NEW ORLEANS – Paul Feirstein, Teaching Associate in the Wall College of Business at Coastal Carolina University, has been named the 2026 Sun Belt Conference Faculty Member of the Year.
 
The annual award recognizes a faculty member from one Sun Belt institution who has a passion for teaching, engaging and inspiring students, while also separating themselves from their peers outside the classroom by regularly supporting and displaying enthusiasm for student-athletes and the athletics department. 

Each of the 14 Sun Belt Conference institutions nominated a Faculty Member of the Year finalist for the 2025-26 academic year. The conference’s Faculty Athletics Representatives, Student-Athlete Academic Directors and members of the Sun Belt Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) voted to select the overall recipient. The conference initiated the Sun Belt Faculty Member of the Year Award in 2019.

Feirstein and each of the finalists will be recognized at the Sun Belt Conference Honors Banquet in conjunction with the Sun Belt Fall Meetings on October 13, 2026 in Atlanta.
 
“We are proud to recognize these dedicated educators for their immeasurable impact on the lives of student-athletes at our member institutions,” said Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Keith Gill. "We look forward to celebrating Paul Feirstein and each of this year’s finalists at the Sun Belt Honors Banquet during our Fall Meetings.”
 
An adjunct professor at Coastal Carolina since the spring 2022 semester, Feirstein has taught four different courses in the business school and restarted the dormant Coastal Carolina Entrepreneurship Organization in fall 2024. He is also an active coach and mentor in the Wall Succeeds Program, providing ongoing career guidance and professional development support to enrolled students.
 
Unlike a traditional academician, Paul brings an “out-of-the-building” pedagogical approach to teaching, prioritizing real-world challenges, practical problem-solving, and professional readiness. His teaching philosophy is anchored in three guiding principles—accountability, transparency in communication, and collaboration—that mirror the expectations of today’s business world and translate directly into skills his students carry onto the field, the court, and into their careers.
 
“When I came to Coastal Carolina, I thought I had figured this out,” Feirstein said. “Thirty years of experience. Hundreds of professionals developed. I came here thinking this was going to be about what I could offer. I could not have been more wrong. The student-athletes I have known have taught me things I did not know I still needed to learn — about resilience, competing through exhaustion, and showing up when you have nothing left because the person next to you is counting on you.”
 
A former student-athlete and baseball player at the University of Pittsburgh, Feirstein believes he did not earn the trust his student-athletes extended to him, but rather it was given to him.
 
“Every time a student-athlete stops me to say something I shared is still with them, or a coach tells me one of their players came back from our conversation with a different look in their eyes — those remind me that teaching is never a one-way exchange,” Feirstein said. “It is a partnership, and I am the one who is grateful.”
 
Noé Lipkow Santos, a captain on the Chanticleers’ men’s soccer team and native of Germany, endured the significant challenges of being a foreign student on an American college campus. Months and thousands of miles away from family and friends created lonely moments and a feeling of missing support at his team’s home games. It was a relationship with Feirstein that turned things around for Santos.
 
“I clearly remember my first interactions with Professor Paul in class. He consistently made his classes engaging and inclusive, and respect was a core value he emphasized,” Santos said. “Of all the courses I took at the time, his management class quickly became my favorite. Through one-on-one conversations after class, we began to develop a more personal connection.”
 
Santos recalls inviting Feirstein to a home match against then-top-ranked conference rival Marshall University that made an emotional impact on him.
 
“On game day, seeing Paul standing on the sideline, waving at us as we warmed up, meant more than I can express,” Santos said. “After we tied the top-ranked team in the country, I went over to thank him and give him a hug. His presence made me feel as though a family member was there supporting me.”
 
Showing up isn’t uncommon for Feirstein, as he’s developed bonds with multiple teams and student-athletes at Coastal Carolina. His background as a former baseball player during his college years is a direct correlation to the rigorous physical and mental demands student-athletes face, and he wants nothing more than to be an encouraging figure in their lives.
 
“My commitment to them is personal, not programmatic,” Feirstein said. “I have been welcomed into practices and team environments across multiple programs, showing up without an agenda other than to be present. I reach out before big competitions and after difficult losses — because those are the
moments that matter most, and the moments when most people go quiet.”
 
2026 Sun Belt Faculty Member of the Year Finalists
Dr. Brian Hasson
Appalachian State University
Assistant Professor, Accounting
 
Dr. Shaquita Renelique
Arkansas State University
Associate Dean, Nontraditional Studies
 
John Lisec
Georgia Southern University
Lecturer, Sport Management
 
Dr. Doyle James Barrow Jr.
Georgia State University
Lecturer, Chemistry
 
Dom Palumbo
James Madison University
Lecturer, Sport and Recreation Management
 
Dr. Anita Hazelwood
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
 
Dr. Allison Wiedemeier
University of Louisiana at Monroe
Associate Professor and Program Director of Life Sciences, Biology
 
Margie Phillips
Marshall University
Professor and Director of Enrollment, Business
 
Dr. Tonya M. Shell
Old Dominion University
Director of Instructional Faculty, Sociology and Criminal Justice
 
Dr. Caitlyn Hauff
University of South Alabama
Associate Professor, Health, Kinesiology and Sport
 
Dr. Matthew Casey
University of Southern Mississippi
Associate Professor, History
 
Dr. Teresa Johnson
Troy University
Professor and Program Coordinator, Health Sciences