Category — Awards

Thomas Nelson Community College named graduating students Matthew Paul Faubion and Sandra Joy Brooks as recipients of 2008-2009 President‘s and Vice President’s Awards, respectively. The College presents the awards during commencement each spring in acknowledgment of students’ exceptional academic performance. Both recipients are graduating summa cum laude with 4.0 grade point averages.

Criteria for the awards include attaining the highest cumulative grade point average (GPA), completing at least 60 semester hours of course work and receiving an Associate’s Degree for the current year, among other criteria.

Faubion enrolled at TNCC in 2007 and has completed the requirements for an Associate of Science in Social Science. He plans to study Sociology/Criminology at Christopher Newport University in the fall and become a police officer, but his goals don’t stop there. Ultimately, he envisions himself as a local government official, possibly a mayor. “TNCC was excellent to prepare me for life at a four-year college. The teachers’ one-on-one interactions with the students really helped to facilitate a better learning environment,” Faubion said.

Faubion juggled his studies with a job as a waiter at Surry House Restaurant, but working didn’t impede his academic success. He maintained grades sufficient for membership in Phi Theta Kappa, the International Honor Society for two-year colleges.

In his spare time, Faubion leads the youth group at Surry United Methodist Church and plays bass guitar. He is also a member of 4-H, an organization that promotes leadership, citizenship and more. Faubion resides in Surry County. His parents are Kent Faubion of Mount Pleasant, S.C. and Jeannie Rowland of Surry County.

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It hasn’t been an easy semester for Thomas Nelson Community College (TNCC) student Orana Paullus. She works hard to juggle school with her husband and 10-year-old daughter. She is expecting a son in July. When the pregnancy started to take a toll on her health, her schoolwork suffered, but one hard day was the key to a winning essay for the $1,000 scholarship from the Mid-America Association of Educational Opportunity Program Personnel (MEAEOPP).

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Thomas Nelson Community College (TNCC) student Jasmine Cordial was awarded a $500 scholarship from the Virginia Association of Educational Opportunity Program Personnel (VAEOPP). The organization was founded in 1975 to help students in TRiO, a federally-funded program that provides academic counseling and more for first-generation college students, students with a disability and those who meet low-income requirements.

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On Thursday, Feb. 5, at 9 a.m., 31 U.S. Navy Sailors will graduate from the Medical Laboratory Technology (MLT) Program at Thomas Nelson Community College during a ceremony in the Dr. Mary T. Christian Auditorium, Templin Hall. Capt. Susan E. Herron, NC, USN, Commanding Officer of Portsmouth, Virginia-based Naval School of Health Sciences and Alvin J. Schexnider Ph.D., TNCC’s Interim President will address the graduating class.  Force Master Chief Laura A. Martinez, Hospital Corps director, is also scheduled to address the graduating class as guest speaker.

This is the nineteenth and last class to graduate from Thomas Nelson Community College since the U.S. Navy awarded the contract in 1998. The graduating students will receive the TNCC Medical Laboratory Technician Certificate and will be awarded the Navy Enlisted Classification (NEC) HM 8506.

In addition to the HM 8506 NEC, seven of the graduating students have also completed the requirements in Associate of Applied Science Degree (AAS) and will be receiving degrees in Medical Laboratory Technology.  Furthermore, the students have the opportunity to complete their educational goals by utilizing the Navy Tuition Assistance Program.

Tuition Assistance (TA) is the Navy’s educational financial assistance program. It provides active duty personnel funding for 100 percent tuition costs for courses taken in an off-duty status at a college, university or vocational/technical institution, whose regional or national accreditation is recognized by the Department of Education.  Navy TA pays for both classroom and independent study/distance learning courses, regardless of course length. Courses must be offered in semester hours, quarter hours, or clock hours. The credits earned must show on the institution’s transcript.

Seventeen of the graduating students are re-enlisting in the U.S. Navy for a minimum of three years to maximum of six years.  These students will be receiving selective re-enlistment bonuses for obligating additional service to the U.S. Navy.  The total monetary amount to be paid to these sailors exceeds $500,000.

The program calls for an accelerated 60-credit hour MLT certificate to be completed in 54 weeks. TNCC is the only community college in the nation to train U.S. Navy personnel as medical lab technicians. Students complete seven months of their training at Thomas Nelson and five months of clinical medical laboratory internship at the Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth. Graduating students apply the training received at U.S. Navy facilities around the world.   Navy administrators stated:  “This relationship over the past 10 years has been nothing more than remarkable.”

Thomas Nelson Community College has trained 607 Navy Sailors to date and of that figure 239 were awarded Associates of Applied Sciences Degree by the College.

Further, during this longstanding association 450 Medical Laboratory Technicians have received their American Society of College Pathologist certifications upon graduation. The skills and knowledge acquired over these past 10 years has been utilized by these sailors throughout the military in brining quality care and treatment to Navy Medicine and the patients and family they serve around the world.

The deadline to submit nominations for TNCC Distinguished Alumni Awards has been extended to Wednesday, January 14, 2009. The nomination form is available at the following link: Distinguished Alumni Nomination Form (pdf)

The TNCC Distinguished Alumni Awards were established in 2008. The awards recognize TNCC alumni who are making outstanding contributions to society through professional achievements and community service.

The following three categories are awarded:

• Alumni-Employee Award: recognizes a TNCC employee who is also a graduate and has exhibited an on-going commitment to the institution.
• Professional Achievement Award: recognizes an alum that has excelled in his/her chosen field.
• Community Service Award: recognizes an alum as an outstanding member of his/her community through volunteer and civic involvement.

Award recipients will be honored at the Homecoming 2009 Community Luncheon on Monday, February 16, 2009.

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Eight Thomas Nelson Community College Nursing students were acknowledged during a Pinning Ceremony earlier this month in Williamsburg. The students completed an Associate in Applied Science Degree Program in Nursing at the College’s Historic Triangle campus.

A symbolic, but meaningful event, the Pinning Ceremony marked a new facet in the personal and professional lives of the graduating Nursing students, said Mary K. Howard, Nursing Program chair.

The ceremony also symbolized the students’ commitment to their profession. During the ceremony, the nurses will recite the Nightingale Pledge, named after nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale, as they promise to practice their profession faithfully, aid the physicians in their work and devote themselves to the welfare of those committed to their care.

These students will also take the National Licensure Exam for Registered Nurses.

“The Nursing faculty is very proud of the students’ efforts and dedication. Thomas Nelson Community College with the support of organizations such as the Williamsburg Community Health Foundation is playing a major role in addressing the national shortage of nurses especially in our communities,” said Howard.

Nursing graduates from TNCC make up a large percentage of nurses working in area hospitals, she noted. Students are diverse in many ways and many of them have overcome obstacles and challenges in life to follow their professional dreams, Howard added.

For additional information about the Nursing programs available at the College’s Historic Triangle campus, please call 757-825-2808.

Thomas Nelson Community College (TNCC) student William F. Zorn was among 30 students honored as Commonwealth Legacy Scholars. The honorees representing Virginia’s 23 community colleges were acknowledged in October during a luncheon in Richmond.

The scholarships recognize students from across the Commonwealth who demonstrated academic excellence during high school as well as a commitment to developing their leadership skills. They will become mentors to future Legacy Scholars as they move through their academic programs and graduate from a Virginia community college, according to Dr. Glenn DuBois, Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System (VCCS).

The Commonwealth Legacy Scholarship Program, established in 2006 through the generosity of private donors to the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education, provides up to $3,000 for a full year of tuition and fees at one of the 40 campuses of the VCCS’s 23 colleges. Each scholarship bears the name of one of many philanthropy leaders who support Virginia’s community colleges.

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The creative works of 15 Thomas Nelson Community College students will be exhibited at the Ferguson Center for the Arts on Tuesday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. when award-winning mystery writer Walter Mosley meets/greets fans for a book signing and discussion. As part of a class project, the advanced Computer Arts students created posters, tickets, program booklet covers, and bookmarks to promote the event.
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