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Faculty, Staff Receive NISOD Excellence Awards
(Press Release 06-09-06)
Hank Mooney, Office of Public Information

Submitted Story & Photo

Four faculty and staff members at Eastern Oklahoma State College were nominated by their peers to receive National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) Excellence awards. The 28th Annual NISOD International Conference on Teaching & Leadership Excellence was held at the Austin Convention Center, May 28-31.

Eastern’s award recipients Criminal Justice and Psychology Instructor Katharyn A. Couch, Human Resources Director Joyce Bills, Assistant Vice President for Institutional Research and Media Services Mary Edith Butler, and Administrative Office Technology Instructor Linda Morgan joined over 2,100 attendees from 45 states, Mexico, Canada, and the Virgin Islands to celebrate the highest standards of teaching and leadership excellence. Over 400 colleges were represented at the conference.

Tessa Pollack, President of Our Lady of the Lake University, began the conference keynote reminding attendees, “We are here to open doors and let the future in.” Attendees chose from over 340 breakout sessions on leadership, teaching methods, assessment, and management.

The four Eastern representatives were invited to attend a “By Invitation Only” luncheon with Manuel, an exclusive American Designer and King of“cowboy couture.” As they began enjoying the luncheon, Manuel joined their table and shared insights about his signature designs individually created for celebrities in the music, film, and television industries.

His clients have included Marlon Brando, Burt Reynolds, George Jones, Alan Jackson, Neil Young, Mick Jagger, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Emmy Lou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt. Manuel attributed his success to “hard work.”

In a non educational venture, Couch, Bills, Butler, and Morgan joined a huge crowd of spectators at the Congress Avenue Bridge at dusk on Tuesday. The bridge is home to a colony of more than a million Mexican free-tailed bats. Viewing the nightly departure of the nocturnal creatures is an Austin tradition. The mammals fly out in a massive swarm beneath the bridge.

Conference attendees were delighted on Tuesday as the 2006 Amado M. Peña Journey of Excellence Awards were presented to former Dallas Cowboy & All Star Athlete Calvin Hill and Robert David Hall, the actor who plays the coroner on the television show CSI. They joined actor Lou Diamond Phillips and NISOD Director Margot Perez-Greene for a conversation about who and what influenced their lives.

The Excellence Awards Celebration and closing session was held on Wednesday with the “medallioning” of each recipient. The pewter medallions are hung on burnt orange ribbon and presented to Excellence Awards recipients.

Caption info:
Eastern’s NISOD award recipients include from left: Assistant Vice President for Institutional Research and Media Services Mary Edith Butler; Administrative Office Technology Instructor Linda Morgan; Criminal Justice and Psychology Instructor Katharyn A. Couch and Human Resources Director Joyce Bills.