In Brief: October 2023

Dr. Michael McConachie, professor of Political Science at the Wylie Campus, spoke to the Government Affairs group at the Highland Springs Retirement Community on Sept. 21 on the topic of "End of the Line for American Democracy?"

Kyle Kundomal, professor of Mathematics at Frisco Campus, was elected treasurer for the American Mathematical Association for Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC). Kundomal will serve a three-year term from Jan 1, 2024, to Dec 31, 2027. AMATYC's mission is to provide high-quality professional development, to advocate and collaborate at all levels, and to build communities of learners for all involved in mathematics education in the first two years of college. With approximately 2,000 individual members, over 130 institutional members, and 46 state or regional affiliates in the United States and Canada, AMATYC is the only national organization devoted exclusively to providing a national forum for the improvement of mathematics education in the first two years of college.

McKinney Campus held its first of two Trauma Days of the fall on Oct. 21. Trauma Day tests students in realistic scenarios and reinforces what they have learned in class. Click here for a video showing the type of training held during Trauma Day. This year’s event was held entirely on the McKinney Campus and included theatrical smoke in the parking garage. The second Trauma Day of the semester is planned from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Nov. 11. It will also be held on the McKinney Campus.  

Economics students from the Wylie Campus visited the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas on Oct. 12. In addition to a tour of the bank, students were given a lesson on the financial history of the United States and the functions of the Federal Reserve as the central bank of the United States.

The Collin College Public Safety Training Center is the first law enforcement academy in Texas to adopt the Building Shooters Technology LLC NURO^® System for de-escalation-focused firearms training. Rather than relying solely on traditional paper outline targets during firearms training, the NURO^® System can display different images on the paper – threat, no-threat, or a sudden change in situation from threat to no-threat – requiring the cadet or other shooter to identify the level of force needed in a given situation. The addition of this visual stimulus helps officers and cadets train their decision-making and de-escalation skills. Visual stimulus-based, de-escalation-focused firearms training has been evaluated by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services and approved by the New York Municipal Police Training Council. Statewide implementation in New York is expected to be complete by September 2024.

Collision Technology Professor Raven Hatkopf was recently interviewed on Body Bangin’, a podcast dedicated to automotive bodywork and collision repair. Hartkopf shared information from her master's research project that focused on perceptions of employers hiring collision technology employees and students pursuing that same degree. Hartkopf and Professor Marcus Godinez surveyed close to 70 shops in Collin County for the project. To examine the student perspective, they also asked Collin College students to complete a survey to examine their expectations. Watch the video here.

In partnership with OpenStax, Collin College will host a North Texas OER + Technology Summit in the McKinney Campus Conference Center on Oct. 27. The event is for faculty, administrators, and textbook adoption decision-makers committed to expanding OER (Open Educational Resources) use and awareness or enhancing their existing OER programs through accompanying technologies.

More than 1,000 visitors from 13 ISDs surrounding Collin County attended the iWork 2023 event at Technical Campus. Organized in cooperation with Workforce Solutions for North Central Texas and dozens of companies lending industry support, students learned about careers in a wide variety of job fields as well as career readiness skills. More than 80 faculty and staff members from across the district supported the event, with special thanks going to Ariana Herrman, Cynthia Davis, David Campbell, Kate Smith, Jinger Peeples, Maria Rodriguez, Rajan Rijal, Raul Martinez, and Sean Sweeden. More information about the event is available at https://iwork-nct.com/iwork-2023.

Director of Veterinary Technology Catherine Pfent recently became certified as a hospice and palliative care veterinarian through the International Association for Animal Hospice and Palliative Care. 

Eclipse events across the district on Oct 14 drew hundreds of students and community members to campuses across the district. Eventgoers looked through specially outfitted telescopes and donned free solar sunglasses designed to protect their eyes while looking at the eclipse. Physics and Astronomy professors were on hand to assist eventgoers with safe viewing and explain how the partial eclipse was formed.

Collin College students Henry Elmendorf and Stefano Sacripanti and a faculty advisor will travel to Cape Canaveral, Florida, to see their experiment launched into space on a SpaceX rocket in early November as a part of the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP). The experiment will be performed on the International Space Station. The pair will also make a presentation about their experiment along with other participants from across the country. This is the culmination of Collin College’s involvement with the SSEP Mission 17. Scientifically minded students from multiple Collin College campuses, including many participating in the college's Center for Advanced Studies in Mathematics and Natural Sciences (CASMNS) program, submitted potential experiments for the chance to see their experiment performed in space. Two mission patches designed by Collin College students will also be launched to the International Space Station at the same time. The patches were created by The Colony dual credit student Alayna Samnani and Fernando Rodriguez, a student at the Frisco Campus. The launch is currently set for Friday, Nov. 3.

Full-time iCollin Virtual Campus faculty member LaToya Watkins' book Holler, Child has been selected as one of the 10 contenders for the 2023 National Book Award for Fiction. Watkins will attend the 74^th National Book Awards Ceremony and Benefit dinner in New York City on Nov. 15. LeVar Burton will host the event and include special guest Oprah Winfrey. She will perform a reading at the event. Read more about her long list status at www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-2023/.

Dr. Rachel Bzostek Walker, associate dean at the Technical Campus, was accepted into the Keller Citizen Academy.

Dr. Sarah R. Fish, an English professor at the Technical Campus, was recently published in the Texas Community College Teachers Association TCCTA Messenger. Her article is titled “Are We Really at Odds with Each Other? Bridging ‘Academic’ and ‘Workforce’ Labels in First-Year Writing”.

Dr. Amy Gainer, dean of academics on the Technical Campus, was accepted into Leadership Allen-Fairview Class of 35.

Arianna Gray, assistant director of Financial Aid, received the Carolyn J. Jones Mentoring and Teaching Award at the 2023 TASFAA (Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators) Conference. This annual award is given to a person who has had a significant impact on the financial aid profession through training and mentoring. Gray has led the training efforts for many years at Collin College. In the last several years, she has also provided numerous trainings at the NASFAA (National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators) and TASFAA conferences. In addition, she has been a regular trainer for the TASFAA Regional trainings. The award was created in Memory of Carolyn J. Jones was a long-time employee at Collin College who greatly impacted TASFAA.

The Communications Department was awarded National Council for Marketing & Public Relations (NCMPR) Medallion awards in several categories at its District 4 convention, Oct. 10-12. The awards included:  Gold Medallion – Excellence in Writing (short form and long form categories) and Original Photography; Silver – Annual Report, Brochure, and Original Photography; Bronze – Microsite/Landing Page, Digital Advertisement, and Logo Wear.

Collin College Engineering Technology hosted the season kickoff for Collin County Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology (CoCo BEST) in September. The BEST program is a sports-like technology competition designed to inspire and motivate students toward studies and careers in engineering, science, and technology. CoCo BEST is one of several hubs throughout the state and nation.