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Mike Williams Honored by Southeast Two-Year College English Association
Mike Williams, HGTC Professor of English (left), receives Bill Doster Distinguished Service Award from Doug Branch, TYCA-SE Awards Chair (right), at the TYCA-SE Conference in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Horry-Georgetown Technical College (HGTC) is proud to announce that one of its own, Mike Williams- HGTC Professor of English, was honored with the 2023 Bill Doster Distinguished Service Award by the Two-Year College English Association-Southeast Region (TYCA-SE). Professor Williams was presented with the award at the TYCA-SE Conference in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which ran February 22-25, 2023.
“On behalf of the faculty and staff, we are thrilled that one of our very own is the recipient of this prestigious award. Professor Williams has been an advocate and supporter of the TYCA-SE organization through the years, and we know the honor is well deserved,” said Dr. Marilyn Murphy Fore, HGTC President.
Professor Williams’ service to TYCA-SE spans nearly 25 years. He has hosted two statewide conferences at HGTC that focused on a commitment to quality teaching of English at the two-year college level. Doug Branch, the awards chair for TYCA-SE, recalls Professor Williams’ many years of dedication to the organization.
“It would be difficult to overstate Mike’s service to TYCA-SE. That service began many years ago in 1999 after he attended the Institute in Technical Communication (ITC). Mike served as ITC Director from 2000-2004 and on TYCA-SE’s Regional Executive Committee (REC) in that capacity. He then served on the REC as the Local Arrangements Chair for the 2006 Conference in Myrtle Beach. After staying active as a conference attendee from 2007-2012, he was elected in 2013 by the South Carolina contingent as the State Representative. He served on the REC again from 2014-2016. In 2017, he was the Local Arrangements Co-Chair for TYCA-SE’s annual conference in Charleston. Over the years, he has been a tireless advocate of teaching English in the South Carolina two-year college system, putting together what South Carolinians used to call the annual “No-Frills” Conference. Since 2018, that group has been known as TYCA-SC, and Mike has been the primary host of this conference when it has been scheduled at HGTC’s campus in Myrtle Beach. He has been described as ‘a humble leader within TYCA-SE, firmly committed to the mission of what we do – teaching English to students who need our support, our kindness, our compassion and understanding, and our desire to help students in our region become successful in whatever it is they choose to do in their lives,’” said Doug Branch, Awards Chair, TYCA-SE.
“We are so proud of Mike, who deserves this award not only for loyal service to the organization but also service to his profession! Through Mike’s leadership and hard work, TYCA-SE is having a stronger impact on HGTC and the state of South Carolina,” said Sean Glassberg, HGTC Director of Faculty Development.
TYCA-SE is affiliated with the National Council Teachers of English (NCTE) and TYCA National. The organization allows English instructors in the community and technical college system to share and collaborate from Virginia to Florida and west to Mississippi.
The Bill Doster Distinguished Service Award was established in 2000 by the family of Bill Doster, the first Chair of TYCA-SE (then SCETC—The Southeast Conference of English in the Two-Year College). Though Bill taught at several colleges and universities, most of his 40+ years of teaching took place in two community colleges, Miami Dade, and the College of DuPage in Illinois. Bill was the author of numerous textbooks and journal articles on teaching, and he was a lively and active supporter of his colleagues and his profession. The Bill Doster Award honors his service by recognizing a TYCA-SE member of at least five years who has also served the organization in an outstanding way. The Doster Award winner is honored at the annual conference in several ways: with a special session in which he or she gives a presentation to the members, with waived registration fees, with a $500 stipend, with a lifetime membership to TYCA-SE, with a commemorative plaque, and with a reception following the presentation.
“Professor Williams provides this same energy and commitment at the college, and we are honored to have him on our team as well. We are all proud of his partnership, accomplishments, and passion for TYCA-SE,” said Dr. Jennifer Wilbanks, HGTC Executive Vice President for Academic and Workforce Development.