NW Kentucky News

OCTC Honors Employees with Annual Excellence Awards

Owensboro Community & Technical College's (OCTC) annual employee awards program was held on December 9, 2022. The Awards of Excellence are the pinnacle awards, chosen from nominations submitted by faculty and staff and reviewed by a panel of past recipients, with winners selected in faculty, staff, and administration categories. These awards include a $1,500 stipend to be used for professional development.

The winner of the 2022 Faculty Award of Excellence honoree was Professor Eunice Taylor. Her nomination cited that she has spent her entire career serving others. She works tirelessly to ensure that students are well-served. Dr. Taylor is committed to providing relevant, realistic learning experiences in the nursing lab while improving nursing students' lab experiences. She also has a soft heart for all nature-related things and animals, big and small.

In addition to her commitment to student learning, Taylor serves on the OCTC Diversity Committee. She serves the community as the president of the Owensboro Human Relations Commission, a member of the Equal Justice Initiative Group for Owensboro, and actively participates on the planning team of the Commonwealth West Healthcare Workforce Innovation Center and contributes her extensive knowledge and expertise to ensure that it meets the needs of students and the community.

Taylor has been at OCTC since 2004 and holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing Education from Capella University, a Master of Science degree in Nursing Education and Health Care from the University of Phoenix, a Master of Arts degree in Human Resource Development from Webster University, a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Care Management from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and a Diploma in Nursing from Freedman's Hospital School of Nursing in Washington, DC.

The 2022 Staff Award of Excellence winner was Cadie Underwood, Advancement Specialist in OCTC's Resource Development Office. Underwood has been at OCTC since 2017; she holds a Master of Arts degree in Organizational Leadership from Western Kentucky University (WKU), a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from WKU and an Associate in Arts and an Associate in Applied Science in Agriculture Technology from OCTC. Underwood has extensive experience raising livestock on her farm.

Her nomination indicated a passion for helping students and her proficiency in coordinating events from beginning to end. Underwood interviews, writes, and shares the success stories of our alumni. She has a servant's heart and is willing to go above and beyond to ensure student success.

The 2022 Administrator Award of Excellence winner was Dr. Kevin Beardmore, OCTC's vice president of student affairs. Beardmore began his career at OCTC in 1999 as the Director of Research and Planning; he advanced through the roles of Dean of Enrollment Management, Dean of Institutional Effectiveness, and Interim Vice President of Academic Affairs before moving into his current role fifteen years ago. Dr. Beardmore is retiring from OCTC and was recently named as the inaugural president of Southeast New Mexico College in Carlsbad, NM. He will begin his duties there on January 2, 2023.

Dr. Beardmore holds a Doctor of Education in Educational Policy Studies, Measurement, and Evaluation from the University of Kentucky and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Miami University. He earned a bachelor's degree in Geography from the University of Arizona. The nomination noted his more than two decades of dedicated service to the college. It also described Beardmore as an administrator available to support faculty in any way, whether for the students or the academic program. He has been called a model administrator and a strong faculty supporter. He has worked with Dr. Tim Dick's leadership class, and Phi Theta Kappa (international honor society for 2-year colleges) as a referee in First Tech Challenges (robotics competitions) and regularly served as a judge for speech and debate competitions.

Owensboro Community & Technical College is one of the sixteen community and technical colleges that make up the Kentucky Community & Technical College System. OCTC serves the KY counties of Daviess, Hancock, Ohio and McLean. OCTC has three campuses in Daviess County and a Center and Annex in Hancock County. OCTC strives to serve the communities in the service area by providing associate degree education for transfer, state of the art technical education for students focusing on entering the workforce, customized business and industry solutions through the Workforce Solutions division, and adult education and business and industry testing through the SkillTrain unit.

The Kentucky Community and Technical College System is the Commonwealth's largest postsecondary institution with 16 colleges and more than 70 campuses. We also are Kentucky's largest provider of workforce training and online education. Through partnerships with business and industry, we align our programs to meet the needs of local employers. We help students fulfill their dreams of creating a better life through programs that lead directly to jobs or help them transfer to one of our four-year partners.

Original source can be found here