In Brief: September 2022

Collin College Fire Instructor Capt. Bret Storck received a Congressional Medal of Honor Award for his life-saving efforts of an unconscious victim from a burning vehicle. In addition to awarding medals to military personnel, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society selects one United States citizen to receive the Citizen Honors Award in each of the five awards categories. Storck was selected as the recipient of the Single Act of Heroism Award, recognizing Americans who accomplish extraordinary feats of heroism by risking their lives for the benefit of others in dire situations. He rescued an unconscious crash victim from a burning vehicle while off duty. Frisco Fire Department responded to the call as he removed the victim from the car. Upon arrival, Frisco Fire Capt. Steve Cruz quickly recognized Storck, a fellow instructor for Collin College Fire Academy. Bret received this prestigious award on Sept. 9 at the 2022 Valor Awards Presentation in Knoxville, TN.

The Technical Campus welcomed Julian Alvarez III, the Commissioner Representing Labor of the Texas Workforce Commission, on Sept. 7-8. He toured the campus on Sept. 7 and discussed the benefits of its programs with the faculty and administration. During his tour, he remarked that he had never seen anything like the Technical campus during his travels throughout Texas and the nation. The following day, Commissioner Alvarez returned to recognize Texas Workforce Skills Development Grant awards at the KONE Conference Center. The grants total more than $900 million to support incumbent employee training in the county. Thank you to everyone who helped make him feel welcomed, with special recognition to Career Coach Sean Sweeden, who was instrumental in encouraging Commissioner Alvarezs visit.

Mens Basketball Coach Jim Sigona was quoted in a Sports Illustrated story about current Southeastern Conference (SEC) Commissioner Greg Sankey, who played for Sigona at Cayuga Community College. 

Theatre Professor Renee Dessommes has been elected as the corresponding secretary for the Stage Managers Association of the United States (SMA) Board of Directors. The SMA is the only professional organization for working stage managers across the United States.

The purchasing department has earned the 2022 Achievement of Excellence in Procurement Award for the 16^thtime. Collin College is one of 171 agencies in the United States and Canada and one of 14 higher education organizations to receive the award. This award recognizes organizational excellence in public and non-profit procurement. Congratulations to Cindy White, director of Purchasing and Contract Administration, and the rest of her team for receiving this honor.

One hundred percent of the Diagnostic Medical Sonography program graduates passed the Sonographic Principles and Instrumentation (SPI) registry exam on the first attempt. Fourteen students graduated from the programs third cohort during the summer semester.

One hundred percent of the inaugural cohort of the Veterinary Technology program passed its national board exams on the first attempt.

Ryan Fletcher, professor of English at the Plano Campus, will presentExpanding 1922: David GarnettsLady into Foxand the Fantasticat the Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association (PAMLA) Conference at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) in November.

Isabella Fuentes, a student, recently published a leadership article titled, School is Back in Session and so is IGNITE! for IGNITE International, an organization that seeks to inspire young women to become leaders. Fuentes began her college career as an Integrate Reading and Writing student and has gone on to win third place in the 2022 Texas Center for Working-Class Studies Student Essay Contest, serve as a College 101 Student Mentor, and organize voter registration drives, policy workshops, professionalism workshops, and other opportunities to educate students at Collin College through her local chapter of IGNITE. The local chapter is sponsored by Collin College Professors Melissa Palacios and Dr. Rosalinda Valenzuela. Fuentes is Collin Colleges IGNITE Chapter President and an areawide 22-23 IGNITE Fellow.

Dr. Garry Evans, dean of Academic Affairs on the McKinney Campus, has been selected to serve on the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Boards Texas Transfer Advisory Committee (TTAC) from Sept. 1, 2022-Aug. 21, 2025.

Associate Dean Dr. Brandy Fair co-authored and published the second edition of her textbook Business Communication in a Technological World through Kendall Hunt Publishing.

Maegan Beasley, conduct officer at the McKinney Campus, defended her dissertation last week at Baylor University.

Marissa Williams, a district college and career counselor, and Benson Kinyanjui, an advisor with ACCESS, co-wrote Academic and career advising for students with disabilities, a chapter in Disabilities and Accommodations in Higher Education: A Handbook for Disability Advisors, published in September by BN Press, New York. The book will be available for purchase on Amazon in October.

More than 600 high school juniors and seniors attended Health Professions second annual Dual Credit Bootcamp event at the McKinney Campus Conference Center on Aug. 8. The 628 students who attended are enrolled in Health Science clinical programs offered in partnership with 12 school districts throughout Collin County. The students attending this session listened to these experienced professionals talk about what it takes to succeed through high school, college, and the medical field. The boot camp was created in 2021 by Health Professions Director Dr. Juli Westcott and Program Coordinator Josh Snyder. The seniors attended a Q&A session featuring a panel of medical experts, including Chief Tim Mock, the colleges Emergency Medical Services director.

Health Professions Program Director Dr. Juli Westcott, D.C., completed her Masters Degree through Abilene Christian University. Her emphasis was Student Success Leadership in Higher Education.

Jamie Brinkley, manager of Accounts Receivable in the Bursars office, recently completed her seventh marathon. This one wasthe Big Cottonwood Canyon Marathon in Salt Lake City. Her completion time has officially qualified her for the Boston Marathon.

Dr. Sarah Lee and Associate Dean Jill Nugent were asked to speak at the North Texas Community College Consortium Fall Leadership Conference on Sept. 16 about the development of theiCollinVirtual Campus.

 

Professors Meena Beri and Kaycee Washington presented at the 11^thAnnual Digital Education Summit hosted by Sam Houston State University on Sept. 23. Their presentation is titled, Using OER-based Assessment in an Online Course.

Dr. Allison Boye, director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, had two proposals accepted for presentation at the 2022 International Conference of the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education, the premier organization in Educational Development.

Dr. Nicolas Valcik has been hired as the Institutional Research Offices director of Effectiveness Analytics. Dr. Valcik will be key in leading and supporting program review, institutional effectiveness, and accreditation. He is a Collin College graduate with 25 years of institutional research experience.

The Texas Veterans Commission awarded Collin College the Gold 2022 Veterans Education Excellence Recognition Award (VEERA). This is the second year the honor has been granted, and Collin College has earned gold status both years.

Academic Partnerships and Student Engagement Services combined to finalize and officially sign the colleges first MOU with a Texas Historically Black College or University (HBCU). The agreement with Texas Southern opens new doors for students looking to transfer there.

Dual Credit enrollment has increased by about 800 over last year and has almost returned to the level two years ago when the Texas Success Initiative Assessment requirement was temporarily waived.

 

Collin College housing is 100% full this fall. The college had to cut the waiting list at 40, with many more students showing interest in housing.

Over the past year, the grants office has been awarded $7.8M in grant dollars, of which $6.1M came from competitive grant applications. Congratulations to Natalie Greenwell and her team.

The following Student Engagement Services team members have been selected for new city leadership classes: Doug Willis, Leadership Wylie; Dr. DeAira Holloway-Pugh, Leadership Frisco; Dr. Greg Forge, Leadership Allen; Pamela Lee, Leadership Celina.

Traci Ramsey, dean of Student Engagement Services at McKinney Campus, was selected for the 2022-23 NTCCC Consortium Leadership and Renewal Academy (CLARA) class.

Lt. Don Mewbourn, Lt. Traci DeRose, and Sgt. Scott Knight completed the third and final training in the FBI-LEEDA (Law Enforcement Executive Development Association) Trilogy Series. FBI-LEEDA is a non-profit organization that provides leadership training to law enforcement. The Trilogy Series includes: The Supervisor Leadership Institute, The Command Leadership Institute, and The Executive Leadership Institute.

Gen Northup, manager of Professional Development, was one of 40 women across the state to be selected for the Women Who Mean Business executive leadership development program through the Red McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.

Deborah Ingoldby was recognized through the Staff Councils Random Acts of Core Values program. Her nominator said, Deborah exemplifies the core values of service and involvement through her exceptional customer service skills.

The Celina Campus has its first group of dual credit students attending the Celina Campus from Prosper ISD. The campus offers five classes.

The Brenda Willard Goodell Library and the Anthony Peterson Center for Academic Assistance offered their annual fall program to assist students in acclimating to the campus and its services. The theme for this year was Camp with Us. Students had the opportunity to visit the departments, sign up for tutoring, and make smores. Collin Cougar was in attendance.

One hundred seven students have attended College 101 this fall at the Plano Campus. Designed to help first-year students learn how to network, get involved, and succeed in their college classes, College 101 programs have included Getting Started and Getting Involved 101 on Aug. 31, featuring Rebecka Scott, director of the Anthony Peterson Center for Academic Assistance, Shannon Alexander, reference librarian for the Plano Campus Library, Professor Karen Hanvey from the Integrated Reading and Writing department, and Jayna Burch from Student Engagement.Test Anxiety and Test Preparation 101 on Sept. 7 featured Associate Dean Matthew Geracie. On Sept. 14, attendees learned about Networking and Working 101 from Career Services Director Arturo Silva, Service-Learning from Dr. Rebecca Burton, and student associations representatives Francisco Martinez from Student Government Association, Charlene Sunde from Phi Theta Kappa, and Isabella Fuentes from IGNITE, as well as Dr. Rosalinda Valenzuela and officer Andrea Acevedo from LEAP.College 101 is hosted by Professor Linda Kapocsi, along with Faculty Mentors Dr. Valenzuela and Professor Charlene Houston.

Professors Meena Beri, Sukanya Subramanian, and Melissa Johnson hosted webinars during the first week of fall classes for online students. Their topic was Tips for Success in Your Online Course.The Virtual Campus Student Success Coaches joined to offeradditional advice and share about the coaching program. About 75 Collin College students attended the events.