New members have been elected to the Georgia Perimeter College Staff Senate. They and the areas they represent are as follows: Academic Affairs, Rose Davis and Contessa Paige; Clarkson Campus, Saquarius Strickland; Dunwoody Campus, Brandi Meriwether; Financial and Administrative Affairs, Marsha Cole, Jordan Craft (Public Safety) and Rene Downing; Lakeside, Joan Mooyin-Edwards; Newton Campus, Shondra Greene-Harris; Student Affairs, Tammy Stanton, Nicole Weeden and Deatrice Willis.

Dr. Gregg Murray, English, Dunwoody, published a poetry e-chapbook from Spittoon Press. Click here to preview or purchase.

LeKeisha Jackson, Student Life, received the Lucretia Payton Stewart Guiding Torch Award presented at the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority conference in April. She was saluted for her dedication to her profession in academic and student services, her outstanding leadership skills and her many hours of service to the community.

Mary Middlemas, ESL, was the keynote speaker for Chattanooga State Community College’s Global Scholars Banquet on April 30.

Caroline Anderson, ESL, Dunwoody, gave books to ESL students at Georgia Perimeter as part of World Book Night, an event in which volunteers give 20 or more books to “non- or light readers.”

The DeKalb Symphony Orchestra has presented the Standing Ovation Award to Jennifer Jenkins, Fine Arts events production manager. Steve Alperin, DSO player representative, presented the award to Jenkins in recognition of her oustanding support and service to the symphony for more than 31 years.

Margee Bright Ragland, Fine Arts, Clarkton, won the Auburn-Opelika Tourism Bureau Merit Award in the Auburn City Fest Exhibit. She took home the top prize of $250 for her collage, “Pompeii Garden.” PHOTO

Dr. Salli Vargis, History, Newton, organized the “Teaching Southeast Asia” faculty development workshop, sponsored annually by the USG Asia Council, at Clarkston Campus April 11-12. George Vargis, Political Science, Decatur, and Eric Kendrick, ESL, Dunwoody, were part of the planning team.  GPC faculty members who gave presentations included Shyam Sriram, Political Science, Clarkston, “Islam in Southeast Asia,” and Kendrick, “Indigenous Cultures of Southeast Asia: Language, Religion and Sociopolitical Issues.”

Lauri Bohanan Goodling, English, passed her Ph.D. comprehensive exams this semester, making her officially ABD.

Patricia Mote, Biology, Dunwoody, has been named to the Educational Testing Service's College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) Test Development Committee. The group helps develop tests in biology to be used by colleges around the country. Also, she will serve as an examination Leader at the College Board’s AP Biology reading in June.

Michael Hall, assistant coordinator of Diversity for Georgia Perimeter, led the Georgia Women’s Conference Committee this year, producing the college's second annual conference in March.

GPC staff poets/artists exhibited and read their original illustrated poems during the Dunwoody Learning and Tutoring Center’s Visual Voices celebration of National Poetry Month. Dan Veach was the featured poet, and Lizzy Fox held a poetry workshop. Others participating were Gelia Dolcimascolo, Nancy Stephan, Cole Thomas and Terry Ann Williams-Richard.

Dr. Stuart Noel, English, Decatur, was moderator for the panel “Truman and Tenn,” which had authors of recent studies and an actor from “In Cold Blood” reviewing the works of Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams with a special focus on the Capote film adaptations. The session took place at the Tennessee Williams Scholars Conference in New Orleans in March.

Nancy Storey, Online Physical Education, is an official with the Multi County Basketball Association. She officiated the Georgia High School Association's Private A Girl's State basketball championship game in Macon in March. The game between Southwest Atlanta Christian and Holy Innocents was televised on PBS.

Rodney Pegues, health and wellness, earned certification in Mental Health First Aid USA at the NIRSA national conference in Nashville. NIRSA was formerly known as the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association.

Laura Edmunds, English, Newton Campus, successfully defended her doctoral dissertation, “Containers for Creation: Ifá, the Fantastic and Women in Literature of the African Diaspora,” April 17 at the University of Georgia. She receives her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature on May 9.

Latrina Leonard and LaSean Price, both Recruitment, presented a session on “Cost Effective Methods to Improve and Maintain Staff Morale” at the Southern Association for College Admissions Counselors’ annual conference held in Myrtle Beach, S.C., April 6-8.