Amy O’Dell, Division Chair for Professional and Public Services and Program Chair/Lead Instructor for the Lanier Technical College Interiors Program has been named the College’s Rick Perkins Award winner for 2016.
The winner was announced Wednesday at the annual Lanier Technical College GOAL/Rick Perkins Award Luncheon at the Gainesville Civic Center.
“Amy is such an outstanding representative of the incredible faculty we have at Lanier Technical College,” President Dr. Ray Perren said. “Amy is one of our best and is held in high regard by her students and her peers at the college. I know she will do us proud as she continues through this Rick Perkins competition.”
O’Dell joined the Lanier Tech team in 2012. She worked in various roles in interior design firms for several years prior to coming to Lanier Tech. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Miami University of Ohio, a Master of Music from Florida State University, a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Brenau University, as well as a Master of Interior Design from Brenau.
O’Dell serves on several committees at Lanier Tech including the Quality Enhancement Plan Committee, the Institutional Effectiveness and Assessment Committee and the Social Media Committee. She is also a participant in the inaugural iLEAD cohort at Lanier Tech for leadership performance by faculty and staff.
Since she arrived at Lanier Technical College in Summer of 2012, enrollment in the Interiors program has increased 300 percent.
The Rick Perkins Award is given annually by the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) to the Outstanding Instructor of the Year. In order to qualify at the state level, each of the system’s 24 colleges select a winner at the local level who then goes on to compete in one of three regional competitions in March. From each region, three representatives are then sent on to the state competition which will be held in April at the Spring TCSG Leadership Conference.
In the past two years, Lanier Technical College has seen two of its instructors, Dr. David Byers, Program Chair for Dental Hygiene in 2014 and Christian Tetzlaff Program Chair for Motorsports Vehicle Technology in 2015 win as the State of Georgia’s top technical college instructor/Rick Perkins Award Winner.
The other three finalists for the Rick Perkins Award Competition at Lanier Technical College where: First Runner-Up Jason Palmer, Division Chair for Arts and Sciences and English Instructor; Rushia Cooper, Business Administrative Technology Instructor; and Jayna Durden, Program Chair for Cosmetology and Cosmetology Instructor.
