HANCEVILLE — Wallace State Community College Industrial Electronics Instructor Joe Hendrix was named the Alabama Community College System Technical Faculty of the Year at the 2012 Chancellor’s Awards Ceremony in Birmingham this week.

Hendrix, a full-time Wallace State faculty member since 1997, has helped to transform the Industrial Electronics Department into one of the best in the state and was instrumental in the development of an Automotive Manufacturing Technology degree at Wallace State.

 “I’m honored to have been selected as the Technical Faculty of the Year for 2012,” Hendrix said. “When I saw the other finalists for the award, I was certain that one of the many other well-deserving instructors’ names would be called. I was very surprised,” Hendrix said. “At Wallace State, we all go above and beyond to ensure that the students we serve get the best they can from us. It just happened to be my turn to be recognized for what many of us continually do. I appreciate our students and the Wallace State family for giving me an opportunity to possibly make a difference in people’s lives.”

“We congratulate all our nominees for the 2012 class of Chancellor’s Awards – Dr. Kathy Buckelew for Academic Faculty, Joe Hendrix for Technical Faculty, Sid Borden as Administrator, and Virginia White as Support Staff – for their outstanding contributions to our college, our students, and the Alabama Community College System,” said Wallace State President Vicki Hawsey. “We are especially proud of Joe Hendrix, who was recognized by Chancellor Mark Heinrich as the outstanding Technical Faculty of the Year, a well-deserved honor for an instructor who embodies our quest for excellence and our student-first philosophy.”

The Chancellor’s Awards began 25 years ago as a way to reward and encourage those who have exemplified outstanding performance, creativity and dedicated service to their college.

Hendrix is constantly investigating ways for his students to gain an upper hand in the workplace, focusing on the innovative techniques and modern methods they will need after graduation. Since his arrival on campus, he has aided in the program adding 35 programmable logic controllers (PLC), nine industrial robots and many other state-of-the-art devices to teach and train within the department. Hendrix has also hosted Wallace State’s Science Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) camp the last six years for high school students, giving them an opportunity to see how technology is used in the global business environment.

Dr. Kathy Buckelew was this year’s Academic Faculty of the Year nominee. Buckelew has been a part of Wallace State’s English Department the last nine years and has been teaching for 23 years, including six years at the middle school level and eight years in high school. At Wallace State she teaches English courses to both college and dual enrollment students. She also serves in a number of high profile roles on campus, including co-chairing Wallace State’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) committee, whose work will be an important element in the college’s reaffirmation of accreditation. This plan earned much acclaim during a presentation at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) Institute on High-Impact Practices and Student Success in Portland, Ore., in June. Buckelew is also a co-chair of the Arts in April committee, a member of the Scholars’ Bowl committee, the College Improvement team, the e-Learning committee and the Master Teacher Planning committee. She holds three degrees, including a doctorate, from the University of Alabama.

Borden, the Administrator of the Year nominee, has worked at Wallace State for 22 years. As director of auxiliary services, Borden oversees all operations at the bookstore and the men’s and women’s dormitories. His department also handles all vending, concession sales and transportation for employees, campus groups and athletic teams. Among many other responsibilities, Borden, an Auburn graduate, has served as the director of tournament operations for the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s (AHSAA) Northwest Regional Tournament, held at Wallace State’s Tom Drake Coliseum each February since its inception in 1994. This event annually draws tens of thousands of visitors to campus. Borden’s experience in crisis management assures logistics are taken care of weeks in advance, and anything unexpected is handled with the utmost efficiency. Borden’s leadership was essential in 2008 when more than 1200 evacuees from Louisiana found temporary refuge from Hurricane Gustav at Wallace State’s Tom Drake Coliseum and the Wellness Center.  

White, an accounts receivable specialist in the Wallace State business office, is the Staff Member of the Year nominee. White has been employed at Wallace State for more than 20 years and has served in multiple roles with the college, having also worked as a cashier and performing bank reconciliations and federal student financial aid reconciliations. White has been an indispensable figure in helping Wallace State rebound from the April 2011 tornadoes, working extra hours on accounting for the extensive repairs necessary. White aids the admissions and financial aid departments during crunch times and has been a pivotal figure in assisting the college during its transition to the Banner administrative software system. White has been proactive in researching system needs, collaborating with different departments and attending hours of meetings each week to ensure a successful system conversion for the college.

Each of Wallace State’s nominees was also a recipient of the Wallace State Education Achievement Award given annually to employees who consistently demonstrate exceptional job performance beyond routine expectations in areas such as personal integrity, dependability, willingness to work with others, punctuality, efficiency, classroom/workplace innovation and creativity. These winners participate in on-campus and off-campus activities beyond usual job expectations including professional development, fundraising, volunteerism, continuing education, and leadership.

Adrian Scott, Wallace State Visual Communications department chair and art instructor, earned second place in the Chancellor’s Art Competition for his sculpture, “Data Bait Folk Phishing Lure.” Scott was also recognized by Chancellor Heinrich at the Awards Ceremony, and his work was exhibited at the event.

Several Wallace State employees made presentations during the annual Alabama Community College Association conference, a day and a half professional development meeting following the Chancellor’s Awards.  

Hendrix joined Ted Davis of the Alabama Community College System to present “CARCAM: Performing a Curriculum Gap Analysis—How & Why.” Their presentation explained how to perform a curriculum gap analysis to help ensure program content meets and exceeds industry standards.

Dr. Suhana Chikatla of Wallace State’s Advanced Visualization Center and Dr. Theresa Ray-Connell, dental hygiene instructor, presented “Pedagogical ePortfolios 3.0: Coaching Learners to Build Online Portfolios.”  They discussed the importance of building online portfolios, and featured benefits to both instructors and students.

Dr. J. Lance Boyd, Wallace State math instructor, presented “Step By Step Factoring of Trinomials,” which provided hints for helping students overcome one of the most challenging concepts of Math 098 and Math 100.

For more information about Wallace State, visit www.wallacestate.edu.