Faculty and Staff Brags
This is not an exhaustive list of the many distinguished awards received recently by TCC faculty & staff. Please submit your awards to TCC.Brags@tccd.edu.
Adrian Neely
RTVF Program Coordinator
Northeast Campus
Selected as a National Association of Television Program Executives Faculty Fellow for the 2017 National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) Marketplace.
Adrian Rodriguez
Vice President for Student Development Services
Trinity River Campus
Invited to serve on the Texas Education Consortium for Male Students of Color through The University of Texas at Austin.
Alaina Webb
Adjunct Instructor of Sign Language
Trinity River Campus
Received the Adjunct Award at the 2016 Trinity River Awards Celebrating Excellence (TRACE).
Alison Hodges
Instructor of Culinary Arts
Katrina Warner
Coordinator and Instructor of Culinary Arts
Southeast Campus
Selected to instruct audience members on the Celebrity Chef stage at the State Fair of Texas.
Amy Jennings
Associate Professor of Dance
Northwest Campus
Accepted to Waco’s {254} DANCE-FEST; collaborated with musician Brittany Padilla to perform “A Butterfly’s Parasol” at the 13th Annual Modern Dance at the Modern Museum of Fort Worth, hosted by Contemporary Dance/Fort Worth.
Belinda Lopez
Coordinator of Student Support
South Campus
Elected as state treasurer for the Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education (TACHE) through February 2018.
Belvia Moody
Coordinator of Academic Support Services
South Campus
Completed the North Texas Community College Consortium (NTCCC) Consortium Leadership and Renewal Academy (CLARA).
Bill Coppola
President
Southeast Campus
Selected to join the City of Arlington Transportation Committee.
Brandon Tucker
Web Design Coordinator
Sara Tucker
Manager of Marketing
District
Received platinum for REACH Magazine STEM cover design and photography at the 2016 MarCom Awards; received gold for REACH Magazine food and cover photography at the 2016 MarCom Awards.
Brandy Niccolai-Belfi
Associate Professor of Dance
Southeast Campus
Chosen to perform Amy Sleigh Jennings’ (associate professor of dance at the Northwest Campus) solo “La Serenissima in Concert A” as part of Waco’s {254} DANCE-FEST.
Brent Alford
Instructor of Drama
Northwest Campus
Appeared in the Trinity Shakespeare Festival’s productions of The Winter’s Tale (Leontes) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Quince); played to sold-out audiences as King Arthur in Lyric Stage’s production of Lerner and Lowe’s Camelot.
Cassandra Haskins
Instructor of Radiologic Technology
Trinity River Campus East
The December 2016 issue of Radiologic Technology & Science published Haskins’ article, “Exploring Reflective Writing Among Radiologic Technology Students."
Charles DeSassure
Associate Professor of Computer Science
Southeast Campus
Invited by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development to write an Innovation Abstract and facilitate a webinar based on his presentation, “Everyone Needs a Reminder.”
Cheryl North
Instructor of Sociology
Northeast Campus
Honored with the Shining Stars Award for service to the community by the Northeast Arts Council at a banquet at the Hurst Conference Center.
Cheryl Sohns
Instructor of Sign Language Interpreting Program,
Trinity River Campus
Named vice president of the DFW American Sign Language Teachers Association.
Communications, Public Relations & Marketing Department District
Received silver for TCC Talk and What’s Stopping You? radio ads at the Collegiate Advertising Awards; received platinum for TV spots and interviews (along with Ralph Bissey, ITV manager) and gold for CEET video and radio ads at the AVA Digital Awards; received a PRSA Worthy Award for REACH Magazine and PRSA Award of Achievement for What’s Stopping You? social media campaign; received platinum for What’s Stopping You? advertising and social media campaign and gold for REACH Magazine at the MarCom Awards; received gold for CEET video, TCC online ads, TCC Talk, radio spots, electronic campaign and silver for What’s Stopping You? social media campaign at the EDU Digital Marketing Awards; received Gold for What’s Stopping You? microsite at the EDU Digital Marketing Awards and the Collegiate Advertising Awards (along with Stephen Fornal, manager of web development and Brandon Tucker, web design coordinator).
Deann Mitchell
Director of Nursing
Nancy Kupper
Associate Professor of Nursing
Trinity River Campus East
Co-authored Chapter 35: Inflammatory and Structural Heart Disorders in Medical-Surgical Nursing: Assessment and Management of Clinical Problems (9th Ed.).
Debra Sykes West
Community & Industry Education Program Coordinator
Northeast Campus
Accepted into the 2016-2017 Class of Leadership Northeast, a program of the Northeast Tarrant Chamber of Commerce, where she will represent the TCC Northeast Campus.
DeeDra Parrish
District Photographer
Brandon Tucker
Web Design Coordinator
Sara Tucker
Manager of Marketing
District
Received gold for marketing campaign photography at the 2016 Collegiate Advertising Awards; received Gold for advertising campaign photography at the 2016 MarCom Awards.
Demetrice Thompson
Coordinator of Special Projects
Crowley South Campus Center
Appointed to the Board of Trustees for Ladder Alliance; selected to serve on the Campus Performance Objective Committee (CPOC) for Bill R. Johnson CTE Center.
Dipa Trivedi
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Trinity River Campus
Self-published her book, New Age Nurse.
Garrison Henderson
Professor of Sociology
Rhonda Lewis
Instructor of Developmental English
Southeast Campus
Accepted to participate in the Mastery of Teaching Institute (MTI).
James Ciolek
Associate Professor of Respiratory Care
Trinity River Campus East
The American Association for Respiratory Care magazine, AARC Times, included Ciolek’s article, “Improving Health Care in Belize.”
Jeremy Byrd
Professor and Department Chair of Philosophy
South Campus
Had an article cited as a source for “The Asymmetry of Space: Kant’s Theory of Absolute Space in 1768” in the Kantian Review; coauthored with his wife, professor of philosophy at The University of Texas at Arlington, a paper on the Socratic Method for a book on academic discourse by professors at Texas Woman's University.
John Hartley
Associate Professor of Art
Northwest Campus
Selected for the art exhibition "2016 Gallery Night" at Artspace 111; featured in "Preservation is the Art of the City" at the Fort Worth Community Art Center.
John Hiser
Program Director for Respiratory Care
Trinity River Campus East
Received the 2016 Jimmy A. Young Medal from the American Association of Respiratory Care; served as guest editor for the December 2016 issue of AARC Times. Contributed a nine-page article, “International Respiratory Care Update."
John Lundberg
Professor of History
South Campus
Published the chapter, “Errant Moves on the Chessboard of War: The Battle of Spring Hill, November29, 1864" in "The Tennessee Campaign of 1864;" published "'Texas Must be a Slave Country': Slaves and Masters in the Texas Low Country, 1840-1860" in the East Texas Historical Journal.
Jonathan Perez
Academic Advisor
South Campus
Completed the North Texas Community College Consortium (NTCCC) Consortium Leadership and Renewal Academy (CLARA).
Josh Blann
Associate Professor of Drama
Northwest Campus
Member of the cast of Long Day's Journey into Night at Undermain Theatre, which was awarded Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast by the D-FW Theater Critics Forum.
Joshua Goode
Department Chair of Fine Arts
South Campus
Solo exhibitions of his artwork were displayed at The Razliv Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia and The Capellades Museum in Barcelona, Spain.
Kelly James
Adjunct Professor of Art
Northwest Campus
Had seven pieces selected for display in the Art Space in the Walsh Library.
Larry Rideaux
Vice President for Student Development Services
South Campus
Elected as the National Council on Student Development (NCSD) vice president of membership and marketing director.
Lea Stevens
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Trinity River Campus
Elected as a national director for the Organization for Associate Degree Nursing (OADN).
LeeAnn Olivier-Sapp
Assistant Professor of English
Northwest Campus
Co-wrote the chapter, “Dreaming the Green Man: Toward a Pedagogy of the Resonant Mythological,” for an upcoming anthology from McFarland & Company called Ideology and Identity in Young Adult Literature: Connections to the Composition Classroom.
Lyvier Leffler
Vice President of Student Development Services
Southeast Campus
Appointed as legislation coordinator for the Association for Student Conduct Administration (ASCA) Texas.
Marjeanna Burge
Academic Advisor
Northeast Campus
Received the first Friend of Veterans award from the NE Veterans Association, recognizing civilians who have distinguished themselves by above-and-beyond service, advocacy and dedication to and for the veterans and military-connected students at TCC.
Mark Penland
Instructional Associate in Photography
Northeast Campus
Commissioned by the Amarillo Museum of Art to photograph the Gabriel Dawe’s site specific sculpture Plexus 33. At AMoA, Dawe installed Plexus 33, a work from his ongoing Plexus series of temporary site-specific installations of sewing thread.
Marisa Reyes
Community & Industry Education Services Director
Northwest Campus
Completed the CLARA program and received an award at the 22nd Annual Fall Leadership Conference on at North Central Texas College Gainesville Campus.
Melissa Evans
Associate Professor of Kinesiology
Southeast Campus
Elected as vice president of the Texas Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation & Dance (TAHPERD) College Division.
Orlando Bagcal
Associate Professor of Construction
South Campus
Appointed by the Texas Higher Education Board (THECB) as a member of the Architecture and Construction Program of Study Advisory Committee; selected as one of the Top 3 Finalists of the National Housing Endowment (NHE) – 2017 Homebuilding Education Leadership Program (HELP) Grant out of 16 colleges and universities in the US that applied.
Patricia Richards
Associate Professor of Photography
Northeast Campus
Had five photographs in the BERLIN FOTO BIENNALE 2016 in Berlin, Germany; selected to show in the following exhibitions: URBAN: YAAM in Berlin, Germany, 30 URBAN: Konfederacka 4 in Krakow, Poland and 30 URBAN 2016 in Trieste, Italy.
Rebecca Balcarcel
Associate Professor of English
Northeast Campus
Won Community College Humanities Association SW Division's Educator of the Year award in November 2016; performed with the “Who’s Who of DFW Poets” (Dallas Observer) at Dallas’s Deep Vellum Books in a marathon reading of Ranier Maria Rilke’s book, Selected Poems. Balcarcel’s poem “May Snowstorm” is now in use in two Dallas elementary schools’ poetry unit lessons.
Rick Stitzel
Instructor of Music
South Campus
Had his original music chosen to be performed by three bands at a school outside of Edmonton, Alberta in Canada; commissioned to write an original piece of music for Tarleton State University’s 100th Anniversary Celebration Concert in January 2017 to recognize the anniversary of the university joining the Texas A&M system.
Sammie Sheppard
Coordinator of the Sign Language Interpreting Program
Alaina Webb
Adjunct Instructor
Trinity River Campus
Were two of six individuals chosen to teach at the Board of Evaluators of Interpreters Summer Institute Training.
Sara Tucker
Manager of Marketing
District
Awarded gold for bus bench advertising design at the Collegiate Advertising Awards competition.
Sean Madison
President
Trinity River Campus
Appointed to the Advisory Board of the Fort Worth Chapter of the National Gospel Announcers Guild, an auxiliary of the Gospel Music Workshop of America Network, Inc; joined the Young Men’s Leadership Academy Advisory Board; selected to participate in the 2016-2017 Leadership North Texas (LNT) Class 8 program.
Sherrie Bodiford
Instructional Assistant
Trinity River Campus
Received the Disney Spirit Award at the 2016 Trinity River Awards Celebrating Excellence (TRACE).
Stacy Luecker
Student Development Assistant
Northeast Campus
Awarded the Debbie Reynolds-Hazen Young Leadership Award for outstanding public service and leadership to further historic preservation in Tarrant County by the Tarrant County Historical Commission.
Stephen Fornal
Manager of Web Development
Brandon Tucker
Web Design Coordinator
District
Won gold at the 2016 MarCom Awards and silver at the EDU Digital Marketing Awards for REACH Magazine online version (along with the Communications, PR & Marketing Department).
Terrell Shaw
Transfer Center Coordinator
Southeast Campus
Received the Excellence in College Admission Counseling Award given by Texas Tech University’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions and honored with a presentation at the Southeast Campus.
Theresa Schrantz
Assistant Professor of Sociology
Trinity River Campus
Recognized in the First International Art/Photo Competition of The Berggruen Institute: B Studio.
Tracy Williams
Coordinator of Career and Employment Services
Northwest Campus
Served as president of The Texas Cooperative Education and Internship Association (TxCEIA) for the 2015-16 year and now takes on position of past president for the 2016-17 year on the Executive Board of the Association.
Trish Igo
Associate Professor of Arts
Jill O'Brien
Adjunct Professor of Dance
Northwest Campus
Collaborative artwork was selected by a panel of judges for "Texas Biggest 10 for Art" exhibition at the Katy Contemporary Art Museum in Katy Texas. Three of Igo/O'Brien's artworks were chosen for the exhibition "Fun House: Art of the Surreal, Fantastic and Bizarre" at the Barrett Art Center in New York, where Igo received third place.
Web Communications Department
District
Won gold for website redesign, mobile website and website design at the 2016 MarCom Awards; won gold for Proof of Performance microsite and website redesign at the EDU Digital Marketing Awards.
Yizeng Li
Professor of Mathematics
Northeast Campus
Published a book on applied mathematics titled Functional Differential Equations: Advances and Applications.
Yolanda Sifuentes
Coordinator of Special Projects
South Campus
Selected as the recipient of the 2016 Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education (TACHE) Distinguished Community College Staff Award.
2016 Chancellor's Employee Excellence Awards
At the annual recognition event, faculty and staff were honored for their dedication and commitment to their students and to TCC’s institutional excellence.
Exemplary Teacher Awards
Receiving recognition for the Chancellor’s Employee Excellence Awards were:
Susan Patrick
Northeast Campus Chemistry Professor
Wendi Pierce
Northwest Campus English Instructor
Orlando Bagcal
South Campus Construction Assistant Professor
Mary Cinatl
Southeast Campus Developmental ESOL Instructor
Sophia Garcia
Trinity River Campus Biology Assistant Professor
Employee Excellence Awards
Receiving recognition for the Chancellor’s Employee Excellence Awards were:
Gary Preather
Associate vice chancellor for Real Estate and Facilities
for Access and Diversity
TCC Career Services Coordinators and Foundation Specialist
for Forward Thinking
South Campus Starpoint Champions Team
for Innovation and Creativity
Karen Haun
Southeast Campus accounting associate professor
for Service to Community
Paul Benero
South Campus art associate professor
for Student Success