Three VGCC Employees receive Glen Raven Excellence in Teaching and Leadership Awards
At Vance-Granville Community College’s annual convocation in August, President Randy Parker presented several awards to outstanding VGCC employees. Collectively, the honors are known as the Glen Raven Excellence in Teaching and Leadership Awards. Glen Raven, Inc., the manufacturer with a site in Norlina, is a longtime VGCC partner and the largest corporate donor in the history of the college’s Endowment Fund. The company’s support includes sponsoring the annual stipends to recognize excellence among VGCC instructors and staff members, and endowing many college scholarships.
Mary H. McMannen of Oxford, an Accounting Technician in the VGCC Business Office, was named Staff Member of the Year for 2009, while music instructor Michael Stephenson of Henderson was chosen as the Faculty Member of the Year. Parker also presented the President’s Leadership Award to VGCC Director of Admissions and Records/Registrar Kathy Ktul of Louisburg. Stephenson and McMannen are now eligible to be considered for the N.C. Community College System’s statewide Excellence in Teaching award and Staff award, respectively.
Mary McMannen
Mary McMannen is not only a dedicated veteran employee of VGCC but also a graduate of three different programs at the college. After earning a GED at VGCC, McMannen enrolled in the college’s Executive Secretarial Science program in the fall of 1978. While pursuing her degree, she worked as a work-study student in the VGCC Financial Aid office. That was the beginning of a career for her, as she was hired to work in the Financial Aid office immediately after her graduation in 1980. Since then, McMannen has worked in various departments related to student affairs, including Admissions and Records. Committed to “lifelong learning,” she has taken VGCC classes on taxes and accounting, and graduated with an Associate in Arts degree in 2001. Subsequently, she became an Accounting Technician in the VGCC Business Office. McMannen has served on numerous college committees, including serving as co-chairperson of the VGCC Professional Advisory Committee and as a member of the alumni sub-committee formed in conjunction with the college’s 40th anniversary in 2009. She graduated both from the VGCC Leadership Institute and from Leadership Granville in 2006.
Michael Stephenson
Michael Stephenson has been an instructor of music at VGCC since 2008 but has been a music educator for 20 years. Stephenson grew up in Henderson and today splits his time between Henderson and Greenville. He earned a bachelor’s degree at the North Carolina School of the Arts and his master’s in music at Ithaca College in New York. As a Visiting Artist, Stephenson performed over 400 concerts across North Carolina, as well as at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. As an orchestral saxophonist, he has appeared with the North Carolina, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and Western Piedmont Symphonies as well as the U.S. Navy Band. At VGCC, Stephenson created and directs the Vance-Granville Community Band, which combines community college students and interested musicians from throughout the area. He teaches a variety of music courses at VGCC, including Music Appreciation, American Music, Pep Band, Music Fundamentals and Music Theory. In addition to his duties at VGCC, Stephenson is the soprano saxophonist for the New Century Saxophone Quartet. NCSQ has recorded seven CD’s, and has performed in some of the most prestigious venues all over the world. Stephenson and his wife, Cheryl, founded the Music Academy of Eastern Carolina (MAEC), a non-profit community music school, in 1997 in Greenville.
Kathy Ktul
Kathy Ktul has worked in community colleges for the past 24 years and also started her education as a community college student. She earned an Associate in Applied Science degree at Alfred State College, a State University of New York College of Technology. Ktul went on to earn a bachelor’s degree at Cornell University and later a master’s degree at North Carolina State University. After serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Sierra Leone in West Africa for two years, Ktul joined the staff of Wake Technical Community College in 1985. She became Registrar at VGCC in 2001 and later additionally became Director of Admissions and Records. Ktul was recognized this year for the leadership and direction she has provided during the college’s conversion to the Datatel computer system, and the WebAdvisor and Campus Cruiser services. Her efforts have been appreciated both by students and by full-time and part-time faculty members.
Above:
VGCC’s 2009 award winners included, from left, President’s Leadership Award winner Kathy Ktul, Faculty Member of the Year Michael Stephenson and Staff Member of the Year Mary McMannen. (VGCC photo)
