CCCC Announces Awards During Convocation Event

SANFORD — Four members of the college community were honored with awards during the Central Carolina Community College Convocation on Thursday, Sept. 26, at the Dennis A. Wicker Civic & Conference Center in Sanford. The event was combined with a formal ceremony to install Dr. Lisa M. Chapman as the college’s sixth president.

Gary Beasley, Lead Instructor for Laser and Photonics Technology, was named 2019 Faculty Member of the Year, and CCCC Dean of Arts, Sciences and Advising Scott Byington was selected as Staff Member of the Year.

Adjunct of the Year was Michelle Patterson, a Veterinary Medical Technology Instructor who was appointed to the full-time faculty this summer, and Advisor of the Year was Dr. Lora Witcher, who also teaches Biology.

Earlier in the program, Dr. Brian S. Merritt, Vice President for Learning and Workforce Development and the college’s Chief Academic Officer, used a slide show to highlight a broad range of accomplishments over the last year in areas including enrollment management, student access, and community service. But he began with a series of honors received by individual students and the college as a whole.

His first example was CCCC being ranked the state’s top community college this fall in the Niche 2020 Best Community Colleges in North Carolina, an annual assessment published by the education review website.

To learn more about Central Carolina Community College and its programs, visit www.cccc.edu.