MSCC Recognizes Outstanding Employees

At some workplaces, employee recognition efforts are as smooth as glass because the selection pool is relatively shallow. A handful of workers rise to the top, and they are not difficult to identify and honor.

At Mid-South Community College, however, the process is exceptionally challenging because we have so many people who deserve recognition.

Each year we select two employees (one faculty and one staff member) for National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) honors. Created in 1989, the NISOD Excellence Awards program supports MSCC and other individual colleges in recognizing and celebrating their finest at home and on an international stage. The awards are something we take great pride in as an avenue for recognizing our best employees. The selection process provides us a great opportunity to showcase the dedicated, talented, and committed people who are so vitally important to keeping an institution like ours afloat.

So it should be fairly simple, right? In actuality, these decisions are NEVER easy at MSCC. I can assure you there is a great deal of thought and energy, and even some weeping and wailing, that goes into trying to figure out how take a couple hundred people who are all doing fantastic jobs and distill it down to two people who win these awards each year. The vote is always close. Clearly, I think that’s because we have a solid nucleus of long-term, dedicated employees and are constantly adding more and more really cool people to the equation. We could probably give 100 NISOD awards a year, but that’s not the way the system works. As is our American way and the custom of democracy, somebody, or in this case two somebodies, must win.

For 2014, our honorees are Ed Cook (faculty) and Ellie Selden (staff). What Ed Cook has done with our welding program is phenomenal, and we appreciate the reputation he is building within our community. He hit the ground running when he joined the College two years ago, and he has become fully engaged in the learning community. Ed takes a proactive approach to generating regional industry interest in the program, and he constantly looks for ways to make the classroom more relevant and fun for the students. We’re very fortunate to have Ed and many other great faculty members on our campus because you can’t have great programs if you don’t have the talent in the classroom. Ellie has worked in our Finance Office for seven years, and I can assure you that she is a priceless resource for our institution. She works exceptionally hard without complaint, and that is no small accomplishment considering the complexity of the finances at Mid-South Community College. Ellie demonstrates a high level of dedication to professional development, and her contributions support institutional advancement in a myriad of ways. And she always manages to maintain a positive attitude while helping fellow employees.

We think these two folks are fantastic examples of the kind of talent that is so important to making Mid-South Community College the special place that it is. But more than talent, it’s their commitment and dedication to our cause that makes them worthy of this year’s honor. We’re very excited to have them represent us at the national convention in Austin, Tex., in May.

One of the things my father told me a long time ago is that if you want to be a part of something great, you can’t be afraid to hire people who are smarter than you are. If you walk around our campus, you will see that I don’t have that fear. We have many bright, talented, and dedicated employees who are great representatives of who we are and what we’re trying to make happen. And we wish we could award all of them a NISOD Excellence Award. They are certainly deserving. - See more at: http://www.midsouthcc.edu/blog/mscc-recognizes-outstanding-employees/#sthash.sqjdE0d4.dpuf