CSN Women Honored for Commitment to Excellence

The second annual Women of Excellence Awards luncheon honored CSN women for their commitment and dedication to the College and its community. The Women of Excellence Awards are presented to CSN students, staff or faculty members who have distinguished themselves by their record of achievement in a professional or service capacity within CSN or the broader community.

“This is a day we can come together to honor the women, the women of CSN,” said Vice President of Finance Patty Charlton Dayar, an introductory speaker and award winner.

Sponsored by the Department of Student Life and Leadership Development, the Women’s History Month Committee, ASCSN- Student Government, and the Office of Diversity & Inclusion, the March 25 luncheon at Russell’s served to inspire and honor CSN women.


Iredia-Reece receives award from Student Body President Taylor Gray

The Distinguished Female Student Award went to Ivie Iredia-Reece and Tamara Torres. Iredia-Reece has served as a guest speaker and mentor at the Baby Find program in association with Courtney Children’s Foundation. She serves as an assistant to a lactation educator in the community and as an ambassador to the Sickle Cell Foundation.

Iredia-Reece said she was honored by the award. She said those who suffer from sickle cell disease – a disease with which she has been afflicted -- have inspired her greatly. Last year, she went into a coma from which doctors said she would never awake. She enjoys telling others who have shared this disease to keep up the good fight.

“Now I can’t go without sharing a little happiness each day because that goes a long, long way,” Iredia-Reece said.

Torres was unable to attend the ceremony to accept her award. She has coordinated efforts with Safe Nest and volunteered with Habitat for Humanity in Las Vegas. She participates in Club Ride to help students get to and from school and she endeavors to join the Peace Corps after graduating from CSN and pursue a master’s degree.


Charlton Dayar

Charlton Dayar was awarded the Emerging Leader Award for her work at the College to provide a positive impact on CSN and our students. Her nominator stated, “Patty Charlton began work at CSN in 1995. In the span of 12 years here at CSN her ability to form a team with faculty and staff that work tirelessly in support of the student population has been the most rewarding for the College.”

She has worked continuously to prevent budget cuts from impacting CSN’s core student services and also to keep faculty, staff and students educated on budget matters.

She is also secretary on the Board for the Western Association of College & University Business Officers. 

Charlton Dayar was also a recipient of the Excellence Awards, which were presented to CSN female employees who have shown a record of contributions made at the College and department levels, including professional organizations and associations within an area of expertise.

Other recipients were Dr. Anneli Adams, Patricia Castro, Dr. Carolyn Collins, Linda Foreman, Cassie Gentry and Dr. Linda Miller.

Dr. Adams’ recent doctoral dissertation focused on women’s leadership issues, and as such, she has contributed to the general body of knowledge in this area.

Her nominator stated, “Quality, improvement, and excellence are what Anneli is all about, whether it is the quality of life of students, staff, faculty, or the quality of the institution or institutional programs.”

She is currently the Executive Director of the CAPE Program.

Castro has been program director of the Clinical Laboratory Sciences program since August 2001. 

She served CSN as a faculty senator, faculty senate executive committee, chairwoman of the variance committee, EXPO planning committee and Academic Master Plan committee.

Dr. Collins has made important contributions to the faculty salary schedule at CSN by way of emphasizing the “market value” factor by serving on committees that deal with this very important issue.

She is also the author of “Post-Tenure Advancement Policy for Faculty Senate 2007-2008.” She serves on the NSHE System-wide Task Force on Community College Salary Schedule 2002-2003.


Linda Foreman

Foreman has worked on behalf of women since becoming a member of the CSN faculty in 1991.  She has worked with the Women’s Studies Program at UNLV to ensure that the CSN program articulated with UNLV.

In addition, she has actively sought grant money to develop programs that enhance CSN offerings and provide opportunities for CSN students to explore non-traditional careers.

Gentry is a member of the Nevada Health Information Management Association. In her role as program director for Health Information Technology, Cassie has elevated this program to a 99 percent online format in an effort to reach out to rural Nevada.

She also represented CSN at the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development and received an award for teaching excellence in May 2006.

Miller served as president of the Nevada Women’s History Project and was the first vice president of the state organization. She serves on the Board of Directors for ASCD Southern Nevada inaugural conference at CSN in Sept. 2007.  She is also a columnist for the Henderson Home News.


Dr. Candace Kant with Dean Hyla Winters

Finally, Dr. Candace Kant, Department of Social Science professor, received the Women’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Kant is the founding faculty member of the Women’s Studies program. She has served as Faculty Senate chairwoman, Nevada Faculty Association president, department chairwoman, director, coordinator and professor. She also played an integral role in developing of Women in Western Culture I, II, III.

Kant said she was honored and thanked Dr. Thill Raghu for nominating her. She talked about how the College of Southern Nevada has become a second home and family to her after working here for 32 years.
“I really hope what I’ve been able to do has helped all our students, especially our women,” Kant said.


Senior Vice President of Corporate Diversity & Community Affairs at MGM MIRAGE, Punam Mathur was the keynote speaker. She spoke about the importance of understanding your own gifts, the belief in one’s ability to rebound to counteract fear and the necessity of failure in the pursuit of success.

Ultimately, she said women of excellence are in high demand in their personal and professional lives but Mathur added, “I’m only as good in all those other rolls if I am excellent within.”

 

 

 
ÿ