Chattanooga State Community College is proud of its commitment to student success and the invaluable support that faculty and staff members provide to students. The Employee Excellence Awards Committee had the daunting task of selecting a winner in each of four categories: Teaching Excellence Community College Award, Teaching Excellence Technology College Award (TCAT), Professional Staff Excellence Award, and Support Staff Excellence Award.

Excellence Award winners all embrace the characteristics of teamwork, integrity, productivity, and professionalism to ensure student success. Winners are gifted with a $750 award funded by the Chattanooga State Foundation.

Teaching Excellence Community College Award: Marie Loisy, Associate Professor of Nursing. Marie has had a long and enduring relationship with Chattanooga State for more than 20 years. She is a course coordinator who is heavily involved in mentoring both faculty and students, while also teaching new strategies to ensure students get the most from their nursing lessons. She also has been instrumental in interprofessional collaboration within the allied Health area.

Teaching Excellence Technology College Award (TCAT): Scott Holland, Associate Instructor of Industrial Maintenance. Scott uses his 25 years in the field to cultivate the learning process in his students. Additionally, by obtaining FANUC Robotics Corporation certifications, he provides a path for his students to help meet regional manufacturers needs. Scott’s SkillsUSA Robotic Automation Technology teams have won top awards in state and regional competitions. As an ATEA finalist for National Instructor of the Year and avid community volunteer, Scott builds volunteering opportunities into his award-winning program.

Professional Staff Excellence Award: Andy Cross, Financial Aid Scholarship Coordinator. Described as a “quiet force” and a “champion for change,” Andy led the redesign of the scholarship program with a focus on making it more equitable to help as many students as possible. His ability to think outside the box helped facilitate the reallocation of scholarship funds into new scholarships to increase the number of recipients, resulting in the creation of TN Promise PLUS and TN Reconnect PLUS.

Support Staff Excellence Award: Samantha Smith, Food Services Cook. Samantha, a 15-plus year employee, is affectionately known as “Sam” among students, faculty and staff. She provides a warm and caring presence while consistently providing outstanding service to each person entering the cafeteria. In fact, Sam knows many of her customers by name—students and employees—and what they like to order and how they like it prepared.

The 2019-2020 Excellence Award winners will be recognized during a celebration rescheduled for a date in August due to social distancing guidelines mandated by COVID-19 this spring.