Southeast Community College board, staff and alumni honored at NCCA event

BEATRICE - The Nebraska Community College Association honored Southeast Community College at an Annual Awards Ceremony Sunday, in Norfolk. SCC Board of Governors member Nancy Seim won the NCCA Governors Award. In addition, Ed Koster, Dr. Phip Ross and Scott Volk were named SCC’s administrator, faculty member and alumni of the year.

SCC President Dr. Paul Illich, said “each person we honored had a significant role in the College’s growth and transformation over the years.”

Seim was first elected to the Board in 2000 and served as Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. She is considered a leader in strategic planning and student success initiatives. She served as Board Chair during the pandemic and her leadership led to enrollment growth and the launching of several key initiatives. Illich said Seim also played a major role in legislative matters relating to the new community college funding model in Nebraska.

The Administrator Award went to Koster, Vice President of research planning and technology and the Milford Campus Executive Director.

After 10 years, Koster will retire in November with a legacy that includes a 50% enrollment growth in Milford and completion of more than $30 million in construction projects. One of his final projects was working with the Suzanne and Walter Scott Foundation to establish a 10-year, $7.6 million scholarship program.

Illich said, “His dedication to enhancing the collegiate experience for our Milford students will be difficult to replace.”

Ross was the Faculty Award Recipient and has made significant contributions to student success and faculty development as English instructor, program chair and Writing Center coordinator in his 21 years at SCC. In 2012, he spearheaded the creation of the Transitions Lab to support the efforts to accelerate student progress through developmental math and English courses. Ross founded the Nebraska Developmental Education Consortium and was named the NDEC Teacher of the Year in 2023.

Volk is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at MetalQuest. He graduated from the Manufacturing Engineering Program. A member of the SCC Precision Machining and Automation Technology Program’s Workforce Leadership Team, Volk provides valuable insight to SCC faculty on curriculum development which meets industry standards. Volk chairs the Nebraska Manufacturing Advisory Council.

The NCCA is comprised of five member schools: Central, Mid-Plains, Northeast, Southeast, and Western Nebraska.