News
CCC Employees Receive League Excellence Award
March 10, 2021
Joni Ransom
Ten Central Community College employees have received the League Excellence Award from The League for Innovation in the Community College. They are:
- Barb Beck of Grand Island, early childhood education instructor at the Grand Island Campus, for her work on the national early childhood initiatives and state early childhood grants and organizations.
- Dan Davidchik of Columbus, process controls and instrumentation instructor at the Columbus Campus, for leading and implementing many national grants for CCC, including the newest National Science Foundation grant with South Central College.
- Gene Friesen of Hastings, drafting and design technology instructor at the Hastings Campus, for his work from obtaining the first AMDT national grant to implementing the innovative steel printer as one of the first community colleges in the nation.
- Yunteng He of Kearney, chemistry instructor at the Kearney Center, for his innovative and nationally published methods for assessing student learning and sharing those methods with national and international audiences.
- Vicki Kucera of Lawrence, financial aid services area director, for her work on the federal financial CARES grant aid and state workforce retraining aid as well as her participation in state and national financial aid organizations.
- Brian McDermott of Hastings, college effectiveness and research director, for his leadership and innovation on multiple national reports as well as the Best for Vets applications, VFA implementation and most recently on the federal CARES funds.
- Libby Paro of Grand Island, occupational therapy assistant instructor at the Grand Island Campus, for her efforts in enhancing CCC’s OTA program to date and sharing what she has learned with national OTA conference audiences.
- Jared Pettit of Kearney, mechatronics instructor at the Kearney Center, for creating the Kearney mechatronics program, serving as a positive advocate in his role with the National Guard and helping with the new National Science Foundation grant.
- Karin Rieger of Columbus, associate dean of extended learning services at the Columbus Campus, for her involvement in national and statewide projects that include the National Endowment of the Humanities grant, Central Honors Institute and the Verizon grant.
- Dr. Callie Watson of Plattsmouth, occupational therapy assistant program director at the Grand Island Campus, for her efforts in enhancing CCC’s OTA program to date and sharing what she has learned with national OTA conference audiences.
“It was a privilege to select these recipients for the League for Innovation in Community College’s League Excellence Award,” said College President Dr. Matt Gotschall, who nominated them for the award. “They have each demonstrated leadership and excellence in their programming, research, grants, teaching and/or support for students.”
The League for Innovation has been dedicated to informing, inspiring, and celebrating innovation in learning, teaching, staff development, and student success for more than 50 years.