Focus on Faculty

At TCC, faculty members do more than teach in the classroom. Every day, everywhere, they impact the lives of those around them. Here is a small list of faculty accomplishments as they serve the community in Tarrant County and beyond.

Top Shelf

TCC Northeast Teacher Education adjunct instructor Marie Maxwell wrote a chapter entitled “The Power of Love” for Handbook of Research on Reconceptualizing Preservice Teacher Preparation in Literacy Education.

Patricia D. Richards, associate professor of Photography at TCC Northeast, had images she captured published in four books: Let’s Play 2021, Dante MMXXI/Un Tributo, Tales of the Unwritten and Urban 2021.

TCC Northwest Instructor of English Azinah Usman had a chapter published in the book, Arthurian Legend in the Twentieth and Twenty First Centuries, entitled “A Kid Wizard in King Arthur’s Court.” The chapter addresses the connections between the legend of King Arthur and the fictional character, Harry Potter.

Brian Spence, program director and assistant professor of Radiologic Technology at TCC Trinity River East, was published in the Radiologic Technology Journal by the American Society of Radiologic Technologists. His article is entitled, “Using Modeling Compounds to Learn Anatomy.”

TCC Northwest’s chair of Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Mike Esquivel, was featured in an article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The article focused on global supply chain challenges and the effect it has had on the availability of some over-the-counter medicines.

Get on Board

TCC Northeast President Kenya Ayers-Palmore has been invited to serve on the Board of Directors for the HEB ISD Foundation. She also has been appointed to the United Way of Texas Board of Directors to serve a three-year term.

Assistant professor of Dental Hygiene at TCC Northeast, Amy Cooper, was selected to serve on the Board of Directors for Dental Health Arlington—a non-profit, community dental clinic for low-income Tarrant County families.

We Present to You

Tracy Williams, coordinator of career services at TCC Northwest, presented “Exploring Career Options” and “Building and Writing Your Résumé” at the Eagle Mountain Saginaw ISD Super Saturday College, Career & Military Planning event.

Michael Vendsel, professor of Philosophy at TCC Southeast, presented the paper “Saturated Phenomena in Anselm’s Proslogion” at the International Patristic, Medieval, and Renaissance Conference (PMR), hosted by Villanova University.

TCC Trinity River Professor of Kinesiology Jason Wooten presented the positive effects of exercise on mental health as part of the North Central Texas Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association’s fall seminar.

David Bulpitt, instructor of horticulture and program coordinator at TCC Northwest, made a presentation to the Tarrant County Food Policy Council (TCFPC) about TCC’s Horticulture program and their effort to assist urban farmers by supplying vegetable transplants grown in TCC Northwest’s greenhouses.

TCC Southeast’s dean for the Division of Mathematics & Science, Thomas Awtry, made a presentation at the Texas Distance Learning Association (TxDLA) conference in Galveston. The title of the presentation was “GET MOVING: Is Kinesiology Possible in an Online Setting?” The presentation and course development were made possible by a grant from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB). The grant was co-authored by Awtry and Christina Bigler from TCC Connect.

And the Award Goes To...

Angela Shindoll, mental health program coordinator and instructor at TCC Northeast, received the Professional and Community Outreach Award for 2021 from the State Texas Association of Addiction Professionals. She also is president of the Fort Worth Chapter of Texas Association of Addiction Professionals.

Rebecca Balcárcel, associate professor and department co-chair of English at TCC Northeast, won the silver medal from the International Latino Book Awards for “Best Debut Book” for her young adult novel, The Other Half of Happy.

TCC Northeast Dental Assisting Program Coordinator Laurie Semple was awarded the American Dental Assistants (ADAA) 2021 Pride Award for Educators. This national recognition through ADAA is presented to a member who believes in loyalty to self as well as the profession of dental assisting.

TCC Southeast President Bill Coppola was awarded a Certificate of Excellence from The University of Texas at Arlington for his outstanding dedication and partnership with the university in leading and developing students for the future.

Karl (Des) Robinson, chair of the Behavioral and Social Science Department and associate professor of psychology at TCC Southeast, received the Frank Costin Memorial Award for Excellence at the National Institute for the Teaching of Psychology (NITOP) conference. During the conference, Robinson and Colin Jenney, TCC Southeast associate professor of psychology also presented the talk “Learning to Learn in Online Learning.”

TCC Southeast was announced as a recipient of the Eduardo J. Padrón Award for Institutional Transformation from the Campus Compact Impact Awards. It recognizes the outstanding work of individuals and institutions in pursuit of the public purposes of higher education.