Beth Evitts, formerly the Executive Director, Library, received two nominations for consideration. The nominations were submitted by Borany Kanal-Scott and a group of colleagues (led by Kim McGovern) in recognition of the amazing value Beth places on student success and the Library’s important role in that success. Beth was also recognized for her service-oriented leadership style, which earned her the trust and respect of her colleagues and students alike. She has demonstrated her ability to provide vision, and drive progress in times of great change by establishing a strong organizational bond, bolstering confidence among direct reports and colleagues alike. Her visionary leadership was most recently illustrated in the College reorganization, and the directing of the Library’s response to the campus closures due to COVID-19. In this response, Beth helped to deploy critically needed technology to support the pivot to remote learning in a quick and efficient manner.

Although Beth recently retired from the College, I was able to connect with her to thank her for her service to the College, congratulate her on receiving the award, and wish her well in the next chapter of her life.

Monica Filburn, department chair, nursing was nominated by Rick Albright for her role in leading the Nursing Department during a period of unprecedented leadership change. Monica stepped in as the department chair after Ron Rebuck, former chair and beloved member of the Nursing department, became ill. All of this occurred as the department was completing its self-study and preparing for a re-accreditation site visit from the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing. Despite these extraordinary challenges, Monica demonstrated the best qualities of leadership, kept her team together, ensured that the program was successfully re-accredited, and worked tirelessly to strengthen the program academically. Her goal was to increase first-time pass rates on NCLEX exams for both the Associate’s (RN) and PN programs, and prepare students for the Next Generation NCLEX.

Monica, we thank you for the care and support that you and your team provided to our students and for your efforts in advancing academic excellence.

Christy Helm, Administrative Office Specialist, was nominated by Leslie Boon and Rick Albright for her efforts in advancing academic excellence. Christy’s nomination recognized the process she developed of onboarding adjunct faculty, which has become the standard in preparing new faculty to teach at HACC’s Harrisburg Campus. Additionally, Christy has identified effective ways to support the Social Sciences faculty initiatives around low-cost textbooks and Open Educational Resources (OER). When involved in addressing a student concern, Christy is tireless in following through to ensure that the matter has been resolved effectively for the student. Her nominator provided a recent example of her efforts in working with a student through a hiccup in the process of getting a student registered for an independent study.

Christy, we thank you for the care and support that you provide to our students and for your efforts in advancing academic excellence.