In Brief: June 2025

Collin’s Model United Nations received the Outstanding Delegation Award at the Model United Nations Conference, held April 13-17 in New York City. Given to the top 15% of delegations across the entire conference, the Outstanding Delegation Award is the highest possible award a delegation can earn. Other notable colleges and universities in the Outstanding Delegation award category were Baylor University, Georgia Southern University, American University in Cairo, and West Virginia University. Collin College's 12-student delegation represented the country of Monaco at the annual international conference. Video of the conference’s closing ceremonies, including Collin College’s name being called at the United National General Assembly Hall, can be found at https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1g/k1gltgouyj.

Collin College received a $144,827 Jobs & Education for Texans (JET) grant from the Texas Workforce Commission in May. The funds will be used to purchase patient simulator devices related to identifying and responding to irregular heartbeats, properly placing IVs, and drawing blood. The JET program provides grants to buy and install equipment for career and technical education courses across the state. The grants were announced at a ceremony hosted by Collin College as part of a group of grants worth $580,758. Denton ISD and Dallas College were also grant awardees.

Collin College Men's Tennis clinched the No. 3 spot in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Tennis Tournament held in Florence, South Carolina, May 12-16. This is the team’s best finish since 2013. Outstanding individual accomplishments at the tournament included:

• Luke Stula – All-American Flight 6 Singles Champion

• Enrique Doldan – All-American Flight 5 Singles Runner-up

• Minjae Kim and Jose Castillo – All-American Flight 1 Doubles Runners-up

• Cem Atlamis and Enrique Doldan – All-American Flight 2 Doubles Runners-up

• Luke Stula and Santiago Martinez – Consolation Flight 3 Doubles Champions

Kim was also named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Sophomore Player of the Year and finished No. 1 in the ITA national singles rankings prior to the tournament. Collin College will host the NJCAA National Tournament in 2026.

The Collin College Women’s Tennis Team finished sixth in the nation at the NJCAA National Women’s Tournament. Alyssa Glasgow brought home the Flight 6 Singles Consolation title.

Golf boasted two Top-100 ranked athletes in its inaugural season – Johnna Johanson ranked No. 67 in NJCAA women’s golf and will return to the team in Fall 2025, and Noel Bondesson ranked No. 79 in NJCAA men’s golf.

Collin welcomed Grace Wells as its new coach for a reinvigorated volleyball program, which will begin play in Fall 2025. Click here to read an interview with Coach Wells and catch up on all the latest athletics news.

Dr. Catherine Pfent, director of Collin College’s Veterinary Technology program, professor Karina Taylor, and lab instructor Brooke McKee will each give one-hour talks at the Association of Veterinary Technician Educators (AVTE) meeting this Aug. 1-3 in Louisville, Kentucky. Dr. Pfent will discuss gamification in veterinary learning in addition to presenting a video game she created. Taylor will discuss how to create a manual for students to follow in Anesthesia/Surgery/Dental courses. McKee will present a talk titled “Veterinary Technician Educator’s Next Top Model” about the value vs. cost of teaching models.

Kandice Swarthout, Dental Hygiene professor at McKinney Campus, has been named the 2025 Sunstar Award of Distinction Winner in Research. Created in collaboration with esteemed partners such as the European Dental Hygienist Federation (EDHF) and RDH Magazine, these regional awards celebrate excellence in dental hygiene across diverse categories. Swarthout will be honored at the RDH Under One Roof, a dental hygienist conference, in July 2025.

Collin College participated in its Fourth Annual Virtual Food Drive as part of the college’s Earth Day event, surpassing its fundraising goal and raising $882. The funds will allow the North Texas Food Bank to provide 2,646 meals to community members who are facing food insecurity. Donation opportunities are still open for individuals who did not have a chance to contribute before the Earth Day event. To participate, click the following link: https://give.ntfb.org/site/TR?team_id=5400&fr_id=1200&pg=team. Thank you to iCollin Virtual Campus Professor Paul Manganelli for organizing the Virtual Food Drive this month.

Joani Reese, manager of the Wylie Anthony Peterson Center for Academic Assistance, will have three poems, “Certain,” “Precipice,” and “Dr. Maisara Al Rayyes," published in the May issue of D.C.-based Gargoyle Magazine. Her flash fiction piece, "Like Father," will be published in June in FlashFlood, the National Flash Fiction Day journal.

In April, the iCollin Virtual Campus hosted five Online Student Success webinars on timely topics, such as Undergraduate Research Week and Earth Day. The campus also launched an Earth Day 2025 interactive Canvas course that attracted over 400 unique Collin College students! As part of the experience, students engaged in geocaching, themed cooking, and community service. The course logged 35,000+ page views and 274 discussion posts. Themed webinars offered by the virtual campus highlighted the City Nature Challenge and the Blackland Prairie Raptor Center, with 75 attendees.

iCollin Virtual Campus Professor Scott Cheney and members of the Quest Editorial Board took 11 Collin College students to visit The University of Texas at Austin. They explored on-site archives, including the Briscoe Center for American History, the Harry Ransom Center, and the LBJ Presidential Library. Students were able to pull archive holdings from both libraries as part of their ongoing research projects, and they received in-depth workshops to better understand the unique opportunities that come from working with primary materials at library archives. This trip served as a successful pilot for future trips and was funded by the Innovation Grant, "Quest and Developing a Culture of Research at Collin College."  

iCollin Virtual Campus Professor Paul Manganelli presented the chemistry of rocks at Leadership Faith Academy in Little Elm as part of Collin College's Science Outreach Team. 

iCollin Virtual Campus Professor Mindi Bailey co-presented “Prompt Engineering Guides to Empower CTE Faculty and Students,” advancing AI literacy in technical education at the Texas Association of College Technical Educators Conference in Grapevine from April 2-4,

Collin’s Department of Strategic Initiatives (DOSI) team won an Innovation of the Year Award from the League for Innovation in the Community College for the second time since 2019. The DOSI team was recognized for their award-winning development of the CourseVite software. CourseVite is a software that aids in extending teaching invitations to adjunct faculty. Members honored by this award include Timothy Boudreau, Nicola Marshman, Christian Syaap, Vafa Tebyanian, Angel Torres, Diego Torres, and Joanna Vargas. Additionally, Jeramie Hicks, Henry Peeples, and Dr. Rachel Bzostek Walker assisted with the development. 

The “Walk With Me” project, in cooperation with Soles4Souls, the Rotary Club, and the Collin College Culture Council, collected 637 new or gently used shoes and $310 in donations to supply footwear for those in need in the Unted States and in South America. The drive ran from April 1-15 and collected 51 pairs of shoes from Farmersville Campus, 144 pairs from Frisco Campus, 335 pairs from McKinney Campus, 67 pairs from Plano Campus and 40 pairs from Technical Campus. The drive was coordinated by Denzel Oliver, professor of History at McKinney Campus.

Child Development Lab School’s Infant Teacher Rhonda Gagarin and Director Barbara Batista were contributing authors in the May 2025 Early Years Journal of the Texas Association for the Education of Young Children article titled “Bunching Up Babies: A Better Way.” The article was inspired by Dr. Sandra Duncan's visit to the Collin College Child Development Lab School in November 2024 and emphasized infant classroom design that highlights  "tiny destinations" to accommodate the ever-changing needs of babies and fosters an environment where infants thrive. Click here to read the article.

Collin College student Raymond Williams was awarded Second Prize in the Collegiate Solo Guitar Division of the Mountain View Guitar Competition at Dallas College. Williams is Dr. Fernand Vera's student.

Five campuses held a Collin Bound session this year. Collin Bound is a community event for graduating seniors and parents to learn more about Collin College programs and the registration process. Celina Campus welcomed 32 attendees, while Farmersville Campus had 43, Frisco Campus brought in 212, McKinney Campus engaged 121, and Wylie Campus, where Collin Bound began, drew 385 attendees. The event has shown positive results in informing potential students about the benefits of a Collin College education.

Collin College received the Distinguished RRT Credentialing Success Award from the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC) for the 14^th straight year. The Distinguished RRT Credentialing Success Award is a national award presented to CoARC-accredited respiratory therapy programs that demonstrate a high success rate in graduates obtaining the Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) credential.  

Dr. Bob Whitaker, a full-time History professor at McKinney Campus, completed the second chapter of the Sid Meier book project for a Bloomsbury Press series, Influential Game Developers, in March 2025. Dr. Whitaker presented a chapter of the book at the 2025 Popular Culture and American Culture Association on April 17.

The spring 2025 Jean’s Creek Clean Up event was held on April 12 at the McKinney Campus, with over 100 students, faculty, and staff volunteers. The team collected over 61 bags of trash and numerous large debris items, including shopping carts, tires, and pallets — demonstrating Collin’s ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship and community engagement.

EMS Program Director Greg Cox was selected as one of 24 Program Directors from across the country to serve on the Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the Emergency Medical Services Professions (CoAEMSP) Program Director Focus Group. Members of the focus group serve a one-year term and engage in regular meetings aimed at advancing the future of EMS education.

Dr. Michelle Buggs graduated from the Leadership McKinney program.

The McKinney Campus held its Field Day event on April 30. Despite the pouring rain, the event had a fantastic turnout, with an estimated 350 participants, including learners, staff, and faculty. Nick Guargliardo, the McKinney Campus food service manager, served 340 wraps. Dr. Mark Smith, McKinney Campus provost, congratulated the Field Day committee on its phenomenal job of moving all the activities indoors and undercover to make this signature event a huge success. Goat Yoga was one of the most popular activities.