SCC 2006 Commencement set for Friday, May 12

4/27/06

Shawnee Community College Commencement will begin at 7 p.m., Friday May 12, where all graduates from the year will be honored in the SCC gymnasium.

Geoffrey Obrzut, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Illinois Community College Board, will be the 2006 Commencement ceremony speaker. Before joining the Illinois Community College Board in January 2004, Geoffrey Obrzut served as the Director of the Division of Developmental Disabilities at the Illinois Department of Human Services. From 1994 to 2003 he was the executive director of United Cerebral Palsy of Will County, Inc. From 1991 to 1993, he served in the Illinois legislature as a State Representative for the 52nd District in the General Assembly. He has served citizens in the State of Illinois government for more than 30 years.

Carol Belt, Allied Health Division Chair/Nursing Instructor, was chosen by her colleagues as the SCC Illinois Community College Trustees Association Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year. Belt, of the Lake of Egypt area, will be honored at the June meeting of the ICCTA. She began her career at SCC in June of 1982 as a nursing instructor. She later assumed the position of Allied Health Division Chair and in 2005 as Director of Nursing. During her tenure, she has assisted students in passing the Illinois State Nursing Licensure Test for Licensed Practical Nursing and Registered Nursing Certification.

Shawnee Mass Transit District, also known as Southernmost Area Rural Transportation (SMART) will be honored as the 2006 ICCTA Business and Industry Partnership. SMART provides low cost transportation options to students and district residents. SMART has built a successful workforce-training alliance with Shawnee Community College, providing public transportation services to all residents residing in Alexander, Johnson, Pulaski, Massac, and Union Counties. The College has been privileged to work with SMART in offering affordable and dependable transportation to district residents and SCC students and looks forward to continued partnerships with the organization.
In 2005, SMART began providing round-trip transportation to employment and educational facilities for residents of the five-county area. These services have proven to be successful and very beneficial to residents who do not have reliable transportation or want to save money by riding public transportation within the community. Other transportation services offered are: medical, shopping, airport, train stations, and special events. SMART is funded by local contracts, grants, the Federal Transit Administration, and the Illinois Department of Transportation.

The 2006 SCC Alumnus of the Year award will be presented to Paul E. Echols, a 1979 SCC graduate. He enjoys a successful career in law enforcement as a Crime Scene Investigator (CSI) for the Carbondale Police Department. Paul has earned immense respect from his peers as a skilled police officer, investigator, supervisor, teacher and guest lecturer. Paul and his wife Sheila, also a Shawnee College Alumni, have two children, Jarrod and Morgan, and make their home near Murphysboro, Illinois. Paul is quick to point out how important his education at Shawnee College was to his life. It was the foundation on which his successful career was built.

The ceremony will be broadcast on the internet at rtsp://online.shawneecc.edu:8080/encoder/livevideo.rm or rtsp://online.shawneecc.edu/dl/grad06.rm. For more information contact Russ Stoup at 618-634-3276.