Rowan-Cabarrus Community College announced its 2011-2012 Excellence in Teaching award recipients at the college’s September board meeting.
Paul Ken Clifton, instructor for computer information technology, has received the Outstanding Excellence in Teaching Award. A graduate of RCCC, Clifton has taught at the college for 22 years. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Catawba College and a master’s degree in electronic commerce from the University of Maryland. Clifton and his wife, Katherine, live in Salisbury.
By receiving the Outstanding Excellence Award, Clifton is also the college’s nominee for the 2012 North Carolina Community College System’s R.J. Reynolds Excellence in Teaching Award.
Three faculty members received Excellence in Teaching Awards with special distinction. They are: Ginger Sigmon Fox, English faculty and director of RCCC’s Writing Center (Support to the Mission of the College Recognition); Melissa Reid, mathematics faculty (Use of Technology in Instruction Recognition); and Lara Swenson, chemistry faculty (Active Learning Practices Recognition).
The remaining Excellence in Teaching Award winners are: Shirley Foley, biotechnology; Roberta A. Kern, foreign language, Spanish; Frank Merrell, industrial engineering technology; Maria Rodriguez, foreign language, Spanish; Joslyn E. Blackburn, business/marketing (adjunct instructor).
“We are proud of this group of instructors for the commitment they have made to our community and our students,” said Dr. Carol S. Spalding, president of the college.
“Rowan-Cabarrus Community College has a long and proud tradition of hiring highly qualified and dedicated faculty in all of its academic programs,” said Spalding. “The nine faculty members selected for this year’s Excellence in Teaching Awards certainly are representative of this tradition. All of these faculty members, and many others, do a wonderful job of providing top-quality instruction to the students at Rowan-Cabarrus.”