National Psi Beta recently awarded Collin College’s chapter with the Chapter Excellence Award for meeting all four pillars of Psi Beta’s mission: Leadership, Scholarship, Community Service, and Research. This award requires activity in all four areas and Collin’s students (Brianna Tante, Dulce Cristobal and Yazmine Juarez) met them through activities such as attending the college’s Leadership workshop last August, hosting exonerees from The Innocence Project last October, helping Habitat for Humanity literally raise a roof on a house in McKinney in freezing temperatures, and presenting their research project at a regional Psychology conference last April. Congratulations to the students and faculty advisers Dr. Joshua Arduengo, Pat Coble, Jennifer O’Loughlin-Brooks, and Tracy Meyer on this honor.
Dallas Maverick and future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki made a surprise appearance at the annual Mavericks Hoop Camp held at the Plano Campus, August 8. Nowitzki held a press conference in THE ARTS gallery before heading to the basketball court where dozens of excited basketball players were attending the annual hoop camp. He answered camper questions for about 20 minutes, then played a few games of “knockout” with the children before posing for a group photo and individually high-fiving all them all. Nowitzki also autographed two Collin College baseball caps, which were auctioned off with other Mavericks memorabilia at the All College Day silent auction.
The National Science Foundation has informed Dr. Ann Beheler, Executive Director of Emerging Technology Grants, that Collin College has been awarded a grant for $3,755,825 for support of a project titled “Information Technology Skill Standards, 2020 and Beyond.” The award starts September 1, 2018, and ends August 31, 2022.
Dr. Lupita Murillo Tinnen, Associate Dean, followed her showing in the photographic exhibition, “Telling Our Stories: Creating Maternal Identity through Photography,” with another exhibition at the Cedar Valley College Art Gallery. Her exhibition, “Portraits of Immigrants,” is on view from through September 28 in The Educational Art Gallery on the ground floor of the Cedar Valley College E Building, 3030 N. Dallas Ave. in Lancaster, Texas. The gallery is open weekdays, 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
Dr. Tinnen also attended the National Conference of Academic Deans at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Arkansas from July 18-20. The theme was, “It’s All About the Students.” She is currently serving on the planning committee for the 2019 conference and will serve as chair for the 2020 planning committee.
The Criminal Justice Department hosted two Crime Scene Investigation camps for 48 rising
ninth-12th graders, June 11-14 and June 25-28. Campers completed activities on blood typing, handwriting analysis, casting/impressions, fingerprint lifts with super glue, powders and metallic powders, as well as DNA extraction. Campers attended from Frisco High, Lone Star, Independence, Lebanon Trail, Heritage, Wakeland, Liberty, Leraas Learning Center, The Colony, Allen, Centennial, Vines, Jasper, Theo Christian Solutions, Memorial, McKinney North, Reedy High Schools in Collin County, and Bishop Lynch High School in Dallas.
Yiping Wang, Professor of Engineering at the Frisco Campus, completed certification for FANUC Robotics instruction. FANUC is one of the largest industrial robotics manufacturers in the world and this certification will translate into greater learning opportunities for our students.
Collin College Police Officer Jerry Hamon has been named to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Freshwater Fisheries Advisory Committee for the 2018-2022 term. This is Officer Hamon’s second appointment to the committee. He also had one of the most popular non-parking spot auction items at the All College Day silent auction, with a guided kayak fishing tour which sold for $260. A named scholarship for the spring 2019 semester is being created to honor the success of Officer Hamon’s auction item.
Kate Winkler Dawson, the author of this year’s Book-in-Common selection, “Death in the Air: The True Story of a Serial Killer, the Great London Smog, and the Strangling of a City,” attended a meet-and-greet with Collin College professors, August 15. Dawson signed books, chatted with faculty members and made a few brief statements at the event. Dawson also sat down for an interview with the Collin College Public Relations Department for its CougarCast segment. The segment will be available for viewing on the college’s YouTube page in September.
Collin College’s Purchasing Department recently received the Achievement of Excellence in Procurement Award for the 13th year in a row. The award honors organizations that demonstrate excellence in innovation, professionalism, productivity, e-procurement, and leadership attributes of the procurement organization. The award is given by the National Purchasing Institute and is sponsored by the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing, the National Association of Educational Procurement, the Institute for Supply Management, and the Texas Public Purchasing Association, as well as several other organizations. Congratulations to Chief Financial Officer Ken Lynn, Purchasing Director Cindy White, Assistant Director of Purchasing Karen Bell, Reporting Manager Cyndy Smith and the entire Purchasing Department for their work in achieving this recognition.
The City of Allen Fire Department donated a hazardous materials response trailer for use in Collin College’s Fire Science program. The 20-foot trailer came equipped with hazardous materials response equipment that is no longer in use for emergency response, but which can be used during simulation training as part of the Hazardous Materials Technician certification course.
Dr. Tina Marie Jackson, Director of Developmental Education, was one of only 20 people nationwide selected to participate in this year’s American Association of Blacks in Higher Education (AABHE) Leadership and Mentoring Institute. The mentorship program provides training and skill-building for African American educators as a way of preparing them for executive level leadership positions in higher education. The institute facilitates discussions among its participants and university presidents/chancellors as a way of developing a leadership mindset. In October, Dr. Jackson will present a national webinar on leadership which was developed in collaboration with a colleague from Cornell University. Dr. Jackson was nominated for the AABHE Leadership and Mentoring Institute by Dr. Mary McRae and Dr. Donald Weasenforth.
Meghan Cardwell-Wilson, Professor of Dance, served as guest choreographer for the Oklahoma Contemporary Dance Festival, presented by Perpetual Motion Dance on July 20-22. Professor Cardwell-Wilson also taught a master class in modern dance technique.
Ceramics Lab Coordinator Jillian Cooper was featured in the September 2018 edition of Ceramics Monthly magazine for a set of whiskey cups. The cups are stoneware pieces, three inches in height with glaze, underglaze, and were fired multiple times.
Jonathan Boyd, the newly-hired Fire Chief for the city of Allen, is a graduate of Collin College’s fire academy. Chief Boyd was the valedictorian for Collin College Fire Academy Class No. 3 that graduated May 28, 1993.
Dr. Diana Hopes, Dean of Academic Services, has been invited to serve as a peer reviewer for the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. Dr. Hopes will join a cadre of discipline experts who will review and evaluate Fulbright U.S. Scholar applicants from Europe and the Western Hemisphere. The discipline committee reviews each applicant on academic, scholarly and professional criteria, and on the applicant’s proposed project in the areas of curriculum development, assessment design, and foreign language teaching and learning.
Associate Dean Kelly Andrews has been selected to participate in Leadership Plano Class 36.
Karen M. Musa, Dean of Academic Affairs and Workforce Programs at the Frisco Campus, has been appointed to a three-year term on the Texas Restaurant Association Education Foundation Executive Committee for Workforce.
Theatre Professor Shannon Kearns has been appointed as a member of the Drama/Performing Arts Field of Study Advisory (FOS) Committee of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB). The Drama/Performing Arts FOS Committee is charged with identifying the block of courses that students may transfer to a general academic teaching institution.
Collin College has been awarded a $98,580 grant from the THECB for a Developmental Education College Readiness and Success project designed to support scaling co-requisite courses and increasing completion rates of developmental mathematic students. If successful in year one, this grant-funded project will generate an additional $200,000 in the following two years. The application and project development was a joint effort by professors Catherine Thurman and Jason Smoot and by Dr. Darryle Bohanna, Dr. Cameron Neal, and Dr. Tina Jackson.
Tonya McMillion, Professor of Commercial Art, will have her short film screenplay, Family, showcased at an upcoming Broadcast Education Association (BEA) conference in Houston, this October. Professor McMillion’s summer Team Production class also submitted its short film to IMDb (Internet Movie Database) and it was accepted. You can view their submission at https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8783106/?ref_=rvi_tt. The short film can be viewed at: https://www.facebook.com/CCCommunicationDesign/posts/744407552558050 .
Dr. Diana Hopes, Dean of Academic Services, in collaboration with Program Career Coach Kate Smith, Academic Advisor Maria Rodriguez, Associate Deans Dr. Bill Horstman and Mike Coffman and Grants Project Manager Susan Cannon, was recently awarded a 2018-2019 Perkins Leadership competitive grant ($70,230), to plan, design, and develop a series of training modules focused on promoting the kind of deliberate and tailored career guidance for students that will decrease time to completion, reduce excess hours, increase knowledge of career options, and assist in developing a realistic, financially-driven academic plan.
Dean Diana Hopes and Associate Deans De’Aira Holloway, Pamela Lee, and Torrey West have been accepted to present at the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) 2018 Annual Meeting. Their presentation, titled “Re-Craft to Re-Engage: Integrating the QEP Initiatives,” is designed to engage participants in an interactive dialogue about how to successfully move QEP initiatives through the integration continuum – from a pilot program to college-wide effort.
The City of Plano Environmental Health Department has selected Collin College as a finalist for the Foodservice Sanitation Excellence Award in the Full Service Corporate Dining category. The award is a way of recognizing foodservice establishments displaying the highest standards in food safety, sanitation, and food handling. Congratulations to Chief Financial Officer Ken Lynn, Associate Vice President Barbara Johnston, and a special thank you to Director of Auxiliary Services Regenia Phillips and her staff for their hard work that resulted in this award.