McKinney Campus Provost Dr. Mark Smith, has been selected for induction into the “Texas Hall of Honor for Administrators” for the Texas Region of Phi Theta Kappa. Dr. Smith also received the national Phi Theta Kappa Distinguished College Administrator Honoree title, being recognized at both the state and national level.
Technical Campus Computer Science Professors Misti Clark and Tebring Daly co-hosted an event with the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and Collin College’s Computer Science Club focusing on STEM careers. These faculty have been busy with other work with the SWE group and came back from the SWE Conference, where they traveled with a total of six Collin College SWE officers.
Five Collin SWE officers delivered an hour-long panel presentation at the SWE Conference in Austin last month and represented Collin College exceptionally well. They devoted significant time and effort to developing the proposal and preparing for the session, and their hard work was evident in the quality of their presentation. The conference provided an outstanding professional development experience for everyone involved.
The Technical Campus hosted high profile employers on campus looking to recruit students earlier this month. Among the employers was SpaceX, who led several sessions in the KONE Conference Center presenting information to welding students about their needs in aerospace manufacturing. Texas Instruments was also present to recruit Engineering Technology students into fields supporting semiconductor manufacturing. Students participated in the opportunity and learned about potential future job offers in their respective fields.
The first American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME) student organization meeting was held this month at the Technical Campus KONE Conference Center. ASME supports a wide range of engineering students. With the help from partners like the RBFCU, representatives from companies around the region with several from Lockheed-Martin attended and presented at this first meeting. The event had two panel segments. The first hosted two aerospace and two civil engineers, the second panel event included a mechanical, software, and electrical engineer. Both panels provided students with early-career and senior-level insights to the group. More than 50 students attended.
The McKinney Campus Conference Center hosted the Women in Construction Week event on March 6. Construction Management Professor Cheri Weinhagen led as the master of the ceremony showcasing women leaders in the construction industry. Great support from the Dallas Builders Association made the event memorable providing 32 scholarships totaling more than $17,000.
Collin College’s Construction Management program achieved notable success in two competitions, outperforming four-year institutions. At the 2026 TEXO Region 5 Student Competitions, held from February 14-16, Collin students secured first place in Commercial Region 5 and third in Concrete Solutions, with several students recognized as “Best Presenters.” Additionally, they participated in the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) International Builders’ Show in Orlando, where they placed fourth among 27 four-year colleges and received the “Rookie of the Year” award. Notably, one of Collin’s teams was the first all-female construction team from the college and the state of Texas.
Our district-wide SkillsUSA club supported a very worthy Collin County charity this
month. Students and faculty volunteered to support Minnie’s Pantry, named after Dr.
Minnie Hawthrone-Ewing, who started the organization that has grown to 12 locations
in over three states.
More than 70 people from Collin College, the Collin College Rotaract Club, Phi Theta
Kappa Honor Society, and Collin Student Nursing Association along with the McKinney
North High School and McKinney Boyd High School Interact Clubs partnered with the
McKinney Sunrise Rotary Club for a “Rise Against Hunger” service project on Saturday
Feb. 21 at the McKinney Campus. More than 10,000 highly nutritious, dehydrated meals
designed for long-term storage and easy transport, primarily supporting school feeding
programs, orphanages, and crisis relief worldwide were packaged.
Wylie Campus History Professor, Dr. Ryan Pettingill will be reviewing four books for publication including “A Place in Common: Rethinking the History of Early Detroit,” “Revue d’Histoire de l’Amérique Française (French-Canadian journal published in Montreal), “Sweatshop Capital: Profit, Violence, and Solidarity Movements in the Long Twentieth Century,” and for the “Journal of American History.”
McKinney Campus Arts Professor Sue Anne Rische had a proposal entitled “Visual Processing in Art Appreciation: Cognitive Bias as a Lens in the Classroom” accepted as a poster for the 2026 meeting of the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics, which will be hosted May 5-8 in Jena, Germany.
Celina Campus English Professor Dr. Kristie Lussier published "AI Integration in Writing and Research Processes" administered and featured in the University of Central Florida Libraries.
The Celina Campus celebrated Texas Independence Day on March 3. More than 100 students attended and learned about the history of the state including the significance of the six flags flown over Texas. In addition, students enjoyed food products made in Texas, including Fritos, Dr. Pepper, and Ozarka water. Spearheading this event was Professors Travis Grasser and Christine Mallard.
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