MCCA Honors STLCC Staff Members

Several staff members from St. Louis Community College were recognized by the Missouri Community College Association during its annual convention early in November.

Rebecca Garrison, who recently retired after 34 years of employment at STLCC, received the MCCA Administrative Professional Leadership Award. This award recognizes individuals who has demonstrated exemplary leadership practices within their college and throughout the community.

Garrison developed a 40-page publication used by the chancellor and board for the Association of Community College (ACCT) National Legislative Summit that contains biographies of U.S. Senators and Representatives, federal legislative issues, community college legislative priorities and programs at the college made possible through external funding. This aid is used during visits to Capitol Hill. She also created a board orientation manual that has been shared and distributed at the national level.

Garrison served as president of the Professional Board Staff Network (PBSN) and has written copy for 13 issues of the Trustee Quarterly Magazine. She is the co-founder of the MCCA President’s Chancellors Assistants group. She has received the PBSN Leadership Award, as well as two Professional Board Staff Member awards for the Central Region from the Association of Community College Trustees, one in 2011 and one in October 2018.

Kathy Bielicki, administrative secretary in the Deans' office for Science/Technology/Engineering/Mathematics at Meramec, received the Classified Staff Achievement and the Senior Service awards.

The Classified Staff Achievement Award is presented annually to an MCCA member who has had a positive impact above and beyond their assigned job duties and only one award is presented statewide.

The Senior Service Award is presented to a long-serving employee from each of Missouri’s community colleges. Recipients are recommended for the award by their college president or chancellor.

Bielicki runs the annual MCCA membership drive on the Meramec campus and strives to share her depth of knowledge about the college and her many other areas of expertise with those around her.

In addition to Bielicki, Judy Brouk, Mary Kearney and Gwen Nixon also received the MCCA Senior Service Award.

Brouk’s service to STLCC spans nearly three decades. Brouk has proven herself to be a dependable, reliable employee who goes above and beyond to get the job done. In every role she has had, she has demonstrated an unmatched ability to meet the needs of students and staff.

Brouk joined the college in 1991 as a part-time employee in the president’s office at Meramec. In 1995, she transitioned to a full-time role in the campus library. In 1998, she moved into an administrative assistant position with the dean’s office for the business department. Three years later, she was promoted to serve as an assistant for the vice president/executive dean of education. In 2004, she left Meramec to serve as the administrative assistant for the college’s vice chancellor of technology.

When the college opened the Wildwood campus in 2007, Brouk was promoted to serve as the executive assistant to the president. Today, she continues to serve in this role, where she is responsible for supporting the associate provost and managing the campus’ business office. She plans to retire from STLCC in June.

Kearney is the secretary in the Communications office at Forest Park. She joined STLCC in October 1997 as administrative secretary in the Office of the General Counsel, serving in that capacity for 10 years. She transferred to Forest Park in 2008, and has served for 11-1/2 years as the English and Humanities department secretary. Kearney was appointed to the first Cosand Center Institutional Affairs Council (CCIAC) and served for four years, ending that service as the local council chair. From there, she served on the districtwide council for an additional two years.

Kearney served on Forest Park’s Global Education Atrium Garden subcommittee for five years. She also served on another Global Education subcommittee and chaired the campus “Milkweeds for Monarchs” project in connection with the St. Louis City Mayor’s Office as part of the city’s 200th anniversary observance. Forest Park honors program students worked in the Butterfly Garden as part of their volunteer commitment, kept a journal, and one student used the experience as part of her honors biology contract. Kearney continues to serve on the Forest Park Honors Committee, and looks forward to retiring this month.

Nixon is the manager of Campus Life at Florissant Valley. She has served STLCC for over 30 years. Students and colleagues alike know her as a true professional who believes STLCC students are a priority and one who strives to provide informational, empowering and engaging opportunities to enhance students’ experiences.

Nixon previously served as the academic support coordinator at Florissant Valley for 12 years. She began her STLCC career at Forest Park as the coordinator of the Worker Re-Entry program, which provided outplacement services for dislocated workers.

Nixon was a recipient of the 2018 STLCC District Innovation of the Year Award. She was one of 25 Kellogg Fellows selected from across the country for the League for Innovation’s Expanding Leadership Diversity in Community Colleges program, and has participated in the National Institute for Leadership Development Leaders program.