Workforce Development Professions Receive Local Chancellor's Awards
Published: 2012-12-03Category: General Announcements
FRANKLIN, VIRGINIA – On Tuesday November 27, the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) held its annual Hampton Roads area Chancellor’s Award Luncheon to recognize excellent service in the field of Workforce Development. This was the fifth of six regional luncheons held in November to recognize outstanding employees at each community college in the Commonwealth. The luncheon was held at Paul D. Camp Community College’s Workforce Development Center and included the three other community colleges in the Hampton Roads region: Tidewater Community College, Thomas Nelson Community College, and Eastern Shore Community College (ESCC).
ESCC’s recipients and the categories in which they are recognized are as follows:
Demetria Bynum, Occupation Specific. Without Ms. Bynum’s leadership and assistance, ESCC would never have been able to launch the Pharmacy Technician training program. Ms. Bynum led the development of the curriculum and provided a unique perspective on the field for the participants who enrolled. The program, one of ESCC’s first in-depth non-credit certification programs, is now working through its second cohort of participants, and the program has a waiting list for future classes before they have even been publicized.
Sharon Renner, Community Service. As the Lead Teacher, Ms. Renner holds an important position in ESCC’s Adult Education Program. Her services were especially valuable this past year as the program transitioned into a new model mandated by the Virginia Department of Education and also went through a leadership transition here at the College. She has assisted new instructors in learning how to work with adult learners as well as how to complete the necessary reporting paperwork for the Department of Education.
Robin Rich-Coates, Career Pathways. In addition to her regular role as ESCC’s faculty member for Biology and Chemistry, Ms. Rich-Coates also served as ESCC’s interim Chief Academic Officer during the 2011-12 Academic Year. During this time, Ms. Rich-Coates took on a significant supporting role for the College’s Career Pathways program. She was instrumental in establishing the College’s first “Career Night Out,” and also assisted with the transition to the new model for a regional adult education program by serving on that consortium and helped the Career Pathways consortium transition to programming without federal Tech Prep funding.
Bobbie Walker, Employer Services. Ms. Walker is the Director of Partnership Marketing Education for the Virginia Tourism Corporation, based in Richmond, Virginia. In 2009, she helped ESCC develop a locally tailored Customer Service Certification program for the Eastern Shore Tourism Industry in partnership with the Eastern Shore Tourism Commission. She recently taught in customized version of this program for a major local employer who was so impressed with Ms. Walker and the program they plan to offer it to their employees again in the spring of 2013.
The Chancellor’s Workforce Development Awards recognize outstanding contributions made by workforce development services instructors, trainers, and staff. Colleges select award recipients based on course evaluations, years of service, assistance to the college in program development and support of the college in its success in serving Virginia’s workforce and community. Recipients must be of outstanding character and proven to have provided time and talent to the community colleges to help serve the community.
CAPTION FOR PICTURE:
From left to right:
Demetria Bynum
Alvin Bynum
Randy Stamper, Asst. Vice-Chancellor of Workforce Development, VCCS
Bobbie Walker
Eddie Swain, Dean of Workforce Development Services, ESCC
Robin Rich-Coates
Teresa Guy, Career Pathways Program Coordinator, ESCC
Sharon Renner
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Eastern Shore Community College is a comprehensive two-year institution in the Virginia Community College System serving Accomack and Northampton Counties. Founded in 1971, the College offers transfer education programs and career/technical/occupational degree and certificate training as well as professional education and workforce development. ESCC is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and is an equal opportunity institution.
