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It is our honor to announce the recipients of the 2021 SOCHE Staff Excellence Awards in Student Success and Service.

In September, the campus community was asked to make nominations for the Strategic Ohio Council for Higher Education (SOCHE) Staff Excellence Awards in Student Success and Service. Since this was the first year of awarding SOCHE Staff Excellence Awards, a subgroup of College Council, comprised of Adrian Colborn, Natalie Suzelis, and Hannah Montgomery, reviewed nominations and selected the winners for this inaugural year of SOCHE Staff Excellence Awards for Antioch College.

We are honored to announce that Beth Barnes has been selected for the Excellence in Student Success Award and Penny Adamson and Joshua Miller have been selected for the Excellence in Service Award.  Please find below the Statements of Excellence for each winner, based on the nomination forms we received:

Excellence in Student Success: Beth Barnes

Beth Barnes joined Antioch College in 2018 as Student Success Coordinator. Antioch students, faculty, and staff describe Beth as an “inspiration” and a “terrifically hard worker.” From her contributions to THRIVE, Antioch’s first-year student support program, to her leadership in the College’s First Care team, Beth engages in a variety of ways to support Antioch students, often using her experience as a teacher to connect with Antioch students and faculty. Most importantly, Beth is known for consistently putting students first and working tirelessly to increase student support on campus.

Excellence in Service: Penny Adamson

Penny Adamson has shown steadfast dedication to her work and to the College community. Every day, she puts focused attention into cleaning, caring for, and improving our College spaces. For example, before an accreditation visit, she scrubbed under the heat registers by hand and touched up dinged doorways in the President’s office. Even in the midst of challenges brought on by COVID-19, Penny has continued to go above and beyond in her service to the College. She has also been a person of support to our students and demonstrates a strong commitment to the Antioch community.   

Excellence in Service: Joshua Miller

For over 11 years, Joshua Miller has worked diligently in support of the Antioch mission. In his role as Assistant Facilities Manager, Joshua provides a high level of service in response to requests from faculty, staff, and students, and he does so with efficiency, care, and attention to detail. His kindness and respect to all members of the community shows throughout his work. In addition, Joshua shares readily his talents as a skilled woodworker, honing his craft with beautiful pieces such as wooden hand-sanitizer stations in response to COVID-19, a beautiful roundtable he personally made for our new president, and a swing set for our students.   

Congratulations to these amazing, hard-working individuals on these well-deserved awards, and thank you to everyone who participated in the nomination and selection process. Thanks to Adrian, Natalie, and Hannah for their hard work as a committee, and a special thanks to Hannah, specifically, for organizing and leading this effort to include staff in the SOCHE Staff Excellence Award this year, setting a precedent. We look forward to continuing this staff award process in the future.