Jordan Honored With RCC Academic Excellence Award

ASHEBORO (April 20, 2011)

David L. Jordan of Asheboro was honored as Randolph Community College's Academic Excellence Award recipient at a North Carolina Community College System luncheon in Raleigh on April 14. Jordan will graduate from RCC's Electrical/Electronics Technology program on May 11 with a 4.0 GPA.

David L. Jordan of Asheboro was one of more than 65 individuals honored by the North Carolina Community College System during its 2011 Excellence Event, "The Great Within the 58" on April 14 at the Jane S. McKimmon Conference and Training Center on N.C. State University's campus. The awards luncheon was part of a weeklong celebration of "North Carolina Community College Excellence in Education," as proclaimed by Governor Bev Perdue.

"Excellence occurs every day at each of our 58 community colleges," said Dr. Scott Ralls, NCCCS president. "While we continue to serve more students with fewer resources, the people we recognized today are shining examples of how community college staff, faculty and administration continue to pull together and offer hope to the students who enter our doors looking for new opportunities and new beginnings."

Jordan is a student in the Electrical/Electronics Technology program at Randolph Community College. He will graduate on May 11 with an associate degree, diploma and certificate in the program.

Each of the 58 community colleges was asked to select one recipient based on criteria consistent with Phi Theta Kappa requirements: currently enrolled, have completed at least 12 semester hours in an associate degree program, and must have a cumulative grade point average of not less than 3.25. RCC set further criteria for applicants, who were required to have completed at least 32 semester hours and have between a 3.75 and 4.0 grade point average. Twenty-eight students completed application packets that included a 100- to 200-word success story describing their North Carolina community college experiences and faculty letters of recommendation. A committee of RCC faculty and staff members chose the final recipient.

In his support letter, RCC Electrical/Electronics instructor Tom Jones said, "David is the kind of student who exhibits leadership and has a great aptitude for his chosen field. He takes the time for study that is necessary and spends a lot of extra time at school for other leadership activities. I know he is quite deserving."

Jordan said he had been employed at Burlington Industries for 22 years and planned on retiring there. "When the plant shut down in September of 2001, I felt like I had no future," he said. "As time progressed, my wife and I lost a total of five other jobs due to cutbacks and layoffs." Jordan said health insurance was critical at that time because of his wife's heart condition, "so a new job was paramount in those times."

After another layoff in 2009, Jordan said a door finally opened and, at age 48, he enrolled in the Electrical/Electronics Technology program at RCC. He said he chose that major because of the increasing use of electronic equipment and the growing presence of robotics in manufacturing.

Since he has been at RCC, Jordan has been on the President's List with a 4.0 GPA, was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa honor society, and was a graduate of this year's RCC Student Leadership Academy.

"At times, balancing my academic career with the other demands of life has been a struggle," he said. "However, my involvement with the Student Leadership Academy has helped convince me that there is a bright light at the end of the tunnel. I can say now that nothing is going to stop me from obtaining my degree and securing not only a job, but a career with a future."

Before the luncheon at the McKimmon Center, the Academic Excellence Award recipients attended a reception at the Executive Mansion.