2021 Special Award Recipients

Virginia Western proudly announces the recipients of the 2021 special awards!

J. Andrew Archer Teaching Award

By word and deed, your presence has enriched the lives of students and served as an example for all.”

Master Advisor Award

Lynette Upshaw, School of STEM

“Her counsel and encouragement provided to the many students over the years has resulted in their academic and personal achievements, as well as increased our population of scientists and doctors.”

Teaching Excellence Award

Annemarie Carroll, School of LASS

“AnneMarie demonstrated her dedication to teaching and scholarly engagement by restructuring not only her own courses but her entire human services program so that the students would have an effective academic experience in the remote learning environment necessitated by the college’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Sarah Chitwood, School of LASS

“Throughout her career, Sarah has been the embodiment of what true teaching excellence is all about both inside and outside the classroom.”

Classified Employee of the Year Award

Jason Garnett, Media Services & eLit

“Jason has truly shown what a VWCC Employee of the Year should encompass in terms of resilience, a bar of excellence, and the drive to constantly improve not only himself, but the environment and others around him.”

Classified Outstanding Achievement Award

Wendy Holmes, Financial Aid and Records

“Wendy’s performance at Western has always been record breaking in terms of the volume of positive interactions she has had with current and prospective students, parents, faculty, staff, and the general public.”

Stephanie Seagle, Grants Development & Special Project

“Stephanie exemplifies the College’s core values, as evidenced by feedback from the internal and external community, which include the following comments ‘Stephanie is an excellent listener; she is very collaborative/team oriented and thinks outside the box, she follows through, she is great to work with.’

STAR Award

Wendy Holmes, Financial Aid and Records

“She goes beyond the call of duty in ensuring that whether it is an individual’s first or last encounter with Virginia Western when they come to Chapman Hall or utilize the 24/7 Student Support Center that the support services provided will be of the highest quality. Their response will be accurate, equitably, timely and conveyed in a way that is easily understood.”

J. Andrew Archer Administrative/Professional Leadership Excellence Award

 “Demonstrating excellent leadership through vision and goal setting, motivation, integrity, team building, and excellent communication.”