At the end of the spring semester, Dr. Ginger Clark was awarded the Paragon Award for New Presidents at Catalyst 2020, the annual convention of the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Honor Society.
The event was held virtually in April 2020. More than 500 college presidents were eligible to receive this award, but only 28 received the honor.
Dr. Clark, campus president at the Hillsborough Community College Ybor City Campus, was nominated by Professor Myria Evans, the advisor to the Alpha Beta Beta chapter of PTK at HCC Ybor City.
The award is given to new college presidents who have shown strong support of student success by recognizing academic achievement, leadership and service among high-achieving students at their college.
Dr. Clark has served as the Ybor City Campus president since 2019.
“When I first came to Ybor, Professor Evans was one of the first people that I wanted to meet with. During my first week as president, I reached out to her to schedule a meeting because I knew that the work that PTK was doing across the College was important for students. At the time, specifically on the Ybor City Campus, they had been putting great effort to build PTK and bring more honors courses to the campus. I thought that these were significant priorities for the campus to undertake.
I simply asked her, ‘How can I support you in the effort to continue to grow and expand PTK across the College as well as here on our campus?’”
Among Dr. Clark’s efforts to best support the campus PTK chapter is financial backing.
Viraj Amarasinghe, president of the Alpha Beta Beta chapter, has worked with Professor Evans to work out obstacles that may deter students from accepting membership. One being the $75 one-time membership fee, which, for some students, could be better used towards textbooks or other essentials.
In the spring, Viraj presented a proposal to Dr. Clark that highlighted the membership fee as an ongoing barrier to the growth of PTK.
“I responded to him and stated that what I am willing to do is pledge support to ten students on the Ybor City Campus. I will find the money within our budget and implement this next year. Hopefully, this will serve as a push for the other campus presidents to step up and also find ways to support the membership fees of their students on their respective campus.
What I hope by providing more financial support is that we’ll be able to reach out and touch more individuals who maybe have not been noted for their academic achievements and accomplishments. We’re going to be able to give them that recognition which I think then turns into motivation for even greater achievements.
Unfortunately, it seems that oftentimes individuals look at community colleges and they don’t necessarily understand or appreciate the academic abilities of the students that we have. It’s something that we need to work harder to promote.
I want our students to have a sense of family and connection at our campus. To me, everything we do is ultimately about relationships. All of us are only as successful as those around us, and I think through PTK, students can begin to understand and appreciate their own personal and professional growth.
I’ve seen these students challenge each other academically, but also provide each other with an incredible support system. Individually they might be dealing with different challenges in their life, and I’ve seen them build connections with each other. It’s really a great community to be a part of.”
Looking towards the future of the Alpha Beta Beta chapter, Dr. Clark says, “I don’t know how they’ll top themselves! They are so very humble.”
The chapter received the Chancellor’s Student Service Chapter Award as well as named as the Regional Service Chapter of the Florida Region for the third year in a row at the 2020 Florida College System All-Academic Team competition.
Dr. Clark reflects and says, “I’ve been at the College for 15 years, first at the Ybor City Campus and then at our District office for 13 years. One of the concerns I had returning to a campus was, ‘Will I be able to connect with the students?’
Receiving the Paragon Award was, in a great way, an affirmation that what I do and what we all do matters, and the work we do is impacting students in a positive way. That is ultimately why I chose to go into higher education; I wanted to make a change in students' lives. The award was an affirmation that maybe, just maybe, I'm making a little difference in my corner of the world, which just so happens to be the HCC Ybor City Campus.”