Chauncey, Weeks Receive Top Employee Awards
WINTERVILLE—Pitt Community College celebrated employee achievements April 28 with a luncheon that featured the presentation of staff and faculty excellence awards.
PCC President Lawrence Rouse said it was “an opportunity to honor and thank faculty and staff for their commitment to serving students with excellence.” He added that the event “underscored the importance of all team members” – faculty, staff and administrators – to Pitt’s success.
“PCC has a long history of providing great service to students, the community, county and eastern North Carolina,” Rouse said. “It’s because of the skill and dedication of the individuals we honored today that this standard of excellence continues.”
The 2022 Joan and Ed Warren Staff Employee of the Year Award — the top honor for PCC staff members — was presented to Scott Chauncey, inventory control and courier services manager with the college’s Mail and Courier Services Department.
In announcing Chauncey as the recipient, PCC Director of Human Resources Operations Kerry Bruner said he “gives generously of his time and resources to benefit the college.” He has a strong work ethic and makes certain that members of his department feel appreciated, she said.
“If you were to look up ‘positive culture,’ ‘customer service’ and ‘loyalty to an organization,’ you would find Scott Chauncey as the definition,” Bruner said. “He’s an excellent leader with a heart for mentoring and promoting others, which has allowed him to build a team of employees who embrace his approach to service and working with every PCC division, department and employee.”
Chauncey was also recognized for the work his department puts in to provide work-based learning opportunities for students through the Pitt County Schools Transition to Employment and Postsecondary Education Program. The program encourages students to continue pursuing education while helping them develop interpersonal skills and gain valuable work experience.
Chauncey was one of five Staff Excellence Award recipients eligible for this year’s Warren Award, along with Academic Affairs Programming Coordinator Pamela Baldwin, Financial Aid Director Lee Bray, Media Relations Director Rob Goldberg and Director of Disability Services Lisa Kelley.
Five instructors—Renee Dawson, Lara Smith, Ashleigh Walker, Christy Weeks and Ashleigh Weir—received Faculty Excellence Awards. From the group, Weeks was selected as this year’s recipient of the Joseph E. Downing Award for Excellence in Teaching, which is the top honor for faculty members.
PCC Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs and Student Services Tom Gould noted Weeks’ ability to forge collaborations across the state and region and her extraordinary talent to teach and mentor students who make an immediate impact on the local workforce. In addition to her instructional duties, Weeks chairs the PCC Biotechnology Department and serves on several committees, including the college’s SACS Planning and Student Achievement Subcommittee for accreditation.
Weeks has gone to great lengths to promote pharma careers and increase community awareness of biotechnology educational opportunities. She’s also had an integral role in developing educational pathways and training partnerships between PCC, Pitt County Schools, East Carolina University and the local pharma industry.
For Weeks, teaching is more than explaining to students the procedures for working in laboratories. It’s also about developing close relationships with them to understand the barriers they must overcome to achieve success and helping them find the resources to address those issues and focus on their studies.
“Working in the community college for so long, I have come to recognize that most of our students do not have the guidance and support I did as a student, or the guidance I have provided for my children,” she said. “I help these students in the same way I would want my children’s instructors/advisors to help them in my absence.”
05/09/2022