Crowder College introduces new faculty and staff

By Afton Bugg

Herald-Tribune

Nevada, Mo. -- Crowder College is making changes to better suit their students this fall, by adding to the staff, facility and faculty.

The first of these is a new director, Donna Thomas. No stranger to the college, she was head of Student Services for almost three years. Thomas took the reins as director in July 2005 and student enrollment has gone up 30 percent, since then. Crowder currently has 228 students enrolled for the fall semester with 70 full time and 158 part-time, for a total of 1,837 credit hours.

Thomas said, "Since I have been the director I've seen more students in the hall, laughing and having a good time. Some come up to me and give me a hug. It makes me feel like I'm doing a good job."

Thomas has added several new student's activities to the school such as a Phi Theta Kappa, the only off campus Crowder group. She put this group together because there were so many students who wanted to be involved in such a society. To qualify for the PTK students must be enrolled full-time and have a 3.5 GPA. This will qualify them for a lifetime membership and a chance for transfer scholarships.

Danielle Lamirand, English teacher at Crowder College, said, "She is a wonderful director -- knowledgeable, consistent, and fair."

The college also has installed new computers in the computer lab. Old computers are still in use, but they've been moved to the second floor for an additional computer lab. This gives students access to a second lab when there is a class in the other one.

Five new instructors were also added for the fall semester -- Betty Jo Laflen, music; Gary Johnson, music; Shirlee Lyons, history; Brad Copeland, AMP for nursing students; and Vicki Garton, communications and English.

Four new instructors plan to join the staff for the spring semester. They are Patrick Figaro, science; Jim Miller, sociology; Katherine Day, theater; and Monte Padgett, algebra.

Crowder's third floor was remodeled as well, to make room for more classes. New classes at the college include theater, Math 101, music for elementary teachers, for the teaching students, and AMP for nursing students.

The school is also planning to add registered nursing classes, but that will come in the future. The school is adding more English, math, and science classes due to the increasing student population.

More instructors are needed to teach some classes Crowder wants to offer. These new teachers are required to have a master's degree and at least 18 credit hours in the class they would be teaching.

For information on enrolling in spring classes or about the college, call Crowder College at (417) 667-0518.