FVCC Announces 2011 Emeritus Honorees
The Flathead Valley Community College Board of Trustees, FVCC President Jane Karas and the college faculty will recognize three Emeritus Honorees at a special celebration on the college campus May 6.
The purpose of Emeritus is to recognize the contributions of retired faculty and administrators and their potential as a continuing valuable resource while fostering an active, ongoing relationship. Those honored with the distinctions of Professor Emeritus, Director Emeritus, Dean Emeritus, etc., are recognized for serving their institution with distinction over a lengthy career.
The FVCC Board of Trustees considers the title of Emerita/Emeritus as a unique and special honor. The Board reserves the title for a few select individuals, and it is the Board’s expectation that only the most outstanding faculty or administrators will be recommended for this unique honor. The Emerita/Emeritus status is granted to retiring full-time faculty and administrators in recognition of dedicated service at Flathead Valley Community College. Eligible candidates are required to be or have been full-time employees of Flathead Valley Community College, have a minimum of 15 years of full-time service at the college with the exception of extraordinary circumstances, have made meritorious and significant contributions to the college and have maintained the highest ethical standards in relationships with students, colleagues and superiors.
The following honorees will be recognized during the special program:
Dr. Jeanette Oliver, Professor Emeritus, joined the FVCC faculty in 1980. In addition to teaching botany and biology, her noteworthy accomplishments have included frequent nominations by her students for “Who’s Who Among American Teachers.” Her contributions as an excellent teacher and outstanding service to the community college were recognized in 1997 with the prestigious FVCC Eagle Award, an annual honor that recognizes individuals for their extraordinary contributions to the college. She was the first full-time faculty member to be awarded this honor. Dr. Oliver continues to conduct original research and has been a contributor to a wide range of publications and several botany textbooks. To keep up with changing technologies in the microbiology, Oliver spent part of her sabbatical at the Centers for Disease Control Laboratories in Atlanta where she learned the latest methods for working with microorganisms. Oliver has served as Division Chair of the Mathematics and Sciences Division, in addition to serving on numerous other committees during her tenure at FVCC. During her career at FVCC, Oliver taught hundreds of students, and she has maintained contact with many of her students as they successfully transferred to other institutions to obtain bachelors and advanced degrees. She was an active member of the Montana Academy of Science, and she sponsored several students as they presented their projects and the organization’s annual symposia.
Dr. Robert Beall, Professor Emeritus, dedicated his 27 years of service at FVCC to his students, both inside and outside the classroom. During his years as instructor of natural resources and biology, Beall spent much time developing and implementing a variety of geographic information and global positioning systems and remote sensing courses for the surveying and natural resources programs. He has served three terms as division dhair and has represented the Natural Resources Department and Math/Science Division in numerous committee meetings. Together with his wife Ann, Beall has long directed the intercollegiate FVCC Logger Sports Team and its community service activities. In 1988, under his coaching; FVCC became the first two-year college to win the Association of Western Forestry Club’s annual Logging Sports Championship. In 1993, Beall designed the FVCC Arboretum and in the spring of 1994, with the help of local fifth-grade students, planted the trees that now populate the area.
Tom Jay, Professor Emeritus, set an exemplary model as a Master Teacher during his 21 years at FVCC. Jay created and managed all Business Administration programs at the college and was considered an informal mentor to all the teachers in this division, including his former student and fellow colleague FVCC Business Instructor Christopher Hanchett. Jay led the creation of the Occupational Program Review Template which provides a more effective process for evaluating and making recommendations for programs. In 2010, he initiated Montana’s first poplar tree test site on college campus, a five-year effort to study which trees grow in Northwest Montana’s climate and which ones produce the largest amounts of biomass. Students in natural resources and statistics courses and the service learning program have utilized the site for learning and community service.
A special program to recognize the Emeritus honorees will take place at 5 p.m. in the large community meeting room inside the Arts and Technology Building. The college welcomes community members to attend the event. Following the program, past and present FVCC faculty and staff are invited to a special reception from 6 to 7 p.m.
For more information, contact Monica Settles at 756-3801.