SSC’s GEAR UP Program Hosts Summer Camps

Seminole State College GEAR UP program recently completed two different residential camps for high school students in the month of June. The theme for the camps was Career Encounters, based upon the 1977 film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” Students toured career technical sites and college programs and then visited various businesses where employees perform the tasks and skills learned in the career tech or college programs.

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Presidential Summit

Members of the Executive Committee of the Oklahoma Association of Community Colleges Two-Year Presidents’ Council met in Seminole on July 19 for their annual planning retreat. Seminole State College President Lana Reynolds (center) completed her service as Chair of the Council in June. Others committee members pictured include (left to right): Redlands Community College President Jack Bryant, Member-at-Large; Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College President Kyle Stafford, Secretary; Connors State College President Ron Ramming, Chair; and Western Oklahoma State College President Chad Wiginton, Vice Chair. OACC comprises 12 member institutions in 30 locations throughout Oklahoma.

Mills Named 11th President of Hill College

Former Seminole State College Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Tom Mills has been named to serve as the 11th President of Hill College in Hillsboro, Texas.

The Hill College Board of Regents approved the appointment last week and Mills will begin his service as President on August 1, 2022.

Mills held a number of positions over the course of 16 years spent at Seminole State College. He served as Vice President for Academic Affairs for five years and the Athletic Director for four years. He also coached the men’s basketball team for nine of his years at the College.

Dr. Mills left SSC in 2019 to accept a position as the Vice President for Academic Affairs at the Tarrant County College Trinity River campus, located in Ft. Worth Texas.

He has almost 30 years experience working on community colleges in Texas and Oklahoma.

Mills began his education career at Rose State College where he received an associate of arts degree, followed by a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Central Oklahoma. He holds a doctoral degree in biochemistry from the University of Houston.

SSC Public Relations Team Wins Awards in Statewide Competition

Two members of Seminole State College’s Public Relations team won awards at the annual Oklahoma College Public Relations Association conference on July 11, held at the Artesian Hotel in Sulphur. The team members, Web and Multimedia Coordinator Brooks Nickell and Communications Coordinator Josh Hutton, won awards in three categories. Hutton won in the category of Cover Design for the institution’s 2020-2021 Annual Report. The cover celebrated the College’s 90th anniversary with a colorization of the original concept art for SSC’s first campus building, Tanner Hall.

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SSC Employee Completes Leadership Academy

Seminole State College Director of Advisement and Recruitment Britney Honsinger was honored at a reception on July 7 for completing the Council on Student Affairs’ Leadership Academy. The program was created by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education to facilitate the professional growth and career advancement of student affairs specialists and to create leadership skill development opportunities. The Leadership Academy is comprised of student affairs professionals who attend and participate in a yearlong series of forums led by experienced student affairs leaders

Honsinger has worked at SSC for nearly 4 years. She received her bachelor’s degree at the University of Oklahoma and her MBA at Louisiana State University. She and her husband, Nat, make their home in Earlsboro.

SSC Basketball Coach Inducted into Hall of Fame

Seminole State College Head Men’s Basketball Coach Don Tuley was inducted into the Oklahoma Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame on June 4 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Edmond. Tuley has been coaching for 43 years, nine of the years at SSC. His overall record is 708 wins and 308 losses.

Tuley won a 2001 NJCAA National Championship at Redlands Community College as an assistant coach and won the 2010 National Championship as a Head Coach of the Oklahoma Impact at the semi-professional level. The teams he has coached have won numerous sectional, district and region championships. He has coached and helped develop at more than 100 student-athletes who have gone on to play NCAA Division I basketball and/or professional basketball. Tuley was selected as an assistant coach at the 2004 McDonald’s All-American Game held in Oklahoma City.

He graduated with an associate’s degree from Murray State Community College in Tishomingo. He then went on to earn his bachelor’s degree from East Central University in Ada and completed his master’s degree in Education at The University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond.