{"id":53660,"date":"2023-09-12T15:48:36","date_gmt":"2023-09-12T19:48:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=53660"},"modified":"2023-09-14T14:59:38","modified_gmt":"2023-09-14T18:59:38","slug":"at-your-service-utc-staff-and-faculty-honored-for-employment-milestones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2023\/09\/at-your-service-utc-staff-and-faculty-honored-for-employment-milestones\/","title":{"rendered":"At your service:\u00a0UTC staff and faculty honored for\u00a0employment\u00a0milestones"},"content":{"rendered":"
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From left: Teresa McKinney, Chancellor Steven R. Angle, Dr. Lucien Ellington and Vanasia Parks at the 2023 Annual Service Awards Luncheon. Photo by Angela Foster.<\/p><\/div>\n

Vanasia Parks\u00a0said it\u2019s the students and the staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I go to homecoming, you would not believe the number of students that have graduated\u00a0and\u00a0come back\u00a0to\u00a0say,\u00a0\u2018If it weren\u2019t for you, I wouldn\u2019t have graduated. You helped me in the Bursar\u2019s Office,\u2019\u201d said\u00a0Parks, the senior associate vice chancellor for business services\u00a0at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.\u00a0\u201cAnd\u00a0then I think the reason that I\u2019m still here is because of the staff I have. I mean, they are awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teresa McKinney said\u00a0it\u2019s the\u00a0people.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a family; it\u2019s always been a family,\u201d said McKinney,\u00a0the\u00a0administrative assistant to Chancellor Steven R. Angle. \u201cIt has been that way since I started in the\u00a0music department. As I moved around to other departments, got married, had\u00a0kids, this was a great place to raise kids and\u00a0was a great family to be around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parks and McKinney\u2014both 40-year employees of UTC\u2014were among the 199\u00a0members of the UTC family honored for reaching significant service milestones at the UTC Service Awards Annual Luncheon on Tuesday, Sept. 12, in the University Center Tennessee Room.<\/p>\n

Service awards are granted in five-year increments, beginning with the fifth year of regular service. Honorees at this year\u2019s luncheon included\u00a027 people recognized for service totals of at least 25 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach of\u00a0you\u00a0is\u00a0so important to what we do as a\u00a0University. Think about it, but you define the\u00a0University,\u201d said Angle\u2014an award recipient himself thanks to celebrating his 10th\u00a0year\u00a0as chancellor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had students tell\u00a0me,\u00a0\u2018If somebody hadn\u2019t taken the time to talk to me when I needed it, I wouldn\u2019t have stayed in school.\u2019\u00a0So\u00a0you may not realize the\u00a0difference you make in the lives of our students and the community, but you really make an impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and we take great pride in saluting each of you striving for excellence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Lucien\u00a0Ellington, a\u00a0professor in the School of Education and director of the Asia Program and the Center for Reflective Citizenship,\u00a0is also\u00a0a new\u00a0member of the\u00a0\u201c40-years\u00a0at UTC\u201d\u00a0club.\u00a0He has been the driving force in leading UTC\u2019s annual Constitution Day event, ensuring the day is honored and celebrated; this year\u2019s event will take place\u00a0on\u00a0Wednesday, Sept. 13.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a real attitude of gratefulness for UTC\u00a0because they rewarded me,\u201d Ellington said. \u201cIt\u2019s been a comfortable place to work for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ellington recalled that enrollment was fewer than 6,000 students when he first arrived at the University.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you know, we have more than doubled that enrollment,\u201d he said, \u201cand one of the interesting things is that it\u2019s still relatively easy to interact with the leadership team and with\u00a0other faculty members. That\u2019s a continuing asset.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parks\u00a0is a 1983 graduate of UTC with a bachelor\u2019s degree in business management. She has progressively worked her way up the administration ladder to the executive level during her 40 years at UTC, serving as a staff accountant, assistant bursar, bursar, director of disbursements, assistant vice chancellor and associate vice chancellor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember my\u00a0first day as an employee in the Financial Aid office. My first real boss was Ann Tinnon, the\u00a0director of Financial Aid,\u201d Parks recalled. \u201cAnd, as a student, I worked in the Testing Center\u00a0and was hired by Barbara Hyde.\u201d<\/p>\n

McKinney graduated cum laude from UTC with a\u00a0bachelor of music: vocal performance degree in 1984. Her work experience with the University includes stints with Music, Curriculum and Instruction,\u00a0the Graduate School,\u00a0the Southeast Center for Education in the Arts,\u00a0Human Ecology,\u00a0the Office of the Dean of Education,\u00a0the Office of the Provost and\u2014since 2015\u2014the Office of the Chancellor.<\/p>\n

She invited\u00a0Dr. Mary Tanner, retired dean of the College of Health, Education and Professional Studies, as her guest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spent 20 years in Education with Mary Tanner, which\u00a0included some of the best 20 years of my life,\u201d McKinney said, \u201cand she prepared me for moving on up. I\u00a0wouldn\u2019t have made it to this level without the training I received from working with her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following are the 2023 Service Award recipients, courtesy of Human Resources. The list includes several employees who recently left UTC.<\/p>\n

5-Year Service Awards<\/h4>\n