Chattanooga State acknowledges Excellence

Seated left to right: Dr. Andrea Sanders and Connie Hitchcock Standing left to right: Richard Claburn, Dr. Scott Douglass and Tim Dills. Chattanooga State Technical Community College recently announced the winners of the annual Excellence Awards for faculty and staff members. The Excellence Award is the highest honor a Chattanooga State employee can receive. Award winners are nominated and voted for by their peers in one of three campus organizations, the support staff association, the professional staff association or the faculty senate. Associate professor of English, Dr. Andrea Sanders, received the Arts & Science Faculty Excellence Award. Dr. Sanders joined the Chattanooga State faculty in 2003. Before coming to Chattanooga State, she worked at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville for one year. Prior to that, she taught at Walters State Community College in Morristown, Tennessee for 10 years. Dr. Sanders earned both a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of Arts in English from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She earned a Ph.D. in English Language and Literature from the University of Chicago. When away from the classroom, Dr. Sanders is an amateur musician and singer, who plays guitar and bass guitar. “I mess around with mandolin and fiddle, but I wouldn't call that playing,” she says. Her other hobbies include gardening and hiking. She is married to Tom Sanders and they have four children, Rhianna, 28, Ian, 24, DV, 18 and Marianne, 16.

Connie Hitchcock, an associate professor of management who’s been with Chattanooga State since 1999, received the Technologies Faculty Excellence Award.

Prior to joining the Chattanooga State faculty she worked in industry in the areas of human resources and operations with companies such as Oscar Mayer, Bridgestone/Firestone, and Jack Daniel's Distillery (Brown-Forman Corporation). Mrs. Hitchcock attended the University of Southern California where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Affairs, with an emphasis in Public Administration. She also earned a Master of Business Administration with concentrations in human resources and operations management from Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management.

She is married to Ed Hitchcock and their “children” are Frank, an 11-year-old golden retriever/Lab mix and Pepper, a 12-year-old Dalmatian. Richard Claburn won the Tennessee Technology Center Faculty Excellence Award. Mr. Claburn is a vocational associate instructor in the industrial electricity program. He served in the United States Army as a Pershing Missile electrical- mechanical repairman, 1973-1975. After returning to civilian life, Mr. Claburn completed an apprenticeship program with Local 175 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Chattanooga, in 1981. He worked for several different contractors, affiliated with IBEW Local 175 until he joined the faculty at Chattanooga State in 2004. In his spare time, Mr. Claburn enjoys hunting and traveling with his wife, Becky. They have two grown children; Joshua Claburn, 32 and Rachel Claburn Coleman, 29. Mrs. Coleman and her husband, Johnny, are the proud parents of a daughter, Audrey Joe, age 3 and son, Wyatt, five months. The Claburns attend Greenwood Baptist Church in Ooltewah.

Dr. T. Scott Douglass, professor of English in the Humanities and Fine Arts Department, received the Faculty Advising Excellence Award. Dr. Douglass has been a member of Chattanooga State’s faculty since fall semester 1991. He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. He also attended Florida State University where he earned both a Master of Arts and a PhD. In his spare time, Dr. Douglass scuba dives, hikes and plays the bagpipes. He is married to Meg Douglass and they have two children who attend Tennessee Technological University. His son, Brian is a senior and his daughter, Beth is a freshman. The Professional Staff Excellence Award was presented to assistant director of educational TV, Tim Dills, who works in the Center for Distributed Education. Mr. Dills joined Chattanooga State in the spring of 1999 after working at local station WDSI-TV (Fox 61). He is a graduate of Freed-Hardeman University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Tim is married to the former Jennifer Pendergrass. They attend the Red Bank Church of Christ.

Frankie Nicholson, a computer laboratory technician in PC Services, received the Support Staff Excellence Award. Ms. Nicholson is a Chattanooga State graduate with an associate of applied science degree in Information Systems Technology. She will graduate in May of this year with a Bachelor of Science degree from Bryan College in Organizational Management. She began her career at Chattanooga State as a student worker while taking classes. She became a full-time employee on April 1, 1999. Prior to attending Chattanooga State, Ms. Nicholson worked at Willwear Hosiery Mill for eight years as Quality Control Manager.