Sheryll Cheek now can add “associate project manager” to her list of credentials. The Georgia Perimeter records coordinator graduated from a certification program sponsored by the Georgia Technology Authority and aimed at helping state employees build expertise in project management. Cheek completed the second track of the Project Manager Certification program.

“I would definitely encourage others to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity,” she says of the training, which is offered free of charge to qualified state employees. Cheek says the project management principles she learned have helped her streamline processes, as well as be more objective, proactive and intuitive in her job responsibilities. “The training can only enhance your job performance,” she says. “It helps you to truly understand how your job function ties into the college’s strategic plans and goals.”

For more information on a variety of Georgia Technology Authority’s courses available free to qualified state employees, visit the GTA website.

Georgia Perimeter faculty members Dr. Paul Hudson, history, Clarkston, and Lora Mirza, library, Dunwoody, were interviewed by the Associated Press about the controversy surrounding the carving of Confederate Civil War heroes on Stone Mountain. The story appeared on ABC News July 26. Hudson and Mirza are co-authors of the 2011 book, “Atlanta's Stone Mountain.”

Administrative secretaries Alicia Braswell, Social Sciences and Education, Dunwoody, and Contessa Paige, English and Social Sciences, Alpharetta, both received their Master of Education degree in Higher Education Administration from Georgia Southern University on May 8.

Deborah Byrd and Kathleen De Marco, assistant professors in the English, Arts, and Humanities department at Newton, have published articles in the current TYCA-SE Journal. This publication of the Two-Year College English Association included papers given at the 50th regional conference in Jackson, Mississippi. Byrd’s paper was on “Guiding Freshman Composition Students through the Writing Process,” and De Marco’s was on “Faith in the Works of Walker Percy and Flannery O'Connor.” Both articles appear in Volume 48, Number 1 of the journal. Byrd is on the association’s Regional Executive Council, on which De Marco has also served.

Georgia Perimeter College is getting recognition as one of the nation’s best online colleges. 360 Career, an all-inclusive comprehensive resource for students interested in online education, ranked GPC as one of “30 Top Online Community Colleges.” The organization selected Georgia Perimeter for the honor based on the online program’s cost effectiveness and wide range of course offerings.

The GPC Personal Counseling staff—Dr. Rufus Larkin, Dr. Lonika Crumb, Dr. Yolanda Fountain, Dr. Ca Trice Glenn and Jennifer Smith—had an article, “Managing Mental Health Situations in the Advising Office,” published in the June 2015 edition of the Academic Advising Today journal, a publication of the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA). The article supports academic advisors’ efforts with useful information and best practices related to safely preventing, intervening and managing mental health situations in the advising office via the use of de-escalation techniques and by identifying resources for collaborative assistance. 

Georgia Perimeter College dental hygiene students, faculty and alumni joined more than 1,000 volunteers to provide free dental care to 2,000-plus underserved community members in Perry, Ga. The event, June 19-20, was organized through the non-profit Georgia Mission of Mercy, a program that brings large portable dental clinics to underserved areas. “We did fillings, extractions, root canals, cleanings, X-rays, partials and patient education,” Cherie Rainwater, GPC’s dental hygiene program director, says about the overall project. “I know we saw 2,189 patients.” This is the third year GPC’s dental hygiene students participated in the GMOM portable clinic event.  Rainwater is one of the featured speakers in a video about the program.