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The National Highway Institute (NHI) recognizes the efforts of more than 400 expert instructors from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and NHI’s contractor partners by awarding instructors for their achievements each year. The Instructor of Excellence Award requires certification for teaching at least three sessions within the year, achieving a 4.8/5.0 score in evaluations, and being endorsed by an NHI Training Program Manager. The 2023 Awardees for Instructor of Excellence will be issued as a special announcement in early 2024.
Source: FHWA
Congratulations to the recent 2023 NHI-certified instructors!
- Kristine Connolly
- Joe Gilpin
- Daniel Holt
- Randy Paulk
- Jeremy Raw
- Bruce Thill
- Jacob Waclaw
- Aaron Zdinak
The road to becoming an NHI-certified instructor begins with attending and completing the Instructor Development Course (IDC) offered by NHI. After completing the course and gaining approval to teach, a prospective instructor will be invited to teach a course up to two times, utilizing their background and skills learned during the IDC. Prior to receiving instructor certification, individuals who display the skills to develop, manage, and teach a course will request a master trainer to observe their course delivery. Demonstrating the competencies and skills necessary to teach a course earns the certification and new responsibilities as an NHI-certified instructor!
If you are interested in your certification as an NHI instructor, please request an instructor observation by contacting nhiinstructorliaison@dot.gov.
NHI-certified instructors are adapting to new trends and evolving demands in the educational landscape. NHI utilizes Blackboard as its learning management system (LMS) to provide important training and information to participants. For instructors, adjusting content and delivering a leading-edge understanding is an achievement and Blackboard’s training for instructors makes adapting easier. Whether you’re an existing NHI-certified instructor or an aspiring instructor who is unfamiliar with the LMS, please visit The Instructor Webinar Series to empower yourself. Proficiency in Blackboard equips you with the tools to quickly transition from in-person learning to delivering instruction remotely.
Source: FHWA
NHI hosts many IDCs throughout the Nation every year. In 2023, NHI hosted five IDC courses across the country. This year, participants from the IDCs gave positive feedback on learning:
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New Skills: A popular new skill is engaging with a large auditorium of people in a classroom setting and establishing meaningful connections between an audience and the course content. A participant of the IDC, a Technical Director at FHWA’s Office of Safety and Research, James Pol, commented that “…the IDC gave me new skills that I use in and out of the classroom environment to create a personal connection with the participants, and I see they are getting it.”
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Improving Confidence: The IDC not only prepares its participants for a classroom environment but adopts a comprehensive approach, ensuring its graduates are equipped to succeed in managing speaking in small and large groups, are comfortable with teaching styles, and understand the content to address questions.
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Networking Opportunities: The key to building relationships in any industry is networking, which the IDC provides to its participants in hopes that they create personal connections with instructors and other subject matter experts through NHI’s courses.
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Source: FHWA
Get to know NHI’s esteemed Training Business Manager, Esther Camano! In this role, Esther identifies opportunities when receiving training requests and seamlessly operates and coordinates with schedulers, instructors, and marketing to process training for deployment. She also manages these orders for more courses, allocates funds, and is a collaborative beacon in a diverse group of subject matter experts to ensure NHI’s commitment to investing in the future of the transportation workforce. The position is stressful when the demand for courses is high, which is trending upwards in no small part to the work Esther manages. To address that stress, she needs only to count to ten, refocusing on the tasks at hand, which for 2024 is continuing to help both FHWA employees and the public with the training they need to continue their progress toward excellence! Her organization, fortitude, and calm under pressure while addressing a high volume of delivery task orders are what make her invaluable to us all.
NHI is committed to sharing subject matter expertise in the most leading-edge ways, which makes it a cornerstone of the academic community. Visit the National Highway Institute today to view courses, find your next training, and explore what NHI can help you do on your road to success!
NHI: Where Learning Paves the Way!
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