the online human services major. He is also leading the development of a new master’s degree in counseling, anticipated to start in January 2021.

“Dr. Hayduk is so worthy of this great honor,” SWU president Todd Voss said. “He cares so much about our students, is innovating new programs and ideas and is a master teacher. He is a great example within the SCICU community of what teaching, leading and learning should be.”

Each year, SCICU recognizes and celebrates the best of the best with its Excellence in Teaching awards. A faculty member from each of SCICU’s 20 member institutions is nominated for the award according to rigorous guidelines. Each award recipient was awarded a $3,000 professional development grant.

2020 marks the 15th year that SCICU has honored leading faculty members at its member colleges and universities.