NewsRelease

(Posted 5-28-04)
Contact: Dan Nonte, 336-334-5371

School of Education Honors Alumni

GREENSBORO –The University of North Carolina at Greensboro School of Education has honored six alumni – Christina O’Connor, Anne Stubbins Powers, Karen McNeil-Miller, Charles “Chuck” Morris, Sheila Vannoy Groves and Paula Myrick Short – for their professional accomplishments.

 “At this time of the year when we honor our graduates it is fitting that we also celebrate the accomplishments of our talented alumni,” Dean Dale Schunk said at the May 14 awards ceremony.

 O’Connor and Powers received the Early Career Award, an award given to alumni who earned their UNCG degree in the past five years.

O’Connor, who earned a master’s degree in school administration in 2002, is the principal of Kirkman Park Elementary in High Point. Her nominator wrote, “Christina is passionately committed to her students and teachers.  When students did well on their end-of-grade tests, she dyed her own hair purple!”

Powers, who earned a master’s degree in counseling in 2001, is the first director of UNCG’s Office of Leadership and Service Learning. Her nominator wrote, “She offers 100 percent in everything she does and always searches for ways to go beyond the requirements of school, work or service to help others become the best that they can be.”

McNeil-Miller, Charles “Chuck” Morris and Sheila Vannoy Groves ’81 EdD received the Distinguished Career Award.

McNeil-Miller, who earned a master’s degree in education in 1981, is vice president for corporate resources at the Center for Creative Leadership. She manages campuses in Colorado Springs, Greensboro, San Diego, Brussels and Singapore. She is a board member of Greensboro Day School, the Guilford County Education Network and UNCG.

Morris, who earned a doctorate in education in 1992, worked in Guilford County Schools as chief of staff, associate superintendent, and executive director of pupil support services and workforce preparedness. He was superintendent of Mount Airy City Schools and assistant superintendent of Alamance County Schools.

Morris is a consultant who helps school systems improve instruction. “His main goal in life is to provide the best education possible for students,” his nominator wrote.

Groves, who earned a doctorate in education in 1981, was an educator for Guilford County Schools for 23 years. In 1997, she became a School of Education faculty member. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in language arts and reading, and supervises intern and student teachers.

She is a volunteer tutor at Hampton Academy and Jones, Hunter, and Pilot elementary schools. She is a member and former president of the Beta Delta chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma, an international honor society for women in education.

Short, who earned a bachelor’s degree in education in 1967, is vice chancellor of academic affairs for the Tennessee Board of Regents, received the Outstanding Career Award. The board guides the sixth largest higher education system in the country with 182,000 students.

She received the Jack A. Culbertson Award from the University Council for Educational Administration in 1993. The award recognizes an outstanding professor of educational administration. She has been president of the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration and the Southern Regional Council on Educational Administration.

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