COLLEGE NEWS | APRIL 2014

The Texas Comptroller’s office awarded Collin College with the Platinum Transparency Award.  Collin College is the only college or university in Texas to receive the award this year.  Last year, the District received a Gold Award, which at the time was the highest level.  A platinum level was added this year for those organizations that went above the gold standard in meeting transparency requirements.

The Public Relations and Foundation Departments won a bronze award from the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations (NCMPR) in the Fundraising Campaign category for “Stetson & Stiletto Standoff 2013.”  The Paragon Awards is the only national competition of its kind because it honors excellence in marketing and public relations at community colleges exclusively.  There are nearly 1,600 members of NCMPR, and this year there were 1,865 entries in the 50 categories.

For the third time, Collin College’s Wellness Program was recognized by the American Heart Association (AHA) with its Fit-Friendly GOLD Standard Award.  The award honors worksites that fulfill criteria such as offering employees physical activity support, increasing healthy eating options at work and promoting a wellness culture. Also for the third time, Collin College received the AHA’s Innovation Award for achieving all criteria for gold-level recognition and developing and implementing an innovative program in the workplace.

The Commission on Dental Accreditation has granted Collin College’s Dental Hygiene program the accreditation status of “approval without reporting requirements.” 

Dr. Terry Hockenbrough, Director of the Center for Scholarly and Civic Engagement, received the Distinguished College Administrator Award from the national Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. Dr. Hockenbrough was one of only 25 college administrators in the U.S. to receive the honor. The Distinguished College Administrator Award is given to college vice presidents, deans or leaders other than college presidents and CEOs serving in an administrative capacity who have demonstrated a strong level of support for Phi Theta Kappa during their tenure.

Professor of political science H. Jessica Hargis and professor of music Gary Evans were two of thirty Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society advisors to receive the 2014 Paragon Award for New Advisor. The Paragon Award for New Advisor recognizes advisors across the United States who have served less than four years and have made significant contributions to the growth of the individual chapter members, served as the chapter’s advocate on campus and encouraged the chapter to be involved on the local, regional, and/or international level of the organization.

Central Park Campus Reference Librarian Lisa Huang was named a Rising Star and accepted into the Rising Star Program of the Medical Library Association.  She is the only community college librarian to receive the award.  The one-year leadership program was developed for members who are interested in leadership roles in the association.

Director of engineering technology Dave Galley received “The Wylie Way Award” from the Wylie Independent School District Board of Trustees for his work on technical dual credit pathways that prepare Wylie students for success with college and career awareness and readiness.

Michelle Millen, director of Health Information Management, was appointed to the Council for Excellence in Education (CEE).  The mission of the CEE is to nurture high school and university scholars to careers of excellence and leadership in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and to encourage international collaboration between and among leaders in the global community.

Collin College theater professor Gail Cronauer was featured on the NBC TV show “Revolution” in the episode “Austin City Limits.” She has acted for nearly 30 years and has previously starred in hit TV shows such as “Walker, Texas Ranger.”

Professor of humanities Dr. Dale Walker presented his paper, “The Violation of Rights by the State:  The restrictions on the citizen’s right to effective self-defense” to the Criminology Unit at the University of the West Indies in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Dr. Walker was also featured on two television stations in Trinidad.

Professor of economics Mike Cohick presented a paper, “Death by PowerPoint,” at the 25th annual Teaching Economics Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which discussed best practices using visuals in the classroom.

Professor of philosophy Dr. Levi Bryant published “The Gravity of Things: An Introduction to Onto-Cartography” in “Ontological Anarché: Beyond Materialism and Idealism, in Anarchist Developments in Cultural Studies, and he also published “Black Ecology” in “Prismatic Ecologies:  Ecotheory Beyond Green.”

Collin College faculty presented papers and facilitated a workshop on creativity and innovation at the 204th Conference of the American Chemical Society Two-Year College Chemistry Consortium at the Central Park Campus. Two former Collin College students presented papers and students and faculty presented their research via posters.

Eight of the continuing education nurse aide training students took and passed the national exam in December. Collin College maintains a 100 percent pass rate since new curriculum went into effect last September.  The national pass rate was 50.6 percent in December.

Two poster presentations from Collin College were accepted for the Texas Academy of Science meeting in Galveston. Student Eugene Johnson and professor of biotechnology Dr. Bridgette Kirkpatrick and professor of biology Dr. Jon Lawson, had their poster accepted, as did students Hannah Zoorob and Cristy Guizar with professor of biology Chris Doumen.

Two Collin College students received awards at the joint 2014 Annual Conference of English Honor Societies Sigma Tau Delta and Sigma Kappa Delta. Student Avery Wood’s short story titled, “Because I Drew Him from the Water,” received the Sigma Kappa Delta Award for the best presentation on the 1924 Anniversary Theme. He received a perfect score of 500 on his work, a first for a two-year college student.  Student Caitlynn Hughes received first place in the creative nonfiction category for her short work, “To the Cross at Trinity Mills.”  Both of their works will be published in Sigma Kappa Delta’s national literary journal, “Hedera helix.”

The Honors Institute now list courses up to two years in advance. The schedule can be viewed at http://www.collin.edu/academics/honors/. For more information, visit http://www.collin.edu/conference/studentresearch/ or email jwarren@collin.edu.

More than 260 students registered for membership in the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society’s chapter at Collin College, Alpha Mu Tau.

Seniors Active In Learning now has 105 new members, which brings its total active member count to 680.