CSM Service Awards Recognize Faculty
College of Southern Maryland recognized 83 employees who have reached significant milestones in their years of service during the annual CSM Service Awards on March 16, 2018. Two of the employees reached 30 years and five marked 25; altogether, the ceremony awarded 1,035 years of service.
“We celebrate these employees who have demonstrated an unusual level of loyalty to the college and to its mission,” said CSM President Dr. Maureen Murphy. “The success of the college can be attributed to these professionals and their efforts.”
Lead Desktop Publisher/Production Specialist Brenda Jones and Assistant Director of Information Technology Services Perry Taylor both were honored for 30 years of service at the college.
Ms. Jones began working at CSM as a part-time typesetter, a position she enjoyed because it allowed her to be home with her twin daughters when they got home from school. However, Ms. Jones soon learned to value the “sense of family throughout the college,” she said, as well as her co-workers, Jean Jones and Carol Wade, both of whom are now retired from the college.
“I loved my job from Day One,” Ms. Jones said, calling CSM her “home away from home.”
Ms. Jones said she faced a steep learning curve as a typesetter. “I had no clue what a typesetter was, but ‘the beast,’ as I called it, and I soon became good friends,” she said, describing how the technology she uses has changed over the past three decades up to her current position. “My, how technology has changed from those early years to now.”
During the ceremony, Vice President of Advancement Michelle Goodwin also talked about how Ms. Jones, along with all the staffers at CSM, grew with each new iteration of technology. “We both remember being on the very first website committee, when there was no website,” Ms. Goodwin said.
Ms. Goodwin noted that Ms. Jones’ position evolved to include production of The Friday Report, CSM’s employee newsletter, as well as providing design and production assistance with many college products.
Mr. Taylor has deep roots at CSM, even beyond his 30 years working for the college. He started at CSM as a student and said, “The faculty and staff were very helpful and engaging with everyone. It was like an extension of the community I was from.”
His began working for the college as a student assistant in the audio-visual department, where he worked with Jean Fuller, Al Schorsch, and John Kopp. “My task included creating poster signs using block type setting, audio recordings/duplications, film repair, lamp replacements, and assisting wherever needed,” Mr. Taylor said. “From the very first day, I enjoyed working with the team as they gave direction, shared their knowledge, and embraced me as a student and friend.”
The experience was pivotal for Mr. Taylor, who went on to work at Gallaudet University. Then, in 1990, he was interviewed by former college co-workers, Fuller and [Tom] Repenning, to replace his mentor, Schorsch, who had retired from being the college’s audio visual technician. “This opportunity couldn’t have come at a better time in my life,” Taylor said, saying he was happy to give up his two-hour commute to Gallaudet and come back home to CSM.
“Fortunately for all of us, he returned to the college and has done nothing less than exceptional work supporting everything from our computer labs, to our television broadcast facility, to distance learning and video conference rooms,” said Vice President of Student and Instructional Support Dr. Bill Comey. “To this day, Perry is customer focused and is always one to be counted on to get the job done and inspire others … Perry is a glass-half-full kind of guy. He is highly respected at the college and has a huge heart.”
Mr. Taylor said he truly enjoyed working at CSM for 30 years. “Being a part of the CSM family has been extremely important to my journey and has allowed me to be active in service to others,” he said. “As John Wesley said, ‘Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.’”
In addition, five employees were honored for 25 years at the college, including Professor Neal Dwyer, Lead Business Office Manager Tina Edmondson-Berry, Career and Academic Advisor Gladys Jones, Professor Carolin McManus and Lead General Ledger Fiscal Coordinator Lori Shupe.
In addition to Brenda Jones and Taylor with their 30 years and the five employees noted for 25 years of service, other CSM employees marking increments of five years of services were honored at the reception, including:
20 years
Turner Coggins, Pamela Coppins, Jacqueline Dyson, Dr. Eleazer Ekwue, Henry Geer, Kenneth Glassman, Michelle Goodwin, Larry Johnson, Kathleen Lauber, Valerie Nyce, Beverly Russell, Howard Walker;
15 years
Michelle Christian, Cami Cooley, Kimberley Donnelly, Gobi Gopinath, Stephen Hawks, Wendy Hayes, Renee Jenkins, Ruena Long, Dr. Sarah Merranko, Daphne Morris, Sandra Poinsett, Dr. Laura Polk, Don Posey, Daphne Powell, Eileen Richards, Julie Sackfield, Donna Sperry, Jennifer Van Cory, Lisa Warren;
10 years
Joseph Adams, Mike Blakeley, Steven Chapman, Melba Fetty, Melvina Frazier, Laura Jackson, Terry Jordan, Lynn Kennedy, Marcia Kent, Lisa Kreiser, Martha Maratta, Kathleen McClure, Ricardo Perez, Dr. Karen Russell, Elizabeth Settle, Andrew Smith, Dr. George Spiegel, Albert Swann, Richard Taylor, Nathan Welch;
Five years
Shirley Allen, Latasha Baker, Abraham Bejarano, William Brown, Stephen Campbell, James Cleary, Joshua Cockerham, Matthew Cox, Tyneka Cutchember, Timothy Fenner, Lisa Gonzalez, Dr. Tracy Harris, Lisa Jones, Shaneeza Kazim, Beverley Lahman, Barbara Link, Valerie Mason, Dr. Kelly McMurray, Ed Moroney, Bruce Posey, JoAnne Ray, William Russell, Quonte Stewart, Kristen Titsworth and Salman Zafarullah.
To view photos from CSM’s Service Awards Recognition Reception, visit CSM’s photo sharing site. For information on employment opportunities at CSM, visit the college’s employment site.
For more about the College of Southern Maryland, visit its Leader member page.
