Seven Collin College employees have been honored with a 2017 John & Suanne Roueche Excellence Award from the League for Innovation in the Community College. The awards recognize employees who demonstrate excellence in their job duties, promote positive morale, have improved themselves and developed others, and have exhibited initiative, creativity and innovation in their positions at Collin College. Award-winners Gregory S. Cox, Dr. Amy T. Gainer, Dr. Nirisha Garimella, Dr. Alicia L. Huppe, Judy J. James, Dr. Dustin P. Potter, and Traci L. Ramsey, were acknowledged at All College Day on January 9. All 2017 Excellence Award recipients will be given a specially-cast, pewter medallion and a certificate noting their achievement.
Bo Cross, a Frisco firefighter/paramedic, will be recognized as Firefighter of the Year by the American Legion of Texas. Cross graduated from Collin College Fire Academy Class No. 19 in May 2001 and began his career with the Frisco Fire Department in 2002. The award is given to a well-rounded firefighter who has performed above and beyond the duty requirements of his/her position, who exemplifies the virtues of professionalism and dedication, and who has demonstrated a distinct pattern of community service to his/her community, state or nation; and has also proven his/her personal dedication to community security and protection. The award will be presented to Cross during the opening session of the Mid-Winter Conference of the American Legion on Jan. 27 in Austin.
Dr. Tom Martin, Associate Vice President of Institutional Research, has been reappointed to the Metrics Committee of the Texas Association of Community Colleges. The committee will focus on conducting a thorough assessment of the current success points system, individual metrics and weights, and development of a set of recommendations. Michael Rose, Professor of Psychology, has been chosen as to serve on the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s Psychology Field of Study Advisory Committee.
Talmeez Burney, Associate Professor of Humanities, recently presented a paper titled “Sir Syed and Collective Time” at the Bicentennial Sir Syed Ahmed Khan Memorial Conference in Literary, Historical, Cultural Perspective at the University of Karachi, Pakistan. Colette Copeland, Associate Professor of Arts, presented a performative lecture at Baylor University as part of the Society for Photographic Education’s South Central Chapter’s fall conference, October 13, 2017. Her video “Empyrean” was selected and screened at the Downtown Tyler Film Festival, September 29, 2017. Also in September, a text she wrote was exhibited in “Punctuations in a Sentence of Eternity” at the Alfred Gallery in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Phi Theta Kappa recognized Jessica Hargis with a pin for five (5) years of service as Advisor of Collin’s Alpha Mu Tau Chapter. Professor Hargis teaches Political Science at the Preston Ridge Campus.Kyle Kundomal, Professor of Mathematics, co-presented a session titled “Creating Accessible Digital Course Content” at the national American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC) conference in San Diego in November 2017.
Brandy Jumper, Professor of Developmental Math, attended the Texas Region of Phi Theta Kappa Leadership Conference at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin. She serves as a co-advisor for the Collin chapter and helped with the recent induction. Brett Burkett, Professor of Geology, organized the COGS Halloween Bash on Preston Ridge Campus. It drew between 80-100 attendees (faculty, staff and students). This was held in partnership with the Honors Institute. Kayla Gibbs, Professor of Environmental Studies, volunteered as a faculty sponsor and costume judge. Professors of Biology Marlo Ballard and Cathy Donald-Whitney recently participated in the Teaching with Technology Summit run by Pearson Publishing in Florida. Sally Haas, Professor of Developmental Math, attended the College Academic Success Program (CASP) meeting in Galveston.
Dr. Keith Eppich, Associate Instructor of Anthropology, participated in an excursion this past summer that led to the discovery of the 1,000-year-old tomb of a Mayan king. The tomb was unearthed at the site of El Perú-Waka’ in the rainforest of northern Guatemala. Though the dense city was filled with hundreds of buildings, including pyramids, palaces, plazas and houses, it was only rediscovered in the 1960s, when petroleum workers stumbled upon the ruins. The Peruvian government has just allowed release of the discovery. Visit: www.livescience.com/60433-royal-mayan-tomb-with-red-bones.html to read more.