The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board chose Collin College’s Near-Completer review for inclusion in the Texas Student Success Inventory, a new best practices catalog to be published soon. Their efforts have led more than 2,000 students to complete their degrees. Thank you to David Malone in the Institutional Research Office and the college’s academic advisors, workforce coaches, and degree plan specialists for their work on this important program in Texas’ 60X30 TX efforts to guide more Texans to their degrees.
Several student and faculty presenters participated in a seed harvesting and preservation techniques event at the Smith Public Library in Wylie in July. The well-attended event provided information to community members on best practices for harvesting seeds. Wylie Campus is home to Collin College’s Seed Library, run by the Agriculture Program in cooperation with the campus library. Student presenters and their subjects for the event were: Christa Yañez, okra; J.P. Marshall, banana peppers; Dana Gilbert, asparagus; Valerie Perez, sunflowers; and Chris Peterson, grasses.
Frisco Campus Mathematics Professor Connie Chan has been accepted into Project ACCCESS (Advancing Community College Careers: Education, Scholarship, and Service). The mentoring ad professional development initiative for two-year college mathematics faculty is offered through AMATYC (American Mathematical Association of Two Year Colleges), the largest mathematics organization for community colleges in the nation. Chan is one of only a handful of faculty members from Collin to be accepted into Project ACCCESS. Learn more about the honor here.
Student and Enrollment Services Dean Doug Willis was selected to Leadership Wylie Class 19.
Dr. James Wicks, a college and career counselor at the McKinney Campus, recently wrote an article for Inside Higher Ed titled “Rethinking the Role of Student Adviser.” The article addresses the role advisors can play in mitigating student stress. Read it here.
Senior Vice President of Campus Operations Dr. Abe Johnson, Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Jon Hardesty, Chief Student Success Officer Dr. Jay Corwin, and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs/Workforce Programs at Frisco Campus Andrea B. Szlachtowski, attended the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) 2022 Institute on Quality Enhancement and Accreditation in Orlando, Florida in July.
Plano Campus English Professor Scott Yarbrough was the keynote featured speaker for the Texas Poetry Association in early August, featuring his last book from Lamar University Press, Some Vegetable Sacrifice. The book combined poems and original art and music.
Dr. J.D. Isip, English professor at the Plano Campus, was a featured reader and panelist for the 1455 Literary Arts Festival. A recording of the session is available at 1455litarts.org/Summerfest. Dr. Isip was also interviewed by Clifford Brooks on the NPR show Dante’s Old South to discuss his new poetry collection, Number Our Days, which comes out January 2023 from Moon Tide Press. Find the interview at the following link on Apple Podcasts. Dr. Isip also presented at the annual American Literature Association Conference. His paper, “New Visions, New Prophets: Utopias and Jeremiads in Marvel’s X-Men, WandaVision, and Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” explored traditional American motifs in popular media.
Dr. D. Chad Cummings, Agriculture adjunct at Wylie Campus and Grayson County AgriLife agent, was published in the July issue of the “What’s Up Doc?” edition of the Grayson County Ag and Natural Resources newsletter. He was interviewed by KTEN regarding the drought and cattle producers.
Ling Sun, Agriculture faculty at Wylie Campus, co-authored the article “Adding UVA and Far-Red Light to White LED Affects Growth, Morphology, and Phytochemicals of Indoor-Grown Microgreens” in July as part of the journal Sustainability’s special issue Sustainable Crop Production and Management: The Perspective of Controlled Environment Agriculture. Read the article here.
Dr. Lorraine Chalkley donated more than $30,000 to the Collin College Foundation to establish the Lorraine Wilson Chalkley/Debra Porras Raftogianis Endowed Scholarship Fund. Dr. Chalkley was the first female veterinarian in Collin County, and this fund will create scholarships for veterinary technology students.
Traci Ramsey, dean of Student and Enrollment Services at the McKinney Campus, contributed chapter 8 of the book Black Female Leaders in Academia: Eliminating the Glass Ceiling with Efficacy, Exuberance, and Excellence. Ramsey’s chapter is titled “Looking Towards the Sun: The Realities of Mentorship for Black Women.” The book’s editor, Dr. Jennifer Butcher, is Ramsey’s mentor in the doctoral program at Abilene Christian University. Learn more about the book here.
The Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) program graduated 22 learners on Aug. 11. This is the first graduating class from the Wylie Campus and the second graduating LVN class at Collin College.
The Celina Record recently saluted the inaugural class of Leadership Celina for creating a virtual time capsule of Celina’s history, which they called “Off the Beaten Path.” Collin College Development Director Andrea Mersiovsky was a key member of this project, conducting interviews and gathering information so new residents could hear the stories of Celina’s heritage in the voices of their hometown legends. Off the Beaten Path is now live on Celina’s geographic information webpage, featuring interactive maps, photos, and narration. Congratulations to Mersiovsky and all her fellow graduates of Leadership Celina Class 1.
Congratulations to Interim Provost Brenden Mesch and co-Principal Investigator Misti Clark on their successful partnership with Texas A&M University-Commerce for the Computer Science as a Career (CSAC) Scholarship Program Grant awarded by the National Science Foundation. Collin College’s portion of the $4.9 million grant is budgeted at $1,082,170 and will fully support 50 Collin College computer science students over the five-year grant period. Grant development was provided by the Collin College Grants Management office, bringing the FY22 award total to $5,393,072 in competitive grants.
The Respiratory Care program graduated its 30th cohort in May and received the Distinguished Registered Respiratory Therapist Credentialing Success Award for the 10th consecutive year from the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care in July.
Nehan Waseem and Trey Satterfield (left to right), both second-year respiratory care students, received scholarships from the Respiratory Care Foundation of Texas.
Olivia McAdams and Nehan Waseem received first and second place in the Texas Society for Respiratory Care Poster Symposium for their poster presentations at the state conference. McAdams’ poster was on new treatments for smoke inhalation injury. Waseem’s poster was on improved diagnosis of Farmer’s Lung. Both are second-year students in the Respiratory Care Program.
Collin College Respiratory Care students took second place in the state-level Sputum Bowl, held July 8 at The Texas Society for Respiratory Care convention in Galveston. The academic competition tests student teams from different colleges on respiratory therapy and related health sciences. This is the first Sputum Bowl competition since before the pandemic began. Winning Sputum Bowl team members Gia Kulmann, Reagen Frantz, Erfan Heydari, and McKenzie Jackson are pictured here alongside Collin faculty and students who traveled to the conference.
Melissa Reitz and Arika Bednar, both second-year respiratory care students, were selected to participate in the American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) House of Delegates Student Mentorship Program in Palm Springs, California, in July.
The American Association for Respiratory Care interviewed Melissa Reitz on why she became interested in respiratory care and featured her story on its website. Reitz was looking for a fresh start in life just as she was about to turn 30. A move from Wisconsin to Texas seemed like a good first step, and she packed up and headed south. Meeting the love of her life, who has cystic fibrosis, led her to a new career. Read the story here: www.aarc.org/an22-why-im-pursuing-rt-a-love-story-led-the-way/
Randee Sepeda, an Accountant for the college, received her Master of Business Administration from Wayland Baptist University in May.
HVAC Professor Stephen Pierce was selected to attend a Propane Education and Research Council (PERC) train-the-trainer conference in Tampa, Florida, in late July after working to implement PERC’s grant training into the Collin’s HART 1445, Gas & Electric Heating. Pierce aligned this national training into the college’s Texas-specific gas and electric heating course. The propane-specific train-the-trainer program was developed to benefit educators who want to bring a propane-specific curriculum relating to plumbing and HVAC systems to their classrooms.
Farmersville Campus Executive Dean Dr. Diana Hopes has been selected to serve as the next president of the Farmersville Rotary Club. The Farmersville Rotary Club was established in 1939, and Dr. Hopes will be its sixth female president. Her one-year term began July 1. Farmersville Campus Associate Dean Dr. Lee Powell will assume Dr. Hopes’ previous board role as Director of Service Projects.
Collin College applied for a Texas Workforce Commission-funded grant in Fall 2021 known as the Governor’s Summer Merit Program. Late in January of 2022, the college was awarded $60,000 to support full-day camps for the Summer of 2022. The purpose of this grant and the camps is to immerse high school students into the world of STEM careers. Focusing on recruiting for non-traditional demographics was a vital part of this initiative. Collin partnered with ISDs and more than 10 Collin-based community organizations to communicate this opportunity.
Representatives of the Mexican Consulate and members of the Americas Chamber Foundation toured the Technical Campus and held discussions with Collin College officials on how the college could work with the organizations and best serve first and second-generation Mexicans in the North Texas area. Photos from the visit are available here: www.linkedin.com/pulse/sponsors-partipants-benefit-before-expo-even-begins-m2r-inc?trk=public_post-content_share-article.
The Collin College Law Enforcement Academy has been recognized as a Committee for Tactical Emergency Casualty Care “Recognized Educational Partner.” Thank you to Range Master LeRoy Fuentes for his hard work and dedication in securing this recognition.
The EMS department offered its first Tactical Emergency Casualty Care course on June 24-25. This course has generated interest nationally and attracted a student from Brazil who flew in to take this class.
Dr. De’Aira M. Holloway, dean of Student and Enrollment Services for Frisco Campus, Technical Campus, Celina Campus, and Courtyard Center, has been accepted into the upcoming class of Leadership Frisco.
Stephen Burkett, science lab manager, graduated Leadership Wylie Class 18.
Dr. Mark Smith, McKinney campus provost, was inducted as the 2022-2023 Rotary Club of McKinney Sunrise club President.
Sgt. David Beideck and Sgt. Harlan Thompson (left to right) both recently graduated from the 136th class of School of Police Supervision, a program for law enforcement agencies concerned with the professionalism of their management team. The School of Police Supervision is a four-week learning intensive for law enforcement leaders which recognizes the importance of supervision as a major function of law enforcement.
The Brenda Willard Goodell Library hosted a children’s story time by the Celina Public Library. Around 90 people attended this program. Professor Brett Adams also presented on cowboy history. Community patron library cards were issued. Community Feedback from the event was positive.
Dr. Brian DiNuzzo, manager of the Celina Campus Anthony Peterson Center for Academic Assistance, recently published the book “Hoaxes and Other Stories.” He presented his book at the Fairleigh Dickerson University Master of Fine Arts Symposium at a conference session on “Publishing and Fiction” on July 29.
Reference Associate David Montequin presented “Queersearching: Beyond Cisheteronormative Information Literacy,” during the Cross Timbers Library Collaborative Conference in July.
Amanda Oswalt, professor of English and Humanities, has been selected to serve on the National Humanities Center’s 2022-2023 Teacher Advisory Council. Through collaborations with the Center’s Education Program, the council is responsible for providing effective resources and programs used by humanities educators at the pre-collegiate and collegiate levels.
Erika McIlnay, music and arts lab coordinator at Wylie Campus, will be on the National Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Arts and Practices (NCCCIAP) Exhibitions Committee for the 2023 conference in Birmingham, Alabama, in April of next year.
Agriculture Program Director Anne Thornton co-hosted Prairie Project training with Collin County AgriLife at the Farmersville campus on May 18 to highlight the need for tools to manage large tracts of pastures and prairie. Dr. Daniel “Chad” Cummings, Grayson County AgriLife agent and Urban Sustainable Agriculture adjunct faculty, spoke to attendees about the need for controlled burns to manage the invasion of Eastern Red Cedars in the North Texas area.
Agriculture Program Director Anne Thornton was appointed to the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee for Collin County and attended the June 8 quarterly meeting. Thornton also participated in an agriculture industry round table at Profound Farms in Lucas with Professor Ling Sun.
In June, the Fire Science department hosted “The Art of Reading Smoke” seminar in conjunction with the McKinney Fire Department. A total of 227 students attended one of the three daily sessions presented by Capitan Rob Backer, a 20-year veteran of the Thornton, Colorado Fire Department.
The Collin College Frisco Campus welcomed 120 students during three week-long camps focused on science, math, information technology, and cybersecurity. Twenty faculty and staff members supported the camps, and six Collin College IT/Cybersecurity students were hired as lab assistants. Professor Ace Moore taught students how to defend against computer hackers. Students learned how hackers gain access to systems, maintain access, and hide their digital footprint. Professor Allen Smith created a wireless networking lab exercise where students made “cantennas” tuned to the 5 GHz wi-fi band using tomato paste cans, a wireless antenna, and some adapters to connect these devices to Raspberry Pi computers. Students learned how this wireless band operates and applied this to understand how cellular and other digital signals are transmitted and used in the modern world. Professors Cathy Molina and Christian Aars taught students about light and the sun. Students created light and analyzed the emission spectra using a spectroscope. They also conducted solar observations using two telescopes. Aars also worked with students to explore the relationships between force, work, and power, and to determine “the most powerful student in the class. This was a fun way to learn about statistics and had some career ties to kinesiology, physics, and biochemistry. Professors James Freedle and Randy Morphew showed students how to utilize the Raspberry Pi computer system. Students were introduced to the basic components of a desktop computer during a tear-down of the machines. This formed a foundation for other exercises where they used this knowledge to understand networking, cloud computing, and cybersecurity concepts. Professor Patrick Evans spent time in the CISCO Network labs with students to explain how different network components integrate. Students learned the basics of computer networking, how to make their own patch cables, and the importance of computer networks in our day-to-day lives. Professors Sunita Rangarajan and Amy Williams examined cheek cells and extracted DNA. Students learned about restriction digestion, gel electrophoresis, and careers in genetics ranging from crime scene investigation to determining ancestry lines. During lunch, we invited several guest speakers to provide a “working lunch” for the students covering a wide range of IT & Cybersecurity topics. Guest speakers from Fortinet, IBM, OBS Global, Mayan Technologies, and State Farm inspired our campers and gave them insight into how to plan their future STEM careers.
The Celina Campus held its first summer camp, “Criminal Justice: From Investigation to Sentencing,” in collaboration with public information and community services officer Chase Guider and Det. Joseph Shires of the Celina Police Department. The students investigated a crime, analyzed evidence, conducted a mock trial of the suspect, and then determined sentencing. Criminal Justice professor Laura Salander and Science Lab Manager George Herrera served as content experts on the criminal justice system and crime scene analysis, respectively. Representatives from the Collin County District Attorney’s office discussed court procedures, and the Collin County Community Supervision and Corrections Department discussed sentencing.
The Wylie Campus hosted the first ever Vet Sci Summer Camp led by the Veterinary Technology Program faculty and staff. The camp was full, with 24 high school students. Campers learned how to perform blood analysis – viewing heartworms, how to operate a needle and syringe – drawing blood on the Syndaver dog, and how to perform a physical on a dog. In addition, they learned about exotic animals and met many, including rabbits, rats, ferrets, a hedgehog, and crested geckos. They also learned how to do an eye exam on a dog and dissected a cow’s eye.
Plano Campus hosted a successful Creative Writing summer camp with 20 participants at the end of May. All participants received a Collin College t-shirt in preparation for their start at our college in about 2027.