College and Career Success Consortium announces awards
The DuPage Area Partnership for College and Career Success Consortium has presented its annual awards of excellence to four College of DuPage employees.
The recipients are Cynthia Johnson (Lisle), Community Development specialist, Nontraditional Career Advocate of the Year; Karen Randall (Naperville), dean of Business and Technology, Career Education Lifetime Achievement Award; Alison Greene (Wheaton), Business and Technology adviser, Career and Technical Education Marketing Tool of the Year Award; and Mike Foss (Countryside), coordinator, Automotive Service Technology program, CTE Spirit Award.
The Consortium consists of business, industry and education partners. Awards are based on contributions that further the goals and mission of CTE programs and initiatives.
“We are so lucky to have people who support our mission with dedication and enthusiasm,” said Anna Gay, coordinator of Nontraditional Careers and Technical Education through the Office of Academic Partnerships at College of DuPage. “The beneficiaries are the high school students, who now have multiple career options that they can pursue.”
Johnson works with the Pathfinder program, which focuses on high-wage, high-tech career exploration and leadership skills for African-American and Latino high school juniors. She also has collaborated with the American Association of University Women.
“Most of the programs I coordinate provide opportunities for youth or underrepresented populations to explore academic subjects that can lead to fulfilling careers,” she said. “It is exciting to witness the spark that's ignited when subject matter catches and sustains a person's interest. I truly appreciate that my efforts in facilitating this spark were recognized.”
Randall has been teaching or administering business and technical courses for 30 years. Since coming to College of DuPage in 2001, first as associate dean and then as dean for the Business and Technology Division, Randall has championed career education.
“I am deeply honored for being recognized for my work,” she said. “I have been either teaching, researching new programs or administering career education programs and degrees in higher education since 1982. I have been fortunate to work in this exciting and dynamic area of education. Since this is a lifelong interest, I hope to continue participating in career education even after my retirement next year.”
Greene, who has been at COD for 10 years, recently adapted a marketing piece to promote COD Technical Education programming that recognizes the importance of the Career Pathway initiative and includes the career cluster information for each area.
“I wanted to have something that would promote the programs in COD's Technical Education Center and thought it would be nice to list the programs in one handy booklet, similar to the Health Sciences booklet,” she said. “The planning committee and I also wanted to connect the state's Career Clusters model to the COD programs, providing students with as much career information as possible.”
Foss continually participates in COD Career Days and tirelessly promotes his program. During this year's COD Green Occupations Career Day, Foss argued for responsible use and care for personal vehicles, which was well-received by the high school students in the audience.
The recipients were honored at the Consortium's annual breakfast meeting on May 3. For more information on dual credit, CTE programs and nontraditional careers, call the Office of Academic Partnerships at (630) 942-3692.