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The Distinguished Service Awards Program

The Distinguished Service Awards Program, which includes the Distinguished Teaching Award and the Distinguished Service Award, was established by Nathaniel W. Pendleton, Jr. in memory of his father, Nathaniel Willis Pendleton, Sr., to recognize and encourage excellence in teaching and service at Wytheville Community College. Nathaniel Willis Pendleton was Wythe County’s representative in the Virginia House of Delegates, who, together with State Senator D. Woodrow Bird, introduced the necessary enabling bills in the 1962 General Assembly to establish WCC and appropriate its operating funds.

The initial endowment came from the Pendleton Construction Corporation Foundation with subsequent additions being made by members of Delegate Pendleton’s family.

More detailed information about the Distinguished Service Awards Program is available from the WCC Educational Foundation Office.

Distinguished Teaching Award

Any WCC full-time or part-time teaching faculty member is eligible for the Distinguished Teaching Award. The award recognizes excellence in teaching. Recipients are selected based on criteria such as the person’s ability to inspire students to perform beyond normal expectations; responsiveness to needs within and outside the class; contributions to improve the intellectual climate of WCC; and the individual’s depth and breadth of expertise, sensitivity, enthusiasm, and dedication.

Distinguished Service Award

Any current or past employee of WCC, Local Board member, Foundation Board member, alumnus, advisory committee members, or otherwise friend of Wytheville Community College, except if employed by the WCC Educational Foundation or the alumni agencies, is eligible for the Distinguished Service Award. This award recognizes members of the WCC community who have given the College exceptional service, other than teaching, in a manner that is beyond the normal expectations and above specific monetary compensation. This award is intended to recognize outstanding individuals who have given to the enduring life of the College in unique and exemplary ways. Recipients are selected based on criteria such as the success of the individual’s service and that of any activity, organization, or committee guided by the nominee; extraordinary effort and time on the part of the nominee; or success in originating and developing an activity or facility which has been of benefit to the College community.

Improvement of Instruction Award Endowment

This endowment was established on October 20, 1982, through a gift of $1,000 from Dr. and Mrs. Leonard F. O’Hara to recognize notable contributions to the improvement of instruction at Wytheville Community College. Its intent is to honor a full-time employee of Wytheville Community College who holds faculty rank or is a community college instructional assistant. The annual award will be in the form of a cash gift and a certificate suitable for framing.

More detailed information about the Improvement of Instruction Award is available from the WCC Educational Foundation Office.

Outstanding Adjunct Faculty of the Year Award

This award honors individuals who have made “notable contributions to the improvement of instruction” while working as an adjunct faculty member for WCC. The intent of the award, when given, is to recognize efforts to improve the quality of instruction and is not directed toward naming an “outstanding teacher.” Only those activities directly related to improving instruction should be considered when making nominations. Contributions to other measures of academic excellence should not be considered in the nomination process for this award.

More detailed information about the Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Member of the Year Award is available from the WCC Educational Foundation Office.

VCCA Faculty Showcase

The VCCA Executive Committee has adopted a procedure to be followed in the selection of the outstanding faculty recipient. This award is given to recognize faculty who are deemed outstanding at Wytheville Community College. Criteria for selection include:

  • Active member of the VCCA for the past two (2) years
  • Full-time, part-time, professional teaching faculty status
  • Excellence in teaching
  • Significant contributions to education in general
  • Significant contributions to the community college
  • Professional/personal development involvement
  • Not a showcase recipient in the last five (5) years
  • Length of time at the college/campus (to be used as a tiebreaker only)

The recipient of the award is chosen via nominations from the VCCA members located at Wytheville Community College. The recipient of the award is honored at the VCCA convention and a certificate is awarded to the recipient. An article will be written about the recipient’s accomplishments and placed in the appropriate local newspaper(s) and college newspaper.

Professor Emeritus

The establishment of the status of Professor Emeritus is recommended as a method of honoring persons for meritorious service.

Eligibility

  • Retired employees of the Virginia Community College System who held faculty rank (usually that of Associate Professor or Professor).
  • Persons with a minimum of ten years of service in the Virginia Community College System.
  • Persons who made meritorious and significant contributions to the college.

Selection

  • The President of the college shall appoint an ad hoc committee of five to seven persons (representing the respective academic segments including counselor/librarian and administration) no later than December 15 of each academic year to review nominations for Professor Emeritus. The committee shall elect from its members a chair who will submit the report to the President.
  • The retired faculty member eligible for Professor Emeritus shall be nominated to the President through normal administrative channels no later than December 15 of each academic year. The President shall submit the nominations to the chair of the ad hoc committee.
  • The Professor Emeritus Ad Hoc Committee shall submit its recommendations on nominations to the President no later than February 15 of each academic year.
  • The President, after reviewing the report submitted by the ad hoc committee chair, shall recommend nominations for approval to the Local College Board no later than March 1 of each academic year. The number of nominations to be recommended during any given year shall not exceed 2 percent of the full-time employees holding faculty rank as of October 31 or one person per college whichever is larger.

Benefits

All persons granted the status of Professor Emeritus will be accorded the following considerations (to honor and utilize the expertise of the emeriti professors):

  • Emeriti professors will continue to be listed in the faculty section of the college catalog and identified as professors emeriti.
  • Professors emeriti may appear in the academic procession at commencement and will march at the head of the faculty.
  • Emeriti professors may be issued parking permits and receive appropriate communications, and such other courtesies as deemed appropriate by the college.

Support Staff Employee of the Year

As a part of the Support Staff Employee Recognition Program Wytheville Community College recognizes a Support Staff Employee Of The Year whose work and contributions to WCC are exemplary, based on, but not limited to the following criteria: job performance, job knowledge and skills, cooperation, dependability, loyalty, attitude, integrity, personality, relations with fellow employees, students and/or the public.

Full- or part-time classified employees who have completed at least six months of employment at WCC are eligible.

Any current WCC employee or student is encouraged to submit nominations for the Support Staff Employee of the Year. Nomination forms and a list of eligible employees will be distributed to all employees by February 1. Eligible employees will also be listed in the daily bulletin. Nomination forms should be completed and returned to the President's Office within three (3) weeks.

A five-member ad hoc committee appointed by the President will screen nominees. The committee will be appointed after the nominations are received to ensure none of the nominees are involved in the final selection process. One member will be selected from each of the following groups of classified employees:

  • Group #1 -- Instruction/Student Services
  • Group #2 -- Financial and Administrative Services
  • Group #3 -- General college (staffs reporting to the President – Vice President of Institutional Advancement and Effectiveness, Director of College Development)
  • Group #4 -- Restricted positions (non state-funded)

The fifth member of the committee will be selected from any of the four groups.

The committee will select a recipient of the award and submit the name to the President.

The employee receiving the award will be recognized at the End-of-Year Faculty/Staff meeting. A plaque will be presented to the recipient and news releases will be sent to the local newspaper and college newspaper detailing the accomplishments of the recipient.

VCCA Support Staff Showcase

The VCCA Executive Committee has adopted a procedure to be followed in the selection of the outstanding support staff award recipients. This award is given to recognize support staff employees deemed outstanding at Wytheville Community College. Criteria for selection include:

  • Active member of the VCCA for the past two (2) years
  • Significant contributions to education in general
  • Significant contributions to the community college
  • Professional/personal development involvement
  • Not a showcase recipient in the last five (5) years
  • Length of time at the college/campus (to be used as a tiebreaker only)

The recipient of the award is chosen via nominations from the VCCA members located at Wytheville Community College. The recipient of the award is honored at the VCCA convention and a certificate is awarded to the recipient. An article will be written about the recipient’s accomplishments and placed in the appropriate local newspaper(s) and college newspaper.

Support Staff Emeritus

The status of Support Staff Emeritus is established to honor retired classified staff for meritorious service.

Eligibility

  • Retired employees of Wytheville Community College who held classified staff positions.
  • Persons with a minimum of ten years of service at Wytheville Community College.
  • Persons who received an evaluation rating of "Extraordinary Contributor" or "Contributor" for at least three of the last five years of service.

Criteria

  • Persons who meet the eligibility requirements.
  • Persons who made meritorious and significant contributions to the College, the community and/or the Virginia Community College System.
  • Persons who maintained currency in their areas of responsibility through significant participation in professional development or other activities while employed at Wytheville Community College.

Selection

  • The President shall receive a listing of retired classified staff eligible for consideration of Support Staff Emeritus.
  • The President of the college shall appoint an ad hoc committee of five classified representatives with at least one representative from the following segments of the college: Instruction/Student Services, Financial and Administrative Services, Restricted Positions (not state-funded) and General College (staffs reporting to the President, Vice President Institutional Advancement and Effectiveness, and Director of College Development). The fifth member of the committee will be selected from any of the four groups. The committee shall be appointed no later than December 15 of each academic year to review the eligible candidates and recommend no more than one person each year for the honor. The committee shall elect from its members a chair who will submit the report of the committee to the President.
  • The Support Staff Emeritus Ad Hoc Committee shall submit its report on nominations to the President no later than February 1 of each academic year.
  • The President, after reviewing the report submitted by the ad hoc committee chair, may recommend a nomination for approval to the Local College Board no later than March 1 of each academic year. No more than one person shall be recommended in any given year.

Benefits

All persons granted the status of Support Staff Emeritus will be accorded the following considerations (to honor and utilize the expertise of the emeriti classified staff):

  • Emeriti support staff will be listed in the classified staff section of the college catalog and identified as support staff emeriti.
  • Emeriti support staff may be issued parking permits and receive appropriate communications, and such other courtesies as deemed appropriate by the college.