Excellence Awards
Jeff Jones and Kristin Pimentel

Jeff Jones Recognized with Teaching Excellence Award

Engineering and Technology Division teacher Jeff Jones has been honored with this year’s Cuesta College Teaching Excellence Award.

The accolade is no surprise to those who are familiar with Jones’ dedication to both his students and profession. Primarily due to Jones, Cuesta’s Engineering and Technology department is now the largest and most comprehensive program of its type of any community college in the entire United States. (Two years ago, in fact, Jones was awarded the Community Colleges Educator Award of the Pacific Southwest States by the American Society for Engineering Educators.)

Those nominating Jones were passionate about the work he does for Cuesta -- a job that includes heading a highly technical and complicated curriculum with eight part-time instructors. Jones is also active in the Engineering Liaison Committee, whose membership is comprised of California engineering instructors. In addition, he has made a consistent effort over the years to attend conferences and workshops in order to stay current with technology and teaching techniques.

Says nominator Chris Akelian: “Jeff is not only a model instructor to his students, but an inspiration and mentor to his peers. No matter how busy Jeff is, he still makes time for people.” Marlene Williams says: “We should recognize Jeff Jones for his abilities, dedication, consistency and skills. And besides, he’s just a great guy to work with – very easy going, great sense of humor, liked and respected by all of his peers.” And Bob Davidson notes that Jones “seems to have a gift to encourage and support his students, more than just answer questions.”

Sponsored by the Cuesta College Foundation, the Teaching Excellence Award recognizes faculty who show leadership in course organization and presentation while also keeping current with educational methodology. Recipients must be a current, tenured or temporary full-time or part-time instructor who has taught at Cuesta College for a minimum of five years, and has fulfilled at least three full-time equivalent years.

As this year’s winner, Jeff Jones will receive a gift of $500 from the Foundation. Jones is a resident of Arroyo Grande and started teaching at Cuesta in l990, immediately beginning his Cuesta career as a full-time faculty member.

Service Excellence Award Goes to Kristin Pimentel

Cheerfully working beyond regular office hours... making every person feel welcome, no matter what task or question is thrown her way... fixing computer problems on the spot. All of these attributes, and much more, make Kristin Pimentel the worthy recipient of this year’s Cuesta College Service Excellence Award.

An Admissions and Records Technology Specialist, Pimentel juggles the needs of those not just in her office, but in the Financial Aid, Counseling and Extended Opportunities Programs and Services (EOPS) departments. In addition, with her ongoing knowledge of computer hardware and software, Pimentel helps facilitate Cuesta staff and students with access to web and electronic services. And as the longest-employed person in A&R, Pimentel’s experience in testing new programs, reporting anomalies and documenting information helped make for a smooth transition to the new student records system.

Here are some comments from those who nominated Pimentel:
“She goes above and beyond the call of duty in her correspondence with me as we troubleshot computer or technical issues that affect A&R... I believe she is an invaluable asset to Cuesta College.”

“Her work is thorough, thoughtful and consistent. She is diligent and persistent in working toward not only her work goals but her personal development goals as well. For me, she represents the model Cuesta employee.”

“Kristin in one of the hardest working, most dedicated Cuesta employees I have known. She has never turned down anyone who needed help, no matter how busy or under the gun she is.”

Pimentel has worked for Cuesta for 16 years – first as a student, then hourly employee and lastly, full-time classified employee. Established as an endowment fund by the Cuesta College Foundation Board of Directors, the Service Excellence Award recognizes distinguished performance and excellence in service at Cuesta College. All non-teaching, regular full-time and part-time employees who have been employed by Cuesta for four years or longer are eligible to be nominated. As part of the honor, Pimentel will receive a check in the amount of $500 from the Cuesta Foundation.