Distinguished Service Award

2019 Recipient

Dr. C. Cole Osborne, Guilford Technical Community College

Dr. C. Cole Osborne is a faculty member at Guilford Technical Community College and recently earned his doctorate from University of the Cumberlands. In his time at GTCC, he led an initiative to revise the ENG-111 curriculum, coordinating department assessments and textbook decisions. As NCCEI President, Dr. C. Cole Osborne has enriched our organization over the last two years through his leadership and dedication.

His contributions to our organization started in 2011, with serving as one of our Central Region Board Representatives. In 2012 he was elected to Vice President and he co-chaired our 2012 and 2013 conferences. As CEI President, his attention to detail allowed our past few conferences and regional meetings to run smoothly and under-budget. He also designed our conference programs.

He ushered in a period of change for the organization, drafting and passing resolutions on developmental education and encouraging faculty from the humanities and communication to join and participate. He’s pushed for recognition of retirees, honoring their years of service to our organization and our college system.

We are happy to present the 2019 NCCEI Barbara Taylor Distinguished Service Award to Dr. Cole Osborne.

Barbara Taylor Distinguished Service Award

In September 2011, the board of directors of the North Carolina Conference of English instructors voted to rename the organization's distinguished service award the Barbara Taylor Distinguished Service Award. The award is given each year to a member of NCCEI based on contribution to the organization: "noteworthy service to CEI as a member of the Board of Directors; special service in support of CEI conferences such as program chair, local arrangements chair, and presenter at the annual CEI Fall Conference; and noteworthy contributions or innovative approaches to the teaching of English, communications, and other humanities courses." Barbara Taylor retired from Cleveland Community College in January 2011, after 37 years of teaching and nearly 20 years as the department chair of liberal arts. In her tenure at CCC, she has been the president of Faculty Senate as well as the sponsor, state, and national president (twice) of the Gamma Beta Phi national honor society. She is the only instructor at CCC to win the college's Excellence in Teaching Award twice. She has served on the board of both CEI and TYCE-SE and has helped to organize conferences for both organizations. Additionally, as a long time breast cancer survivor, she has been very active in Cleveland County's Relay for Life campaigns.

In 2003, Barbara also began work on a Ph.D. at Indiana University in Indiana, Pennsylvania and was awarded that degree in August, 2011. Her dissertation discussed the relationships between southern daughters and their fathers as portrayed in the works of Alice Walker, Shirley Ann Grau, and Gail Godwin. That subject was close to Barbara's heart and she used that project to reflect on her own experiences growing up as a loyal and loving southern daughter.

In 2011, Barbara was awarded the Doster Award for outstanding service to TYCA-SE at its annual conference. That award honored her many years of service to TYCA-SE in many capacities, including her organization of the Greensboro Conference in 2009.

In May of 2011, Barbara suffered the first of several strokes, and in July was diagnosed with cancer. Even though she has been unable to fulfill all her retirement plans of travel and reading, she was able to go on a cruise to the Bahamas recently with her son and devoted caregiver Tamara at her side.

Barbara Taylor's life reminds us all of the self-sacrifice and dedication of community college instructors who work long hours, serve many local, state, and regional professional organizations, and quietly and devotedly teach those students who, without such committed educators, would never have the opportunity to reach their own potential. Barbara Taylor's lasting legacy is that she would want us all to value selfless dedication to teaching, to our students, and to the love for and mastery of English.

Previous Recipients

2015, Julie Trotter, Alamance Community College

2014 Dr. BJ Zamora, Cleveland Community College

2013 Deana St. Peter, Guilford Technical Community College

2012 Dr. Carol Marion, Guilford Technical Community College

2011 Dr. Tom Hearron, Caldwell Technical & Community College

2010 Dr. Kim Turnage, Lenoir Community College

2007 Dr. JoAnn Buck, Guilford Technical Community College

2006 Anne Helms, Alamance Community College

Barbara Rusher, Central Carolina Community College

Tom Labelle, Central Carolina Community College

Rick Lewis, Sandhills Community College

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