Dr. Jason Lynch, an associate professor in the Department of Counseling, Family Therapy, and Higher Education and program director for the Trauma-Informed Leadership graduate certificate, has been honored with the Excellence in Teaching award by the Faculty Council for the National Association for Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA).
The Faculty Council Excellence in Teaching Award is given to a full-time faculty member at any rank who has demonstrated excellence, enthusiasm, and innovation in teaching in any modality, including face-to-face, hybrid, and online learning environments.
“Receiving the 2026 Faculty Council Excellence in Teaching Award is such an honor and validation of the effort and creativity with which I try to approach the art and science of college teaching,” said Lynch.
“However, while I work incredibly hard to develop transformative experiences for my students, I would not be here without the lessons, support, and inspiration I receive from my program colleagues and prior mentors,” he added.
Lynch’s teaching centers on preparing future higher education leaders to navigate complexity, crisis, and care with clarity, ethical grounding, and humanity. Drawing on more than a decade of professional experience in student affairs and a research agenda focused on trauma, mental health, and organizational wellbeing, he designs learning environments that are relational, reflective, and intentionally human-centered.
Lynch joined the App State faculty in Fall 2020. His commitment to teaching excellence has been widely recognized through consistently strong student feedback and multiple honors, including the 2024 Reich College of Education Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award.
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