President

• B.J. Zamora, Cleveland Community College

• Jo Ann Buck, Guilford Technical Community College

• Barbara Rusher, Central Carolina Community College

• Barbara Taylor, Cleveland Community College

• Carol Marion, Guilford Tech

• Rick Lewis, Sandhills Community College

• Melissa Byrd, Lenoir Community College
• Deborah Doolittle, Coastal Carolina Community College
• Sharon Mills, Carteret Community College

• Anne Helms, Alamance Community College
• Michael G. Spinks, Piedmont Community College
• Open

• Tom Hearron, Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute
• Jessica Saxon, Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute
• Brett Wallen, Cleveland Community College

According to the CEI Constitution, the duties of a regional rep are as follows: "Regional Representatives will communicate with faculty within their respective regions; represent faculty within their regions; attend regularly scheduled Executive Board meetings, as well as annual business and regional meetings; work with the Board to nominate representatives when vacancies arise. " If you would like to fill one of the open positions, please contact B. J. Zamora.

Our annual conference is approaching, but don't worry! The deadline for registration has been extended to October 16. Be sure to act quickly. You can access everything you need through links on our website. The CEI conference always provides learning experiences as well as an opportunity to mingle with colleagues from around the state. Don't miss out on your chance to exchange experience and ideas while relaxing in the beautiful Carolina mountains.

Also, I wanted to congratulate three of our colleagues—Dr. John Beck, Wendy Frandsen, and Aaron Randall—on their recent publication success. Southern Culture: An Introduction is an excellent text and I recommend it to you. I am currently using it in Humanities 122 (Southern Culture) and the students are enjoying it while they learn about the South. Thank you, John, Wendy, and Aaron!

Edgecombe Community College

• Department chair Monika Fleming, a long-time member of CEI, was recently named as the college's first Keihin Endowed Faculty Chair. It is a most deserved honor and we are proud of her.
• Johanna Owens recently received the college's Excellence in Teaching Award. Not only is she a gifted classroom teacher, but she is also extremely involved in the community, serving as the local arts council president.
• College president, Dr. Deborah Lamm, was recently selected as one of the women to be featured in a publication celebrating East Carolina University's top 100 incredible women on the occasion of the university's centennial.
• Carole Mehle also reports that ECC celebrated National Poetry Month with a creative writing workshop led by three of their English faculty. Carole led a workshop on poetry; her colleague Renee Martinez led a workshop on creative journaling; and, Samantha Spencer led a session on the forms of creative writing.
• ECC also recently welcomed Dr. Floyd Ogburn to their ranks. Dr. Ogburn comes to Edgecomb after stints at the University of Cincinnati and at Fayetteville State University.
• Last, Edgecomb now has two new programs at ECC: the Associate in Fine Arts and the Associate in General Education.

• Guilford's new College Transfer Advising Center is up and running, manned by Linda Whitlow and Paul Whittington, with more-than-able assistance from Jodi Mullins. We are looking forward to expanding our CT population, and CTAC will certainly help us in that endeavor. Special thanks to Asheville-Buncombe for their help and guidance in this project.

• From the Haywood Community College Website: "Effective January 1, 2008, the use of tobacco products (including cigarettes, cigars, pipes, smokeless tobacco, or other tobacco products) is prohibited on Haywood Community College property except within the confines of privately owned vehicles. This policy applies to all students, faculty, staff and visitors. Tobacco use and the discarding of tobacco and tobacco related products is not allowed in any building, in any open area of campus property (including parking lots), in college owned vehicles, nor in off-site college instructional courses and activities. A college task force will guide development and implementation of procedures in support of this policy." If you would like more information about NC colleges that now prohibit smoking since the new act of the Legislature, please read Tobacco Free Colleges.

• Larry Allen was elected chair of the Department of Languages. He will begin his five-year term on January 1, 2008. In addition to being professor of English, Larry has also written grants for Sandhills. His most recent grant application resulted in funding by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation to begin a new early college high school, SandHoke High. The new building for the high school was built on Sandhills' satellite campus in Raeford. Larry succeeds Rick Lewis, who served as chair for 35 years. Rick has been named dean of humanities and will begin his new position January 1, 2008. Rick plans to continue to teach one or two classes in English and humanities per semester.

CEI Fall Conference
Refuel your enthusiasm in October! The CEI 2007 Fall Conference, will be held at the Broyhill Inn and Conference Center in Boone, October 21-23. Perched on a hill high above the mountain town of Boone, the Broyhill offers a tranquil place to get away, with delicious food and time to visit with your colleagues before and after a dozen sessions of thought-provoking presentations.