Office of Human Resources

2023 President’s Award Recipients

The President’s Award recognizes members of the college community whose contributions to the College represent exceptional performance above and beyond expectations. This meritorious award is presented to select colleagues for their fulfillment of one or more of the award criteria. Nomination criteria includes:

• Advancement of Academic Excellence

• Fostering Student Success

• Strengthening Institutional Sustainability

• Instilling Inclusivity

This year’s award recipients are representative of each of our constituency groups. Our recipients are as follows:

Jennifer Britten, associate professor, human services, received a nomination by Wendy D. Bratina, Ed.D for Advancement of Academic Excellence. Jennifer has worked consistently to inspire her students and advisees to succeed at their educational and career goals. She teaches in the Human Services discipline and creates learning experiences that allow her students to engage deeply with the materials to prepare them for the profession. She connects with her advisees to keep them on the path toward their degrees. Jennifer pushes her students to use critical thinking skills to problem solve and adapt to navigate through their experience at HACC as well as challenges in their personal lives. In summary, Jennifer has continued to demonstrate the advancement of academic excellence throughout her interactions throughout the College with students.

Juanita Mort, executive assistant, office of IT & learning commons, received a nomination by Bob Messner for Strengthening Institutional Sustainability. Juanita has been instrumental in organizing and tracking the dozens of computer lease agreements for the thousands of computers at the College. Juanita's detail-oriented approach has identified the potential for thousands of dollars of savings in the next lease renewal process. In addition, Juanita tracks all of the technology purchases made in the Office of Information Technology and Learning Experience, ensuring the best prices through efforts such as the consolidation of purchasing needs. In summary, Juanita has continued to strengthen the College operations and sustainability by instilling purchasing practices and organizational methods that result in cost savings.

Terry Sholansky, director, health and safety, received a nomination by Maya Green for Strengthening Institutional Sustainability. Terry initiated a Suicide Awareness Program this past September. She provided a College-wide presentation which included tools and resources to enforce awareness and prevention. She developed a supervisor response checklist and collaborated with an independent agency to provide a Grief relief session to support and encourage those who may have been challenged by loss, grief, and/or trauma. In addition, she trains all new employees once a month during New Employee Orientation. Terry has been responsible for responding to each student and College employee with guidance and instructions related to any COVID issues and concerns through the COVID-19 mailbox. In addition, she collaborates with facilities to keep the campuses sanitized; security to close down rooms when necessary; and leadership to ensure proper protocols are in place. Terry continued to keep the College at the forefront of safety practices by coordinating with the Health and Safety Institute to initiate an on-site inventory and update year-worth of outdated chemical and safety data inventory at each campus. She revamped the Motor Vehicle Driver program; researched/contacted all 186 current HACC vehicle drivers; and implemented a program for new hires. She completed a 30-hour General Industry OSHA course through the University of Southern Florida to ensure she can provide the very best in safety practices in support of the entire College community. In summary, Terry is well-deserving for this award due to her hard work, dedication, and commitment to the safety of this College.

Shelly Blanchette, assistant director, assessment, planning and strategy, received a nomination by Mikayla Fuller for demonstrating Fostering Student Success. Shelly Blanchette led the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) Initiative. This pilot program supported by HACC's Diversity Innovation Fund sponsorship found a 235 percent increase in CLEP language testing, as well as positive retention and graduation outcomes for multilingual students. Students were able to apply over 1,000 credits toward their degree requirements with an average of 10.1 credits per tester. Shelly’s support of this project is in alignment with the College’s Student Success Framework for supporting students in clarifying their path toward completion. In October 2022, Shelly, in partnership with colleague Elisa Cohen, presented “CLEP Testing: Leveraging Outcomes for Multilingual Students” at the fall virtual National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development conference. Shelly has worked collaboratively with various departments across the college to improve faculty and staff’s knowledge of student success data. She has developed student affairs daily enrollment tracking tables and data visuals that are used to inform all of student affairs and the broader college community. This tracking of actual daily and weekly enrollment compared to our projected targets has shifted how we experience enrollment. She has recently refined this tool to include student types that will assist in accurate projections of enrollment as well as financial gains made for the College. She has influenced the building of dashboards that will inform multiple divisions. Shelly created a data literacy Google Site to support the SAEM division in their mission to become data-informed in their work. She also develops the training and leads the Student Affairs Assessment Committee in an effort to assess and improve best practices amongst all Student Affairs units. In summary, Shelly is passionate about her work and about seeing students succeed. Shelly is a team player and her positive disposition encourages every person, team, and committee with which she works. 

Nicholas Feidt, Coordinator, Organization Development In The Office Of Human Resources

Nicholas Feidt is a doctoral student studying strategic leadership with a focus in learning organization design and development. My formal education includes degrees in secondary education and leadership along with professional certifications in human resources, talent development, and management. 

Nicholas has experience in general management and talent development strategy within the biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry through previous employment. Developed and implemented site-level learning and cross-shift communication strategy of a Fortune 100 company. Managed the Learning Management System (Master Control) and training delivery and evaluation strategy to ensure CAPA fulfillment for process owners. Draft, review, and amend inter-site policies through standard work instructions, standard operating procedures, and work instruction documents and ensured compliance training completed across seven shift patterns. Project management of cross-shift training development and process improvement teams of twenty direct-instruction trainers.

As a veteran, he became motivated to find new ways to challenge teams to realize their potential. In the military Nicolas serves as an occupational specialist providing satellite and line of sight radio communications connection for units. Squad (five-man multidisciplinary team) leadership for operational, administrative, and mission-oriented tasks.

Nicholas was raised not far from HACC in northern Dauphin County. While Growing up as a sixth-generation dairy farmer, he developed a love for the land and its wonders. He spends much of his free time hiking or with his herd of cattle.

Join Our One Year Old HACC Toastmasters Club

Thousands of corporations and organizations take advantage of Toastmasters International’s proven education program. 

Organization Development (OD) would like to announce that we have established a Toastmasters club at HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, and are celebrating our first birthday!

Toastmasters is a globally recognized institution with an overall vision to empower individuals to become more effective communicators and leaders. With a mission to provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members develop communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self-awareness and a growth mindset with individual career development pathways.

The goals of the HACC Toastmasters Club will be to develop communication and leadership skills, which will result in greater self-confidence and personal growth, aligned with the following objectives:

• Experiential learning – Give speeches, reflect, practice, and improve performance. 

• Peer feedback – Grow and improve public speaking and communication skills through honest and supportive peer evaluation.

• Mentoring – Experienced mentor encouragement - Guide and support you to achieve more than you set out to accomplish.

• Self-paced program – Develop skills at your own pace and comfort level.

How often do we meet and where? We meet at least twice a month, depending on everyone’s availability via Zoom. 

To sign up, go to the OHR Channel > Department of Organization Development and click on HACC/Cornerstone Learning Management System > on the homepage, you will find Instructor-Led Training. Click on the link to take you to the event “Are you Interested in Joining HACC Toastmasters Club? Then click on the arrow view details and request to sign up and receive an email confirming your registration. 

For more information, don’t hesitate to contact Sara Steele at sestelle@hacc.edu, administrative specialist, or Cavil Anderson, Ph.D., executive director at csanders@hacc.edu, in the Office of Human Resources/Organization Development.