Spoon River College held Employee Appreciation receptions on the Canton and Macomb campuses to recognize employees for their years of service, those retiring, and faculty awards.
Honored for five years were Micki Henderson, Senior Assistant, Auxiliary Services; Hannah Neuendorf, Generalist, Human Resources; and Andrea Thomson, Director, Human Resources.
Honored for ten years were Ellen Armstrong, Specialist, Macomb Campus: Andrea Barbknecht, Director, Canton Outreach Center; Penny Cozart, Nursing faculty; Kim Donnelly, Senior Office Assistant, Student Services; Jade Powers, Advisor, Recruitment/Retention; Barbara Strauch, Nursing faculty; and Bobby Winters, Unix Administrator.
Honored for fifteen years were Kristy Boggs, Biology faculty; Jo Branson, Director, Financial Aid; Sarah Dalpiaz, Math faculty; Sarah Gray, Director, Business and Auxiliary Services; Melissa Koke, Program Advisor, Adult Education; Chase Lockard, Coordinator, Network and Security; Teresa Welch, Assistant, Havana Center; and Rebecca Werland, Developmental English faculty.
Chief Information Office Raj Siddaraju was honored for 25 years, and Facilities Director Bob Haile was honored for 40 years.
Rob Kirkham, director of the Rushville Center, was honored as the lone retiree. Kirkham noted that as much as he enjoyed the work, his decision was based on his desire to spend more time traveling with his wife to visit their out-of-state children. President Oldfield said that Kirkham had been an excellent director and valuable asset to the Rushville Center and that he would be missed.
The following employees were recognized as nominees for the annual Illinois Community College Trustees Association awards:
Jason Strandberg (History faculty) – 2020 ICCTA Outstanding Full-time Faculty Member Award.
Michael Maher (Sociology faculty) – 2021 ICCTA Outstanding Full-time Faculty Member Award.
Scott Heidemann (Systems Administrator) – 2020 ICCTA Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Member Award.
Marianne Pence (Sociology faculty) – 2021 ICCTA Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Award.
Recognized for receiving the H. Truman Standard Award for teaching excellence were 2020 recipient Laura Bandy, English faculty and 2021 recipient Sarah Strode, Nursing faculty.