FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TAYLOR, THORNTON RECEIVE DCC

OUTSTANDING FACULTY, STAFF HONORS

Vickie Taylor - 2005 Outstanding Faculty Member	Evonda Thornton - 2005 Outstanding Staff Member

            DANVILLE, Va., May 11, 2005—Two Danville Community College employees have been recognized

 for outstanding service at the college. Vickie Taylor, Assistant Professor of Sociology, has been honored as the Outstanding Faculty Member for 2005, while Evonda Thornton, Educational Support Specialist III in the Admissions Office, has been honored with the Outstanding Staff Award for 2005. Both were nominated by fellow college employees, and they each received a plaque and cash award from the DCC Educational Foundation.

            Taylor has been employed at DCC for 33 years, teaching sociology and related courses in the Administration of Justice program. She has served for 16 years as an advisor for DCC’s Upsilon Phi chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. She also has represented DCC on the state level for the past seven years as a member of the Chancellor’s Faculty Advisory Committee for the Virginia Community College System (VCCS).

            Taylor is recognized as a “dedicated instructor” and her fellow faculty members acknowledge her willingness to go “beyond the classroom to be a helper to her students.”

            In the past, Taylor was an advisor for nine years to DCC’s Student Government Association and she spent five years as Coordinator of Student Activities. She earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Appalachian State University.

            Thornton joined the DCC staff as a part-time secretary in 1988, then becoming a full-time staff member in 1989. She is recognized for her “professionalism and efficiency and her pleasant manner toward the public, students, faculty and staff.”

            Thornton was described as an “outstanding staff member” in the Admissions Office by her co-workers. They say she can be counted on to know the answer to any admissions-related question. In addition, she is a member of the statewide VCCS Admissions and Records Workgroup.

            A graduate of Tunstall High School, she received her Associate in Applied Science degree in Business Management from DCC. She is an active member of the Shiloh Baptist Church in Cascade, and is a parent volunteer at Tunstall High and Brosville Middle schools.