VGCC presents Glen Raven Excellence in Teaching and Leadership Awards
At Vance-Granville Community College’s convocation in August, President Randy Parker presented the college’s annual awards to several 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, as well as endowing many college scholarships.
VGCC Coordinator of Prison Programs Jean Blaine of Durham was named Staff Member of the Year for 2010, while Developmental English and Reading instructor Marian Dillahunt of Durham was chosen as the Faculty Member of the Year. Parker also presented President’s Leadership Awards to VGCC Vice President of Instruction Dr. Angela Ballentine of Raleigh and Business Administration instructor LaTonya Steele of Durham. Dillahunt and Blaine are now eligible to be considered for the N.C. Community College System’s statewide RJ Reynolds Excellence in Teaching and BB&T Staff Person of the Year awards, respectively.
Jean Blaine
Jean A. Blaine joined VGCC’s prison education department in 2007, bringing experience from 27 years working in the Pennsylvania state corrections system. She retired in 2003 as a program manager supervising various treatment-based departments for a maximum security prison. She assumed the leadership of VGCC’s prison programs in 2008. The college currently serves three state prison facilities and C. A. Dillon Youth Development Center. Blaine has worked to improve the programs for inmates, and has developed new programs of study to enhance the employability of inmates once they leave prison. She has served on several committees at VGCC and has volunteered to help with various college activities outside of the prison education department. In addition, she developed the first Advisory Committee for the prison education department. Blaine earned associate and bachelor’s degrees in business administration from Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. She also earned the Certified Program Planner designation through the Learning Resources Network.
Marian Dillahunt
Marian C. Dillahunt has taught English and Reading at VGCC since 2004, having previously taught at two other community colleges and in several public schools. “Marian motivates her students to truly write and to think of themselves as writers,” according to a colleague. Dillahunt founded and has served as an advisor for the VGCC Literary Arts Club. She and club members organized the first “Writers’ Conference” on campus in 2007. She is a contributor to the forthcoming book, Icons of African American Literature: The Black Literary World. Dillahunt also is known for using innovative teaching strategies and technology. She regularly speaks to fellow instructors at conferences, on topics including the use of technology and social media. In 2007, Dillahunt represented VGCC on a trip to India sponsored by World View, an international program for educators based at UNC-Chapel Hill. Dillahunt is a former member of the Durham County Library Board of Trustees and is a commissioner of the Durham County Women’s Commission. Dillahunt earned her bachelor’s degree at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (1992), a master’s degree in English literature at North Carolina Central University (2004) and a master of library science degree at East Carolina University (2009). She is currently working toward a Ph.D. through Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Angela Ballentine
Dr. Angela R. Ballentine has worked at VGCC since 1991, first as an instructor and then as program head for Radiography . In that capacity, she was named VGCC Faculty Member of the Year in 1996. Ballentine became Dean of Health Sciences in 1998 and was promoted to Vice President of Instruction in 2007. In her current position, Ballentine is responsible for the staffing, program planning, oversight, budgeting, quality, integrity, research, implementation, and development of all VGCC curriculum programs and satellite campuses. In 1987, Ballentine earned both a bachelor’s degree in biology at Greensboro College and a certification from the Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital School of Radiologic Technology. She worked as a radiologic technologist and mammography specialist for several years before joining VGCC. She later earned both a master’s degree in adult and community college education and a doctorate in higher education administration at North Carolina State University. Ballentine is a graduate of the North Carolina Community College Leadership Program and has attended the Thomas Lakin Institute for Mentored Leadership and the Academy for Community College Leadership, Innovation, and Modeling at N.C. State.
LaTonya Steele
LaTonya Steele has taught at VGCC since 2004, first in the Office Systems Technology program and then in the Business Administration program since 2006. At VGCC, Steele helped reactivate the college’s Phi Beta Lambda chapter in 2008 and has served as chapter advisor for the business student organization ever since. The chapter has grown quickly and won numerous awards at state and national conferences. Steele was a member of PBL herself when she was a student at Durham Technical Community College, where she won several awards and earned an associate degree in business administration/operations management. Steele then graduated magna cum laude from North Carolina Wesleyan College with a bachelor’s in business administration in 2001, and from North Carolina Central University with an M.B.A. in 2004. Before joining VGCC, she worked in the business world, served as alumni volunteer coordinator for Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and taught part-time at Durham Tech.
Above: VGCC’s 2010 award winners included, from left, President’s Leadership Award winner LaTonya Steele, Staff Member of the Year Jean Blaine, President’s Leadership Award winner Angela Ballentine and Faculty Member of the Year Marian Dillahunt. (VGCC photo)
