OCC names faculty member of the year

Terry Timmins, a sociology and anthropology professor at Orange Coast College since 1971, has been voted the campus’ faculty member of the year by his colleagues.

At the end of November, faculty and staff members voted Timmins the 17th instructor to take OCC’s top teaching honor. In April, the Iowa native will deliver a 30-minute campus lecture on the philosophy of teaching, and he is set to be the featured speaker at OCC’s commencement in May.

“I feel humbled by it,” Timmins said Monday. “I know we have a lot of outstanding professors and teachers on campus, young and old. Just to be among the list of candidates was an honor. After 36 years of teaching and a great career, it’s like an icing on the cake.”

In addition, Jim Stead, a technician in the reprographics department, and Jennifer Peters, a business communications and public relations instructor, were honored in the staff and part-time faculty categories.

In mid-November, students and staff members nominated people in all three categories for the recognition program, which is sponsored by the academic senate and the staff development office. After faculty and staff members voted on Nov. 28 and 29, the campus announced the winners late last week.

Timmins, who beat out seven contenders for the full-time faculty prize, was nominated by economics professor Michael Olds and history professor Marilyn Kelly. Olds said he gave Timmins a nod largely because of his work as a club advisor. This year, Timmins oversees the Amnesty International Club, Muslim Student Assn. and Environmental Sustainability Club, and he has mentored others in the past.

“Stray clubs come and they’re looking for someone to take them on,” Olds said. “Other professors say, ‘We don’t have time, we don’t have time.’ Terry has sort of the reputation that if everyone else turns you down, give Terry a try.”

Born in Iowa and raised in Houston, Timmins spent four years in the Marine Corps before graduating from OCC in 1967. Four years later, he got a job on campus as a sociology teacher. In the 1970s, he co-founded the campus’ recycling center and later advised OCC’s Table Tennis Club for 18 years.

Stead, born in Long Beach, has worked for 10 years in OCC’s reprographics center, making prints for others on campus. When he heard about his honor late Thursday night he felt grateful but wished there were more awards to spread around.

“I’m quite honored, of course,” he said. “There’s an awful lot of us doing the same thing here. It’s a shame we can’t have 20 of these [awards] to pass around every year.”

Peters, a native New Yorker who has taught at OCC for nine years, also greeted her good news modestly.

“It’s exciting,” she said. “It’s kind of nice to be rewarded when you just hang around campus a couple of hours a week.”