EPCC recognizes top staff, faculty for annual awards
As part of Community College Month, EPCC has announced the 2024-2025 Excellence in Education Award winners and Professional and Classified Staff honorees.
This year's President's Excellence Award winner is Rebecca A. Escamilla, dean of Architecture, Art, Math, and Science at the Valle Verde campus, as selected by EPCC President William Serrata.
'Escamilla is driven by a mission to provide experiences that inspire and help students complete their educational goals, knowing firsthand how transformative education can be,' EPCC said in its announcement.
'I am truly honored and grateful for this recognition. This is a testament of the amazing teamwork that was accomplished, and I am likewise honored to work with such a wonderful group of individuals,' Escamilla said.
This year's Minnie Stevens Piper Professor Award winner is Lorely Ambriz, librarian at the Northwest campus.
'I am deeply honored and humbly grateful to receive this recognition and award. My love and passion for this institution, which has been my second home for almost 30 years, makes this moment even more meaningful,' Ambriz said.
EPCC's Minnie Stevens Piper Professor nominee is submitted into a statewide competition to become one of the 10 annual Minnie Stevens Piper Professors for Texas, EPCC said.
The 2025 Outstanding Faculty Achievement Award winners are:
Full-time Faculty Achievement Awards
Laura Erickson Alvarado, speech, Mission Del Paso
Carmen Castillo-Attar, counseling, Valle Verde/Northwest
Ivette Chuca, mathematics, Valle Verde
Adjunct Faculty Achievement Awards
Wendy Alvidrez, dental hygiene, Rio Grande
James Fynquist, government, Transmountain
Edward Lowrance, art, Transmountain
EPCC said it also wanted to recognize the following award winners: Douglas Schirmer, Professional Staff Full-time award winner and IT systems manager; Monica Tarin, Professional Staff Part-time award winner and marketing and community relations graphics designer; Timothy Archut, Full-time Classified Staff award winner and academic resource specialist; and Margaret Torres, Part-time Classified Staff award winner and library clerk.
All EPCC Excellence Award winners are selected by their peers.
The Excellence Award winners, Professional and Classified Staff honorees, will be recognized at EPCC's Employee Recognition Dinner on Friday, May 2.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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