Dr. Matkin was featured in the third edition of Invest Dallas-Fort Worth in a section addressing “Preparation and progress: Higher ed leaders share top priorities
for setting students, and Texas, up for success.”
To read the article, click here and flip to page 139.
Collin College has the highest ranked lifetime value (over 40 years) of any public two-year college in Texas, according to a review of projected return on investment (ROI) by Georgetown’s Center on Education and the Workforce. Only private colleges ranked higher than Collin College. Collin also sits in the top 25 percent in the nation for 40-year ROI, a level dominated by institutions predominantly offering baccalaureate degrees or higher. The projections are based upon 2021-22 data drawn from the College Scorecard. A total of 4,476 institutions were evaluated.
Men’s basketball coach Jim Sigona and former tennis coach Martin Berryman will be recognized with National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Coaches Legacy Awards during a ceremony this summer. The award honors the winningest coaches of all time in their respective sports. This is the first time since 1938 that the NJCAA will formally recognize these coaches. The only men’s basketball coach in Collin College history, Sigona has won 725 games at Collin College, winning an average of 20 games per season and coaching 14 nationally ranked teams. Coach Berryman, who passed away in 2022, was Collin’s first tennis coach, joining the college in 1988 to help establish the program. Collin produced 88 All-Americans and won the NJCAA national title nine times – five men’s and four women’s championships – under his direction. The Board of Trustees voted last year to rename the college’s tennis complex in his honor. An official dedication ceremony for the resurfaced and restriped tennis center is planned for Friday, March 28, beginning at 9 a.m.
Kevin Brown, a graduate of Paramedic Class 42 was recently recognized by Dallas Fire Rescue with the Lifesaving Award. On Nov. 20, 2024, Brown responded to a report of an unconscious person to find a 72-year-old woman who had choked and gone into cardiac arrest. Brown cleared her airway and directed a full code on the patient, achieving a Return of Spontaneous Circulation (ROSC). The success rate for achieving ROSC generally falls around 20-30% for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, with only a portion of those patients surviving to hospital discharge due to neurological complications. This patient was discharged a few days later with no neurological deficits.
Brandy Jumper, an associate professor at the McKinney Campus, has been selected as a recipient of Phi Theta Kappa’s (PTK) 2025 Continued Excellence Award for Advisors. This award is given to PTK advisors who have received the Distinguished Advisor Award at the international level.
Following the Third Annual Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) Digital Learning Summit, the iCollin Virtual Campus partnered with the THECB to host an in-person Idea Exchange: Coffee and Conversation at the Collin Higher Education Center. Associate Dean Jill Nugent served as the session host and welcomed 21 faculty and staff in collaborative discussions about the future of digital learning and impact of generative AI. Post-event survey data showed overwhelmingly positive feedback, with participants reporting a stronger connection to the institution and online faculty community after the event.
iCollin Virtual Campus faculty member Latoya Watkins was elected as a new member of the Texas Institute of Letters, a non-profit honor society founded in 1936 to celebrate Texas literature and recognize distinctive literary achievement. In February, Watkins presented at the University of Maryland Writers Here and Now event and at the Jimenez- Porter Writers’ House.
iCollin Virtual Campus faculty member Betsy Brody’s oral history and photography exhibition “Digging In” was selected by the City of Dallas to be part of the Dragon Boat Festival. It will be on display at the Bath House Cultural Center on White Rock Lake from May through June 2025.
Communications Design student Andrea Molina’s artwork was selected in the SkillsUSA National Pin Design Challenge. Her design will be used for the decorative pins given to SkillsUSA participants at the national conference this June in Atlanta, Georgia.
iCollin Virtual Campus student and elite-level ice dancer, Luke Anderson is a McKinney native and full-time online student this semester. He is working on his associate degree through the iCollin Virtual Campus while training in Canada. He competed at the 2025 Canadian National Skating Championships in January and finished in 10th place.
Collin College’s first-ever Parenting Student Resource Fair is scheduled for Wednesday, March 26, in the Plano Campus Living Legends Conference Center. At the resource fair, Collin College and community-based organizations will provide resources for parenting students’ families.
Jalyn Powell Fiske, a reference associate at the Frisco Campus Library and the author of Side Quest: Stories, won the 2024 Reader Views Literary Awards Program South Regional Award for her short story collection. A full listing of winners and a link to the book are available here.
Collin College’s Concrete Solutions team placed third in the TEXO ACS Region 5 Student Competition in Hurst in February. The Commercial Build team also had an excellent showing, and team member Meka Harrell was awarded third place Best Presenter.
The Technical Campus hosted 37 employers and 337 students at its Construction Management Spring Job/Internship Fair. This event was made possible by faculty, staff, and volunteers including Kate Smith, Maria Rodriguez, Kryssa Hastings, and Shontel Pearson.
One-hundred-and-three contestants from 29 high schools competed in the Fourth Annual FFA/AAC Welding Tournament hosted by the Collin College Welding Program. Competitions included gas metal arc welding (GMAW), oxy-fuel cutting, a blueprint exam, and a technical knowledge exam. There were 150 students in attendance, with vendors providing demonstrations of products and tools and several local companies discussing career opportunities.
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Collin College is proud to announce its annual NISOD Excellence Awards recipients. A total of 23 applications were received, with 11 nominees making it to the final group.
The NISOD Excellence Awards were established in 1991 to provide NISOD member colleges with an opportunity to recognize individuals doing extraordinary work on their campuses. Since then, more than 30,000 recipients have been honored with the award by their colleges.
Congratulations to the following 2024 Collin College NISOD Excellence Award Winners:
Darrin Brindle Events Coordinator, Conference Services
Dr. Donna Cain Professor, Biology
Kayla Chung Professor, Nursing
Michael Czawlytko Police Officer
Dr. Tebring Daly Professor, Computer Science
Dr. Brandy Fair Associate Dean, Academic Affairs and Workforce Programs Alyssa Moore Data Manager, P-12 Partnerships/Dual Credit
Jeremy Nelsen Network Administrator, Technology Services
Robert Paul Director, Campus Technology
Brian Sanders Director, HVAC and Welding Programs
Coleen Schwyzer Manager, Accounts Payable
The winners will be celebrated at a reception held at CHEC on April 29 from 2-3:30 p.m.
Each year during NISOD’s International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence, recipients are celebrated for their contributions and achievements. Read more about the NISOD Excellence Awards and how our winners will be recognized here.