Technical Campus Associate Dean Dr. Rachel Bzostek Walker recently completed the Master of Education: Educational Technology and Instructional Design (MEDETID) at Western Governors University. Her capstone project was “Enhancing Faculty Readiness: A Study of Canvas-Based Onboarding and Training,” which focuses on training for adjunct faculty.
The iCollin Virtual Campus logged 206 online faculty training completions during the months of December and January. This represents a significant effort from our online faculty to invest in professional development and honor the online teaching standards at Collin College. The iCollin Virtual Campus led this effort with districtwide academic support and support from the eLC.
An online student success webinar hosted by the iCollin Virtual Campus webinar titled “Are You Ready for Your Online Class?” drew 177 online students. Sixty-two students engaged with iCollin Virtual Campus economics and psychology faculty via an interactive webinar titled “My Money: Financial Decision-Making Explained from the Lens of Psychology and Economics” on Feb. 5. The webinars were two of several online student success webinars planned for the spring semester.
iCollin Virtual Campus Professor Latoya Watkins, acclaimed author of “Holler, Child,” received an honorable mention for fiction for the 2024 Kempner Family Book Prize from the Philosophical Society of Texas.
iCollin Virtual Campus Professor Whitney Pisani presented at the January Lilly Conference on Teaching for Active and Engaged Learning. The title of her session was “Maintaining Engagement and Connection in the Online Classroom.”
Associate Dean Brian Lenhart’s dissertation proposal, titled “How Military Leadership Experience Correlates to Successful Higher Education Leadership: a Phenomenological Study,” was accepted by his doctoral committee and is now waiting for institutional review board approval at East Texas A&M University.
Twenty-eight Lewisville ISD seniors from The Colony Collegiate Academy were honored with cords in recognition of their active participation in the Collin College chapter of Psi Alpha on Feb. 10. Additionally, 26 students were inducted as new members of the honor society. Founded in 2018, Psi Alpha is a national honor society for high school students with a passion for psychology. The society invites students planning to major or minor in psychology, as well as those with a general interest in the field. The students are sponsored by Collin College staff and full-time Collegiate Academy professors Therese Ogle and Dr. Jack Andersen. Special thanks were offered to Ogle who works tirelessly on this event each year.
Collin College alumnus Michael Urie won the 2025 Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his role in the Apple+ television show Shrinking.
McKinney Campus Professor of History Matthew Hamilton has been confirmed as Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Collin County History Museum in McKinney.
Fire Academy Class #94 posted a 100% pass rate on the state firefighter certification exam.
Angela Vandersmitte earned her Master of Science in Nursing Family Nurse Practitioner from the University of Texas at Arlington.
Nursing Professor Michelle Denny recently passed the “Certified Nurse Educator” (CNE) Exam. This professional certification from the National League for Nursing (NLN) signifies her expertise in teaching and educating other nurses.
The American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates adopted the recommendation of the ABA Approval Commission of the Standing Committee on Paralegals to reapprove Collin’s paralegal program for another seven-year term. This reapproval followed an October 2024 virtual site visit by ABA representatives, who met with the district president, district discipline dean, associate dean, the program’s discipline lead, other faculty, advisory committee, current students, and graduates, and Collin staff members regarding the library, admissions and records, assessment and institutional research, instructional design, placement, academic advising, and campus technology. The site visit team found the program in compliance with the ABA Guidelines for the Approval of Paralegal Education Programs, the gold standard of paralegal education nationwide. The site visit team also complimented Collin on its excellent leadership, the experience of its faculty and staff, the strong support and guidance the paralegal program receives from its district discipline dean and associate dean, and the breadth of professional development opportunities offered to faculty.
Plano Campus Library Executive Director Reina Williams was awarded the competitive Innovative Distance Education and Academic Scholars (IDEAS) fellowship through Texas Tech University’s College of Education in January, which included a $2,000 scholarship award and a research assistant position.
Dr. Christine DeLaTorre, business management professor at Frisco Campus, presented “Beyond the Stereotypes: Mental Health in A Multi-Generational Workplace” at the 2025 Conference on Meaningful Living and Learning in a Digital World hosted by The University of Western Georgia. The conference took place Feb 9-12 in Savannah, Georgia.
Craig Johnson, director of Architecture and Construction at Collin College’s Technical Campus, presented to a large group of construction professionals at the Dallas Builders Association meeting on Feb. 4.
Dr. Tonya Cooper, associate dean at the Frisco Campus, recently published the article, “The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Workforce and Mathematics” in the Journal of Wisdom Within Quarterly along with Dr. Shannon Solis of Prairie View A&M University and Dr. Gregory Newman of The University of Texas at Dallas. The journal is a product of the National Association of Black Counselors. You can read the article here.