Wanda Brown Wins Regional Honors
from the Association of Community College Trustees
ASHEBORO (September 19, 2008)
Wanda C. Brown, executive assistant to the president and the Board of Trustees at Randolph Community College, has been named the recipient of the 2008 Southern Regional Professional Board Staff Award by the Association of Community College Trustees. The award will be presented at a luncheon on Oct. 31 during the ACCT Annual Community College Leadership Congress in New York. Out of five regional winners (southern, northeast, central, pacific, and western), one will be chosen as the ACCT Professional Board Staff member, which will be announced later that same day.
Brown joined Randolph Community College in September 1982, originally as secretary for the Associate Degree Nursing director; she has been the executive assistant for three presidents at RCC for the last 20 years. "When I became president of Randolph Community College, the major reason I had very little anxiety about stepping into this new role was that I worked at this college before and knew Wanda Brown's abilities and knowledge," said RCC President Robert S. Shackleford in Brown's nomination narrative. "While learning my role as president, I asked Wanda thousands of questions about Board of Trustees procedures, community events and leaders, the history of situations and people at the college, and the president's role in numerous activities, organizations, and events. Her knowledge base was very impressive, and I realized that I was being tactfully and considerately tutored and mentored by a true professional, one of the very best executive assistants in the business."
Brown oversees the organization and arrangements for all Board of Trustees meetings, including committee meetings; plans and organizes board retreats; worked closely with presidential search committees for RCC in 1999 and 2006; and oversees the organization and arrangements for all events for the president's office. Brown helped the Board of Trustees develop the Distinguished Service Award, spearheaded the development of a comprehensive board manual for each board member, and worked with the board to rewrite and develop goals and policies relative to the board’s responsibilities.
For 20 years, from 1987-2007, Brown served as the elected secretary to the Randolph Community College Foundation. From 2005 to 2007, she chaired the College's Enrollment Management Committee, and she coordinated the state "Prepare Program" for RCC employees for several years, holding retirement and benefits workshops several times a year. Since 2002, she has been a member of the national organization of the Professional Board Staff Network. She has attended the ACCT Congress meetings each year since she joined the organization.
Brown was active in the State Employees' Association of North Carolina, serving as District 17 treasurer and delegate to the State Employees' Convention. She also chairs the local State Employees Credit Union Advisory Board and is currently serving her fourth two-year term on the board. She is a member of the RCC Staff Association.
While working at RCC, Brown has also pursued, received and continues to maintain her North Carolina Real Estate Broker's license. She has been an appointed Notary Public for the state of North Carolina since March of 1991. In 2003, she received her certification as a Notary Public instructor and taught classes at RCC for several months following.
Brown is a member of Center Cross Baptist Church and has served as Sunday School teacher for young children, Vacation Bible School director (six years), and member of the Parsonage Committee. She currently serves as the assistant Sunday School secretary and church pianist, a position she has held for 48 years.
She earned a secretarial degree from Asheboro Commercial College and is a past member of the Gamma Phi Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi Sorority. Before joining RCC, she worked at Randolph Savings and Loan for 17 years.
Brown lives in the Ulah community with her husband, R. Wade Brown Jr. They have one daughter and two grandsons.
