In Brief: February 2022

Nine Collin College faculty and staff members have been honored with a League For Innovationin the Community Colleges 2021-2022 League Excellence Award. Previously known as the John and Suanne Roueche Excellence Awards, the award recognizes outstanding faculty, staff, and leaders in the community college field who have made a significant difference in students lives and in the communities their colleges serve. The following Collin College employees have been selected as 2021-2022 League Excellence Award recipients: John Brewer, manager in Facilities; Rebecca Burton, professor of Education; Shawna Chamberlin, counselor in P-12 Partnerships; Michelle Kelly, professor of Medical Assisting; Scott Knight, police sergeant; Rebecca Orr, professor of Biology; Rebecka Scott, manager in the Plano Campus Writing Center; Harlan Thompson, police sergeant; and James Yervasi, professor of Automotive Technology. Twenty-two nominations were submitted, with nine nominees selected to the final group. Excellence Award recipients are recognized during the annualInnovations Conference, to be held virtually Feb. 28-March 3.Each 2021-2022 League Excellence Award recipient will receive a specially cast, pewter medallion, an Excellence Award certificate, and a copy of the League Awards Program. More information about the League for Innovation in the Community College and this award program is available at www.league.org/excellence.

Collin College has been granted the designation of Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense (CAE-CD) from the National Security Agency (NSA). While the colleges Associate of Applied Science degree in Information Systems Cybersecurity was awarded an approved program of study last month, this designation puts Collin College on a distinctly different plane among academic institutions. The Collin College Cybersecurity department had to demonstrate that it engages in significant community involvement, academic activities, and institutional practices in cybersecurity as part of its self-study. This CAE designation is possible because of the detailed and copious work of Director Ervin Frenzel and Professor Rick Brunner, E.J.D., during the last 18 months. The Cybersecurity department plans to submit the Bachelor of Technology in Cybersecurity when appropriate. Congratulations to Frenzel, Brunner, and the Cybersecurity department on this tremendous accomplishment.

Regnery History recently published The Jazz Age President: Defending Warren G. Harding by Ryan Walters, adjunct professor of History at the Wylie Campus. The book examines the life and accomplishments of the 29^th president of the United States. Walters has done numerous media interviews on the book. Regnery previously published Apollo I: The Tragedy that Put Us on the Moon, by Walters.

Associate Dean Traci Ramsey gave two presentations at the National Association of African American Studies National Conference in February. The first was, Maximizing the Mentoring Relationship: Practices for Black Women in Higher Education, on Feb. 15. The second was A Collaborative Approach to Executing Systemic and Sustained Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives in an Online Higher Educational Setting, on Feb. 16.

The Brenda Willard Goodell Library, Anthony Peterson Center for Academic Assistance, and the Celina Campus Library jointly hosted a marketing and promotional event called Tailgate Time on Feb. 9. The Super Bowl-themed, student-focused event encouraged students to visit and explore the tutoring center and library. Students participated in fun activities centered around football.

The Plano Campus hosted its annual guitar festival, Feb. 11-12. Organized by Fernand Vera and Olga Amelkina-Vera, the festival included a guest artist concert by Xavier Jara. The couple was also the subject of a profile in the University of St. Thomas-Houston blog. The pair are alumni of the university, and the article notes the publication of their latest CD. The CD is an album of Amelkina-Veras recent guitar compositions for solo, duo, chamber music (guitar and clarinet), and quartets. Read the article at https://news.stthom.edu/classical-guitarist-alumni-couple-reachesanother-creative-milestone/.

Celina Campus Executive Dean Brenda Carter was selected as a Celina Education Foundation Board member.

Michael Buhl, Sociology adjunct faculty at Plano Campus, received his doctoral degree from Texas Womans University in December 2021.

Chris Mathey, Sociology adjunct faculty at Plano Campus, was elected vice chair of the alumni association board at Landmark College.

Professor Anna Genneken of the Technical Campus applied for graduation at Texas Womans University with a Ph.D. in rhetoric for May 2022.

John Glass was invited to be a member of the Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology Advisory Council, evaluating the current status of sociological practice.

Cybersecurity Director Ervin Frenzel was selected to identify the skills/knowledge/training requirements for Information Security Engineers as part of the O-Net initiative by the Department of Labor.

Christine Mook, a reference librarian at Frisco Campus, presented a session at the North Texas Community College Consortiums spring leadership conference titled Digital Library Engagement: Making the Difference with Faculty Collaboration. In this presentation, she spoke first about the impact of COVID-19 on higher education and how the college has responded academically.

Psychology Professor Sharon Eaves was accepted to present Evaluating the Relationship between Cognition Styles and Voting Decisions with co-presenter Nandini Kanthi at the Southeastern Psychological Association Conference, March 23-26. Eaves was nominated as a mentor in the Advanced Technology for Higher-Education and Non-profit Associations (ATHENA) research program and has been working with Kanthi since July 2021 to complete their research.