Dr. Kathleen Christensen, vice president of student support and success systems, testified at a December hearing before the Texas Senate Higher Education Subcommittee. The topic was academic advising. Fellow panelists included Higher Education Commissioner Dr. Raymund Paredes; Dr. Michael Raney, assistant dean, UT-Austin College of Natural Sciences; Dr. Karen Jarrell, UT-Dallas university registrar and director of academic records; and Ben Dearman, University of North Texas associate registrar.

The Biltmore Who’s Who has named Automotive Technology Professor David Chavez as Top Technician of the Year. Chavez has Toyota, Honda, Lexus, and Acura master certifications.

Adult Education instructor Dennis McCown has been nominated for a Western Writers of America Spur Award and Wild West History Association Award for his article “The Cowboy Rock Art of Trinchera Pass,” published in the April 2008 edition of Wild West magazine. Texas Tech University Press also is reviewing McCown’s manuscript about an 1895 murder, and he has authored the foreword of a new book by Chuck Parsons.