Submitted by South Puget Sound Community College
South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC) is honored to recognize six newly tenured faculty who have worked 24 years at the college combined. Tenure is a three-year process in which faculty members must satisfactorily perform required assignments that are instructional, as well as non-instructional, within their assigned area of discipline. Assignments include instruction, designing a curriculum, service work, and more. Their performance is under review by a Probationary Review Committee that reports to the Board of Trustees. At the end of three successful years, the Board grants the award of tenure.
Marie Dunn
Chemistry Professor
Marie Dunn thinks “chemistry is awesome” and continues to share her enthusiasm with her students every quarter. Dunn strives to witness her students’ “ah-ha” moments when figuring out how molecules interact to create the materials that influence our lives daily. After teaching high school for six years, Dunn did some soul searching and decided to continue her education in order to teach where she could really make a difference–at a community college. In her free time, Dunn teaches music lessons and plays flute for the South Puget Sound College Orchestra and the Tacoma Concert Band. She is looking forward to touring Europe next summer with the Tacoma Concert Band.
Marie Dunn received her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of Utah and her Master of Science in Chemistry from Central Washington University.
Shelley Horn
Medical Assisting Professor
Shelley Horn has been working at SPSCC since fall quarter 2014. She teaches a number of medical assisting classes including Medical Terminology, Medical Office Exposure Control, Clinical Procedures, Diagnostic Procedures, and Pharmacology for Medical Assistants.
Daniel Main
Welding Professor
Daniel (Dan) Main has always enjoyed learning and helping others reach their goals. Main has 17 years of welding education experience and first welded when he was 12 years old in his dad’s garage. Seeing his parents be self-reliant doing building and repair projects is what initially sparked his interest for the valuable skill of welding. Main’s favorite part of teaching at a community college is “getting to know the students, seeing their successes and following their careers.” When he is not teaching welding, you can find him wood working, boating, traveling and spending time with family and friends.
Daniel Main received his Associates in Arts from South Puget Sound Community College and Bachelor in Science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Charles Schooler
Music Professor
Charles (Chip) Schooler became interested in conducting as a young high school student. He started pulsing time by holding a pencil as a baton while listening to the few symphonic recordings his parents owned. Schooler quit the basketball team for the opportunity to become the student conductor for his high school pep band. SPSCC has given Schooler “the opportunity to bring the local music community into the college and to grow the college’s offerings to enhance the musical needs of our community.” Schooler stated that, “It has been an awesome experience to work in a new environment and embrace the challenges that come with new responsibilities. I am grateful to be a part of SPSCC.”
Charles Schooler studied conducting with Leonard Pearlemann at the University of Arizona and with Marvin Rabin and William Jones as a conducting fellow at the American Orchestral Institute.
Sarah Patterson
Welding Professor
Sarah Patterson has been working at SPSCC since fall quarter 2014. She teaches Welding Theory, Thermal Cutting and Gouging, Oxyacetylene Welding, Shielded Metal Arc Welding, Print Reading for Welders, Gas Metal Arc Welding, Flux Cored Arc Welding and Tungsten Arc Welding.
Ting Song
Civil Engineering/CAD Professor
Ting Song has “always wanted to teach in the field of engineering.” She is passionate about engineering education and strives to teach the subject in a better way than how she was taught at her university. Song enjoys that most of her students take multiple classes with her, giving her the chance to “really get to know all of [her] students and connect with them.” Song uses her prior experience working as a civil engineer for over two years in China and applies it to her teaching style. In her free time, she likes to cook food that reminds her of home and spend time quality with her husband and son.
Ting Song received her Bachelor in Civil and Environmental Engineering degree from Tianjin University and her Master in Engineering Education from Utah State University.
