The Collin College Model U.N. team won Outstanding Delegation at the National Model U.N. Conference in Washington D.C. Students Madyson Biggers and Michael Kirchner won Outstanding Delegate awards at the conference and Collin College was the only community college to win the Outstanding Delegation award.
InTouch Credit Union Plano Balloon Festival Executive Director Jo Via and Event Director Jessica Jackson presented the Board of Trustees with a check for r $2,000 as proceeds from the Festival’s Half Marathon. All proceeds go to fund scholarships through Collin’s Foundation.
Collin College was honored as a “2016 Best for Vets College” by Military Times. This is the second year in a row that the college has earned this distinction. Collin College ranked 12th among two-year colleges and was the highest of the three Texas community colleges to make the list.
Collin College was once again named a “Top School” by the publishers of Military Advanced Education and Transition. This is the fourth year in a row that Collin College has received this distinction.
Collin College was named a 2016 Military Friendly® School by Victory Media, the publisher of G.I. Jobs®, STEM Job and Military Spouse. The Military Friendly® Schools designation is awarded to the top colleges, universities, community colleges, and trade schools in the country that are doing the most to embrace military students, and to dedicate resources to ensure their success both in the classroom and after graduation.
Former Collin College art student Brook Opie-Ragusa received a scholarship from the Terry Foundation. Brooke was selected as a transfer student and nominated by Texas Woman’s University.
Collin College’s 2015 Lift Up! Employee Giving Campaign achieved 51 percent participation and collected $114,796 in employee contributions. The participation rate more than doubled over last year’s 22 percent and included 167 new donors. The money raised will fund almost 100 full student scholarships.
Collin College Foundation Executive Director Amy Evans was named Vice Chair of the Community Grants Advisory Commission for the city of McKinney. The Community Grants Advisory Commission considers funding requests for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and the city’s Community Support Grant programs, reviews CDBG performance and advises the McKinney City Council on CDBG and support grant activities.
Dean of Nursing Donna Hatch was named Director at Large for the Texas Concept Based Curriculum Consortium. The consortium is made up of nursing education professionals who work to develop concept based teaching methods, which focus on major ideas, teach students to organize information logically within those concepts and allow them to apply what they have learned in related situations.
Professor of English J.D. Isip’s full-length poetry collection, Pocketing Feathers, was released by Sadie Girl Press on Amazon and several brick and mortar bookstores around the country.
Professor Lupita Murillo Tinnen successfully defended her dissertation, “Representations of Latin American Immigrant Laborers: Documentary in the Digital Age,” at the University of Texas at Dallas.
Chief Information Officer David Hoyt was elected Vice President to the Texas Connection Consortium (TCC). The TCC association is comprised of 40 state universities, colleges and community college districts that share the resources of a solution center.
Communication Design Professor Marshall Pittman curated and programmed the animation block for this year’s Dallas Videofest 28. He also introduced the computer animation festival reel.
Associate Professor of Communication Design Chris Titze was named one of Luerzer’s Archive’s “200 Best Digital Artists Worldwide.”
Art student Nicole Denton received a full scholarship to the prestigious Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.
Former art student Lynda DeGrow Kingsley had an art show at the Haley-Henman Contemporary Gallery in Dallas.
Professor of Art Letha Clair Robertson’s article, “Hometown Hero: The Civil War Experiences of William J. Goodman, M.D.,” was published in Chronicles of Smith County. The article is the result of an exhibition Dr. Robertson curated last winter at the Tyler Museum of Art in Tyler, Texas.
Professor of History Dr. Matthew Ware Coulter presented his research on “Taming the East Texas ‘Black Giant’: Ernest O. Thompson and Illusions of Independence” to the East Texas Historical Association conference.
Dance students of the Collin Dance Ensemble and music students of OneSound collaborated for a performance of “Empower Me” tied to the Dignity Initiative Campaign to stop domestic and dating violence. The program featured several works intended to inspire and educate including poetry, singing and dancing.
A WFAA news report on photography professor Byrd Williams’ life and work won a Lone Star Emmy for Texas Heritage in November. The report covered Williams’ photographic archive which consists of letters from, equipment of and images created by four generations of his family, all of whom were Texas photographers. The collection spans 120 years.
The Dance Department hosted its annual “College Dance Day” recruitment event, during which area high school dance students are invited to experience a day of higher education dance. This year’s Dance Day was the best attended to date with 10 area high schools and 287 high school students in attendance. Including directors, dance students, faculty, and staff, the Dance Department hosted about 320 dancers taking a variety of dance classes, performing in the John Anthony Theatre and experiencing a “Day of Dance” in higher education.