GMC News

Dr. Jeannie Zipperer and Ms. Ursula Lande honored
Dr. Jeannie Zipperer (left) has been named the 2014 Character Educator of the Year for the Milledgeville campus of Georgia Military College. Dr. Zipperer engages her students in the classroom as well as extra-curricular settings that greatly add to the students’ academic experience and their personal development. Dr. Zipperer teaches political science utilizing student-centered techniques such as debates and vigorous classroom discussions, and her high academic standards that make her the go-to professor for students and her peers. She facilitates learning and deep thinking by teaching the importance of intellectual argument and recognition of fallacies. She coaches her students in teams to prepare for class debates using active student engagement while fostering critical thinking, collaborative education, and improved public speaking skills. She volunteered to share her techniques during the 2014 Spring Faculty Assembly by presenting her award-winning lesson plan. Demonstrating the leadership principle of setting the example, Dr. Zipperer agreed to serve as the advisor for GMC Milledgeville Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) and led the organization to new heights. She was instrumental in getting GMC’s Milledgeville campus selected as the host institution of the 2013 Regional PTK Conference. When she took on the challenge of being the faculty advisor for PTK there were an average of about ten members per quarter. Now membership has exceeded 100 during some academic quarters which is a testament to her impact on students’ lives and character development. Dr. Zipperer also spearheaded the recent formation of the Milledgeville Campus Student Veterans Association (SVA). She used her influence to ensure one of the founding concepts of the organization is student engagement in service learning concerning veteran issues. This builds into the SVA from its inception the ethical component of service to others which fits the GMC motto: Duty, Honor, and Country. Dr. Zipperer personifies the ethical traits of integrity, judgment, and unselfishness by sharing her time, intellect, and vast experience in helping students learn to develop their ethical reasoning and improve their character. Ms. Ursula Lande (right) has been named the 2014 Junior College Educator of the Year for the Milledgeville campus of Georgia Military College. She has consistently performed in an exemplary manner as both an educator in the classroom and as the Department Chair for Social and Behavioral Sciences as well as Criminal Justice. In the classroom, Ms. Lande uses innovative and effective teaching strategies and techniques. Some examples are the use of debates, group presentations, research analysis, literature reviews, and reflective essays. Additionally, all of the students in her HSE 101 course (Introduction to Homeland Security and Emergency Management) complete the online certification for the Community Emergency Response Team as part of the course requirements. This certification provides her students with documentation that they can use to demonstrate competencies in the area of emergency management. Ms. Lande began her academic career at GMC in 2011 and has proven to be a top performer in all of her activities both in and out of the classroom. One recent example is her creation of a GMC Student Panel, which will present its research at the Southern Criminal Justice Association Conference in September 2014. Since this is a regional conference, and most GMC students will attend 4-year schools within the southeastern United States, their presence at the conference gives them an opportunity to network with schools in the area. This ties in directly to the Critical Thinking focus of GMC’s Quality Enhancement Plan and allows students to see tangible benefits of research. Furthermore, Ursula created a Student Panel that presented research at the national American Society of Criminology Conference in Atlanta in November 2013. There, three students presented their research and networked with students, faculty, and practitioners from across the country as well as attended panels that show the latest research trends in criminology. Ms. Lande’s combination of in-depth academic skills, theoretical and practical knowledge, and exemplary work ethic designate her as one of Georgia’s top-notch Criminal Justice faculty.