Gwen Owens Named Administrator of the Year at SCTEA Conference

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2/12/99
(By Lisa Garrett)

HILTON HEAD --- Gwen Owens, who chairs Tri-County Technical College's Comprehensive Studies Division, was named administrator of the year at the annual South Carolina Technical Education Association conference.

Mrs. Owens, of Pelzer, received the honor at a February 12 conference awards luncheon. She competed against nominees from the other 15 technical colleges in the state.

She joined Tri-County in 1992 as developmental reading department head after 19 years as an elementary education teacher at Wren and Powdersville Middle Schools in Anderson County School District One. She was promoted to her current position last year.

Last August, she was one of 38 educators from across the United States to receive certification as a developmental education specialist from the Kellogg Institute for the Training and Certification of Developmental Educators. The Institute is the only one of its kind in the country offering training and certification to educational professionals who work with academically underprepared students on college campuses.

In 1996 she received the Johnnie Ruth Clark Instructor Award for Excellence in Community Colleges. She was honored by the National Council on Black American Affairs (Southern Region), a Council of the American Association of Community Colleges. The award is named after Dr. Johnnie Ruth Clark, an African American author, lecturer, administrator, mentor and trail blazer who emphasized access and excellence for all people. The same year she was selected to receive a 1996 NISOD Excellence Award in recognition of her outstanding contributions to teaching and learning.

In 1995 she received the highest award presented to faculty, the Presidential Medallion for Instructional Excellence at the commencement. Several years ago, she, along with two other Tri-County educators, was selected as an outstanding African American role model and was featured in a videotape produced as a major research project for the Department of Social Services.

While serving as reading department head at Tech, Mrs. Owens has introduced several innovative measures to motivate students to improve their reading skills, such as the partnership with Southwest Texas State University, whereby Tri-County students have been communicating with other students in Texas via the Internet.

In addition to her departmental duties, Mrs. Owens serves as faculty co-advisor for the Minority Student Association. She serves on the Access and Equity Advisory Committee where she explores and recommends ways for recruiting more blacks and improving the retention of black students.

In 1993, Mrs. Owens, her husband, Bobby, and their three children were named the National Black Family of the Year. They were chosen from more than 100 families across the United States and were honored at the National Black Family Summit in Columbia.

She is a member of the Association for Supervision of Curriculum Development and the International Reading Association. Community activities and memberships include the March of Dimes and Kappa Zeta Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., where she is president.

She and her family are members of Mt. Able Baptist Church, where she is a member of the Gospel Choir and serves as its secretary. She also is a Sunday School teacher and a deaconess. She is president of the Pulpit Aid Organization.

The Mullins native received her B.S. in elementary education from Clark College and her M. Ed. degree in reading from Clemson University.
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