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TCTC Receives 2022 Equity Award
The SC Association of Technical College Commissioners (SCATCC) awarded Tri-County Technical College (TCTC) the 2022 Equity Award for the collaborative and intentional work achieved by the Men of Color (MOC) committee.
The Men of Color committee, comprised of administrators, faculty and staff, was created in January 2019. The goal is to educate, motivate, inspire, and empower minority students and to let them know they have a place at Tri-County Technical College. The committee works intentionally to create an inclusive learning environment that fosters success where young men and women of color feel safe, welcomed and valued.
MOC team members were recognized by President DeHay at the June 13 TCTC Commission meeting. Members include Dr. Jackie Blakley, dean of the Business and Public Services Division; Travis Durham, director of student engagement and accountability; Rodney Estrada, career and Men of Color committee members are pictured (front row) August Johnson, Tammie MartinRucker, Dr. Jackie Blakley and Dr. Laneika Musalini; and (back row) Rodney Estrada, Dr. Brian Smith and Travis Durham. employability counselor; August Johnson, business management instructor; Dr. Laneika Musalini, former director of grants; Tammie Martin-Rucker, wellness support specialist; and Dr. Brian Smith, assistant dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences.
“I am very proud of your work that led to this state award, Tri-County’s first-ever Equity Award,” said President DeHay. “More importantly, I am grateful for your commitment to improve the student experience and student outcomes for our students of color.”
Recipients will be recognized and awarded in person at the SCATCC Annual Commissioners’ Academy scheduled for February 1, 2023, in Columbia.
SCATCC strives to foster cooperation, communication and improve the dissemination of information regarding the state’s technical colleges. Its goal is to improve the technical college system through the professional development of its commissioners.
New Logo
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Technical College is a strong foundation from which to transform lives and build strong communities.
“When an organization reaches a milestone like 60 years, it’s common to take time to reflect on where the organization is today and where you want it to be in the future,” said President DeHay. “As our logo has evolved over the past 60 years, it has remained deeply rooted in our vision and mission and the three communities that we serve. This logo is no different. However, this logo is fresh and modern, more fitting of a college, and a logo our students are excited about and want to wear. We believe it will have a long shelf-life, and we are excited to start rolling it out across our campuses.”
Students Attend Men of Color National Summit
For several years the TCTC Men of Color students have had the opportunity to attend the two-day Men of Color National Summit hosted each year by Clemson University. This year, six students attended the April 21-22 summit along with Travis Durham, director of student engagement and accountability. Other faculty and staff who attended were Dr. Jackie Blakley, Dr. Brian Smith, Dr. Laneika Musalini, August Johnson, and Tammie MartinRucker.
The mission of the Clemson University Men of Color National Summit is to close the opportunity gap for African American and Hispanic males, from cradle to career. Bringing together approximately 2,400 high school and college students, business professionals, educators, government officials and community leaders from around the country, the summit emphasizes the importance of education, best practices and choices to increase high school and college graduation rates.
Nationally-known speaker Justin Everett Hilton, program director for the global project management office for the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, was among the presenters. Andreas Martinez, who is president of the Men of Color student organization, said it was empowering to meet Hilton and have a conversation about his goals beyond college. “I made lots of contacts and connections,” he said.
Travis Durham, right, is pictured with students who attended the Summit, from left, Israel Williams, Nicholas Grant, Bryan Olvera and Andreas Martinez. Not pictured are John Chappell and Rene Miranda Flores.
Andreas Martinez, president of the TCTC Men of Color student organization, right, was inspired by the speech delivered by Justin Everett Hilton, program director for the global project management office for the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.
Admissions Hosts Scholarship Appreciation Event
The TCTC Admissions team hosted a scholarship appreciation event May 12 for students who are the recipients of Foundation-sponsored scholarships. Around 90 students (all incoming and continuing TCTC students) and their friends and family members attended the event where they met President DeHay, along with staff members who can serve as resources for them while they are in college. Financial Aid team members manned a computer station where students could compose thank you letters to donors.
Companies and individual donors play a major part in making it possible for so many students to attend college, said President DeHay, a first-generation college student who was awarded scholarships to attend Clemson University. Dr. DeHay told the crowd he personally understands the importance of scholarships making college possible for so many students who are juggling family, college and jobs. “We are proud of you and are glad to see your family and persons of support with you today. We all know we don’t travel this journey alone.”
Astrid Saylors is a returning student in the Pre-Pharmacy program. She attended the scholarship appreciation event with her children, Carleigh, M’Kenzie and Alyssa. She works as a certified pharmacy technician at Publix in Anderson. Saylors is the recipient of the Martha Barham Parker Memorial Scholarship.
Randy Price, who has taught for our Welding program for 27 years, received the College’s 2022 Adjunct Faculty Presidential Award May 6.
This award is given annually at the spring faculty/staff convocation to the adjunct faculty member who is recognized for excellence in teaching, who has consistently high student evaluations and who supports the philosophy and goals of the College.
“Randy is a consummate professional and student advocate who demonstrates dedication to the welding program and our students on a daily basis,” said Paul Phelps, TCTC department head for welding and CNC.
Price has served as an adjunct for the Welding program continually since graduating from the program in 1995. He has taught every term, for a total of 81 semesters. During that time, he has taught more than 210 sections of various welding courses. Among his students have been TCTC Welding faculty, including Phelps and instructors Scott Brabham and Matt Woodall.
“Randy never shrinks from a challenge,” said Phelps. Price routinely teaches the Welding capstone, Advanced Fabrication, a project-based course. “This course is an excellent example of the way Randy always goes the extra mile. The projects designed and built during the course change every semester based on ‘customer’ needs. Since the projects change, Randy adapts his instruction to the projects in the course that semester, in addition to adapting to the needs of the students enrolled in the course. He goes above and beyond teaching fabrication and welding techniques. Randy uses this opportunity to teach the students how to interact with their customers to clarify areas of confusion and determine design requirements,” said Phelps.
“Numerous times Randy has given his personal time to painting and delivering finished products with his students – seeing this as an opportunity to teach his students the importance of consistently doing just that little ‘something extra’ to distinguish yourself,” added Phelps.
Price consistently receives excellent reviews from students. For example, one student summed up Price’s teaching succinctly: “Randy was a great teacher and always helped and gave advice when you needed it most.”
“Randy is laser focused on students’ needs and how to provide students with the best possible education and experience,” said Phelps, who entered the program as an evening student in 2000. Price was his instructor for several classes over the three years he was a student. “Now, here we are in 2022, and my role has changed. I am no longer a student, but a program director and department head. A lot of these opportunities are due to Randy and the time he put into me as a student.”
“Randy brings experience and structure to our evening welding program. He is a talented welder/fabricator with a desire to help others learn this trade to provide a better future for them and their families. He is always willing to step up and help out our students, faculty and program however he can without hesitation,” said Matt Woodall, TCTC Welding instructor
TCTC Police conducted a force-on-force active shooter training session on May 16. Eleven officers participated and used training firearms that fire projectiles to conduct reality-based active shooter response training. The goal is to become more prepared in active shooter response, said TCTC Police Chief Marcus Guess. Sgt. Shaun Chastain led the three-hour training.
Kathleen (Katy) Hardy, program director for the School of Humanities and Social Sciences in the College’s Arts and Sciences Division, was honored May 6 with the highest award presented to the faculty. She received the Presidential Medallion for Instructional Excellence at the College’s spring convocation.
“Katy embodies Tri-County Technical College’s mission, vision and values and is a tireless advocate for students,” said President DeHay.
“Katy understands that students are our most valuable resource,” said Corey Evans, Spanish instructor, one of two instructors who nominated Hardy for the award.
Colleagues praise Hardy for providing quality instruction which creates substantive change in learners. Through her hands-on teaching style and her ability to relate to a wide variety of students, she creates activities and classroom topics that are relevant to students.
Hardy joined the College in 2017 as a history instructor and has taught all the history courses offered. “Whether in group tests, class discussion about primary sources, or group projects, Katy is always changing her teaching to adapt to student learning. Her skill at evaluating outcomes and making classroom changes was especially evident when she transitioned her classroom learning tasks to fit outcomes suitable to the pandemic learning environment,” said Dr. Della Vanhuss, history instructor.
Last year Hardy was promoted to program director of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences and continues to teach and encourage co-curricular learning to enhance the personal and career development of students. One of her projects was the design of Leadership through the Humanities, a course to help students recognize their leadership growth potential in a variety of work environments. Since piloting the course in the spring of 2020, she continues to seek out different avenues in which to promote this course to students with a variety of academic backgrounds and educational goals, both traditional and non-traditional. “Through her involvement with the various resources at the College, Katy is an advocate for getting students involved and acknowledged, knowing that life lessons are not just a product of a traditional classroom experience,” said Evans. “She continues to meet students where and when they are available whether faceto-face or online. She is the best at analyzing their situations to help them decide the best direction for their studies based on their educational interests and personality traits as individuals,” said Evans.
“Her students respect her enthusiasm in the classroom and her advisees seek her advice and experience as she mentors them and gets to know them better with each advising session. Katy is supportive of all aspects of the College’s growth initiatives and plays a critical role at positively contributing to the College’s mission of being student-focused in all aspects of the job,” said Dr. Vanhuss.
Hardy holds a B.A. degree in history and master’s degrees in history and higher education administration, all from the University of Akron.
Community Law Enforcement Forums
A community forum was held in Pickens County in May and in Oconee County in June for residents and law enforcement officials. The forums are an outgrowth of Ten at the Top’s Creating a Safer Upstate initiative, which seeks to provide opportunities for law enforcement and the community to convene to discuss community issues and emerging law enforcement topics.
Battle of the Deans BBQ Follows Convocation
Immediately following the May 6 spring convocation, the first-ever Battle of the Deans BBQ kicked off in support of the Faculty Choice SOAR Scholarship, which seeks to benefit students of promise as they Strive, Overcome, Achieve, and Rise (SOAR). Faculty and staff enjoyed barbeque of all kinds created by the TCTC deans.
Jennifer Hulehan (Academic and Career Foundations) was voted “Most Smokin’ Dean.” Adam Ghiloni, dean of Enrollment Services, took home the People’s Choice Award and celebrity judges chose Dr. Mandy Elmore (Engineering and Industrial Technology) to receive the Judge’s Choice Award. The deans raised a total of $3,440 through sponsorships and other fundraising such as a silent auction and product sales.
Campus Police Officer Jimmie Cash, who retired in May, won the kayak in the prize drawing to support the SOAR (Strive, Overcome, Achieve, and Rise) scholarship. Ticket sales raised $1,795. The kayak was donated by Mandy Karaganov, social science instructor, also pictured here.
Adam Ghiloni
Jennifer Hulehan, left, is pictured with Randee Dorontich and Tiffany Rogers.
Dr. Mandy Elmore
Jimmy Cash won the kayak. He is pictured with Mandy Karaganov.
Faculty and staff attended an open house highlighting TCTC’s Automotive Technology program and toured the newly remodeled Wilson Hall. In the future, program offerings will expand to include a diesel mechanical program, an unmet need in our community.
Automotive Technology class
Remodeled Automotive Lab
Automotive Technology Pogram Director, Bill Leverette, left, and Paul Pelps, department head for Welding and CNC.
