2021 Dean’s Award | Adult & Online Education

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Dr. Jan Lee Santos

Dr. Jan Lee Santos is the recipient of the 2021 Dean of Adult & Online Education’s Award for Excellence.

Dr. Santos serves as an anchor for the Bachelor of Business Administration program in Health Care Management for Adult and Online Education. In addition to his work with Campbell, he also serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the UNC School of Medicine in the Department of Family Medicine, as well as holding the full-time position of Associate Director of Training and Clinical Services at Community Health Centers & PACE SeniorCare at Piedmont Health Services.

Dr. Santos in an outstanding instructor. He teaches a wide variety of courses in the Healthcare Management program, leading outstanding student-centered instruction. Observations of multiple classes noted that there was “great conversation and engagement” and “the students were leading the class and discussion” under the deft hand of the instructor. He was described as “gently enter[ing] into the student discussion to help acknowledge and affirm what students are discussing” and “gently steer[ing] the conversation.” Rigor was evident from observations such as the note that a “student was reading a medical journal and then shared information” with the class.

Dr. Santos receives outstanding course evaluations, regularly between 9 and 10 on 10-point scale questions, and between 4.5 and 5 on 5-point scale items. Students make comments such as “the course was challenging and fun, I learned a lot!” and “I don’t see anything that I can change about this course. Dr. Santos is an excellent teacher with strong teaching methods.” In sum, in the words of another student, “Dr Santos is a great teacher!”

Dr. Santos regularly provides internship opportunities for students who are majoring in Health Care Management through Piedmont Health Services, where he is the Associate Director of
Training and Clinical Services. Even during the COVID-19 quarantines and lockdowns, a
number of AOE students have successfully completed internships under Dr. Santos’s direction. These internships provide invaluable experiences. Of note, two Online students who are
completing their internship during the Spring II 202 l term were part of a one-day effort to
vaccinate over 700 people.

All of Dr. Santos’s internship students give a formal presentation to hospital administrators about their internship project, which provides an invaluable learning experience. There is nothing like preparing a presentation and then receiving professional feedback in real time. 

When he guides students, Dr. Santos mentors them closely and effectively. One example is a student who had significant cultural differences from the co-workers at the internship site. Dr. Santos was able to mentor the student even more closely, so the student completed work successfully and without further incident. That same student has now been accepted into a graduate program that relied heavily on the recommendation Dr. Santos wrote.

A second example is the student whose entry to the Wiggins Memorial Library Academic Symposium was accepted in March of 2020, under his mentorship. Adult and Online Education is lucky and honored to have many fine professionals working among our adjunct faculty ranks. Among these outstanding colleagues, Dr. Santos shines brightly.

I am delighted and honored to give the 2021 Dean’s Award for Excellence to Dr. Jan Lee Santos.

Beth Rubin, Ph.D.
Dean, Adult & Online Education