Wallace State’s Chancellor’s Award recipients were recognized Tuesday at the Alabama Community College Association (ACCA) Conference luncheon in Montgomery. Pictured are, (left to right): Wallace State President Dr. Vicki Karolewics, Dr. Thea Hall, the college’s Career Faculty recipient; Christine Wiggins, the Staff member recipient; Allen Keener, the college’s Career Faculty recipient and Kelley Jones, the college’s Director/Administrative Staff recipient.
HANCEVILLE – Four Wallace State Community College employees were recognized Tuesday as Chancellor Award recipients at the 2016 Alabama Community College Association (ACCA) Conference luncheon in Montgomery.
Wallace State’s recipients were Dr. Kelley Jones, Christine Wiggins, Dr. Thea Hall and Allen Keener.
Jones is the director of the Wallace State-Oneonta campus and the Director/Administrative Staff nominee this year. Jones was named the director of the Wallace State-Oneonta campus in March, where she oversees the day-to-day operations of the site and provides coordination for student services, instructional programs and support services. Wallace State-Oneonta began offering classes during the 2016 summer semester. Prior to her appointment in Oneonta, Jones served as Wallace State’s Adult Education Director. In that position, Jones led 23 instructors, five staff members and multiple volunteers, operating 19 class sites in four counties. She also managed all grants involved with the locations. She began her post as Adult Education Director in 2006 after serving for nearly four years as a Wallace State Electronics Technology Instructor. Jones was also the Interim Director and Co-Principal Investigator for the Consortium for the Alabama Regional Center for Automotive Manufacturing and began her professional career as a teacher at Arab High School.
Wiggins is Wallace State’s Success Coaching Coordinator and the Staff Member nominee. As part of the Wallace State Success Coach Program, Wiggins and her colleagues meet regularly with students and provide them with the structure, tools and motivation they need to persist through challenges and get the most of their education. Wiggins and her staff help define academic, personal and career goals for each student and what it takes to achieve them. Wiggins has been employed at Wallace State for six years, also serving as an administrative assistant for eLearning and as the PAVES Project Coordinator prior to her appointment as the Success Coaching Coordinator. While at Wallace State, Wiggins has served on the Professional Development Committee, the Lion Central Task Force, the Achieving the Dream and Pathways Committee as well as on the Cullman County Schools Guidance Advisory Committee.
Hall is Wallace State’s Forensic Investigation Instructor and the Academic Faculty nominee this year. Hall has been a part of Wallace State dating back to her days as a student in the mid-1990s. Hall, who has earned degrees in criminal justice, criminalistics, law enforcement and science, began working as a Wallace State work study in 1998 and became a lab assistant in 2001. She transitioned into a part-time teaching role at Wallace State in 2004 and became full-time in 2005. As an instructor within Wallace State’s Criminal Justice Department, Hall’s students are qualified for a variety of law enforcement and criminalistics careers upon completion. Earlier this year, Hall mentored four Wallace State students as they earned a silver national medal at the annual SkillsUSA competition. Hall and her students competed in SkillsUSA for the first time ever in 2015 and have won two state gold medals and one silver national medal in two years.
Keener is Wallace State’s Occupational Therapy Assistant Program Director and Career Faculty nominee, which includes health and technical instructors. Keener has been employed at Wallace State since 2013 and continues to make the program one of the best in the state. Under Keener’s watch, the OTA program recently boasted 100 percent pass rates on certification exams, 100 percent retention rate for the most recent graduating class, and outstanding job placement. He is a graduate of the college’s Leadership Wallace State and Master Teacher program and a was a participant in the Alabama Master Teacher Experience. Keener is one of two Wallace State representatives currently participating in the Alabama Community College System Instructional Administrators Association and serves on committees at Wallace State, including the Pathways, Diversity and College Assessment Council. Keener, who less than a month away from earning his doctorate degree, is also in his final year as the Alabama Occupational Therapy Association president, a position he has held for two terms. He has also served as secretary, website chair and vice president for the state association. Keener practiced as an occupational therapist for six years before his employment at Wallace State.
The Chancellor’s Awards began 29 years ago as a way to reward and encourage those who have exemplified outstanding performance, creativity and dedicated service to their college.
For more information about Wallace State, visit wallacestate.edu.
