{"id":3745,"date":"2011-04-29T11:02:23","date_gmt":"2011-04-29T17:02:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=3745"},"modified":"2018-06-01T11:26:20","modified_gmt":"2018-06-01T17:26:20","slug":"long-serving-faculty-and-staff-members-toasted-thursday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=3745","title":{"rendered":"Long-serving faculty and staff members feted Thursday"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Chancellor<\/a>Led by Paul Ballantyne, professor, Department of Economics, 70 faculty and staff members were honored Thursday for their commitment to the university for 25 or more years.<\/p>\n

UCCS was only two years old when Ballantyne arrived in the fall of 1967. The Cragmor Campus, as the university was then called, was still in the beginnings of its transition from bankrupt tuberculosis sanitarium to a free-standing campus when Ballantyne arrived.<\/p>\n

\u201cComing here was kind of a challenge after leaving the Air Force Academy and flying fighter planes,” Ballantyne said. \u201cI\u00a0 came\u00a0 to teaching economics at a former hospital with more bathrooms than classrooms, but I was surrounded by good people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ballantyne will retire following the spring semester with 44 years service to the campus, including 30 years singing at commencement ceremonies, and will receive a special chancellor\u2019s award at the Campus Awards Ceremony.<\/p>\n

\"Black<\/p>\n

With descriptions that included charismatic, intelligent, enthusiastic, and student-focused, Ballantyne was feted by Jim Null, professor, Department of Political Science; Ken Pellow, professor, English; Dale DeBoer, associate professor, Department of Economics,\u00a0 Don Birkeland, a former\u00a0Department of Psychology faculty member,\u00a0and Tim Tregarthan, professor emeritus, Department of Economics. Tregarthan, now living in California, made his comments via a Skype connection.<\/p>\n

“Having been here all of these years, I\u2019ve learned a lot more than I\u2019ve taught,”\u00a0 Ballantyne said. “I\u2019ve had colleagues who have taught me about life a lot more than I\u2019ve taught them. If there\u2019s anything that God did give me was the ability to learn from those with whom I associated, and with whom I put my trust. That was the faculty members and you students.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Black<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Paul<\/a><\/p>\n

The names, department, and years of service for others honored Thursday follow, and photos from the event are below.<\/p>\n