CSM Highlights Years of Service
CSM professor of sociology Dr. Maria Bryant, left, is congratulated and thanked by CSM Board Chairwoman Dorothea Smith at the college’s service recognition ceremony Feb. 26. Dr. Bryant has been with the college for 25 years.
In February, College of Southern Maryland recognized 77 of its employees who represent more than 1,055 years of service to the college.
“When I look back on my days as the president of this college, the thing that I want to focus on is that we really are a caring institution,” CSM President Dr. Brad Gottfried said at the ceremony. “We are an institution that cares about our students, that cares about our community, and that cares about each other. That’s what we are really striving for and I see that today.”
Paul Toscano was among those recognized, with 35 years of service, and Dr. William Comey, Steven Hundert, and Thomas Repenning, each boasted 30 years of service.
In his first job at CSM as a counselor, Mr. Toscano advised students on academics, taught courses on personal development, coordinated student transfers and placement testing, and helped students register for classes. “The whole registration process was just a few weeks long and students had to come to the campus to sign up for classes,” Mr. Toscano said. “The line would be long and take hours to get through.” Now, with more than 11,000 students in degree programs on three campuses, the advisement department responsibilities have grown exponentially, and students can register online, months ahead of their start date.
After 16 years as counselor, Mr. Toscano shifted to distance learning as coordinator of the telecourse program. He later managed CSM’s entry into online education, which was two classes in the summer of 1999.
Mr. Toscano has watched the emergence of the digital age and its effect on student life. In 2015, CSM offered 24 online programs and certificates and more than 20,000 students enrolled in online courses. This spring the college offered more than 300 online credit sections.
Mr. Repenning is the library director. He moved to St. Mary’s County to work at the Great Mills High School facility before the college moved to the Leonardtown campus. In those early years, Mr. Repenning’s job included duties as librarian, audio-visual technician, and testing center manager.
“Seeing the library evolve from an all-print library to electronic resources has been exciting,” said Mr. Repenning, who is the third-longest serving library director among Maryland community college directors.
CSM also recognized the following for their years of service:
25 years: Bernice Brezina, Dr. Maria Bryant, Andrea Chisley, Michael Maloney, Linda Schleip, Michelle Simpson, Pamela Starkey, and Janet Thompson;
20 years: Dr. Richard Bilsker, Karen Brandt, Paula Coluzzi, Michael Green, Bonnie Harrison, Michele Lacroix, and Debra Proctor;
15 years: Katherine Alden, Stacie Aubel, Janice Bonham, Phyllis Coombs, Sherrise De Baugh, Rachel Drake, Joseph Hagens, William Hitte, Carol Kachauskas, Janice Love, Rose Miller, Thomas Russ, Lee Vines, David Ware, Anita Warnes, Sharon Wilding, and John Wilson;
10 years: Charles Baker, Kenneth Bays, Margaret Bolton, Anthony Borland, Amy Carney, Kevin Cumberland, Patricia DeCarlo, Keri Field, Linda Goodman, Dr. Chretien Guidry, Michele Hawkins, Ronda Jacobs, Dr. Stephen Johnson, Teresa Jones, Stephen Kegley, Douglas Kuykendall, Tracy Mason, Tuesday Miles, Steven Moomey, Dr. Melanie Osterhouse, Annette Ragland, Maureen Rotto Coar, Tracy Sewell, Annie Sutten, Lynn Williams, and Andrew Wodzianski; and
Five years: Dr. Barbara Abdul-Karim, Darrel Bob, Sharon Buckler, Lynn Kennedy, Francisco Legaspi, Ashleigh Maloney, Robert Moon, Dr. Daniel Mosser, Lori Reim, Shanda Sampson, Joy Syring, Elizabeth Wallman, Dorothy Whitt, Sarah Williams, and Christian Zimmermann.
Click here to view a gallery of photos from the recognition ceremony. Click here for information on employment at CSM.
For more about the College of Southern Maryland, visit their Leader member page.
