Faculty & Staff News
99¸£ÀûÊÓƵ’s Jay Lively Receives Starfish Award for Exemplary Work in Prison Education
March 9, 2026 Pathways to Freedom Coordinator Jay Lively’s job comes with its fair share of challenges.
99¸£ÀûÊÓƵ Faculty Art Show on Display in Coman Gallery
September 25, 2025 From oil painting and wire sculpture to ceramics and wheel-thrown pottery, 99¸£ÀûÊÓƵ’s art instructors provide students a gateway into many art forms on campus.
99¸£ÀûÊÓƵ Fine Art Instructor Ani Volkan Finds Inspiration in Armenian Roots and Ancient Folk Tales
September 25, 2025 Ani Volkan is the art instructor behind 99¸£ÀûÊÓƵ's faculty art show, which is currently on display through October 17 in the Coman Gallery. Volkan took some time to talk with us about her own art, which centers around textiles, old family photographs, and her Armenian roots.
99¸£ÀûÊÓƵ Aviation Instructor Recounts Saving Dozens From The Roof Of Unicoi County Hospital
September 22, 2025 In this news clip from WCYB News 5, Jeffrey Bush, a full-time aviation instructor at 99¸£ÀûÊÓƵ, shares his experience as part of a team that rescued dozens of people trapped on the roof of the Unicoi County Hospital in Erwin, Tennessee, after Hurricane Helene.
Instructor Dave Shimek Coaches Tourists Players with English
August 28, 2025 Many of 99¸£ÀûÊÓƵ’s English Language Acquisition (ELA) instructors have taught across the globe before landing in Asheville. ELA instructor Dave Shimek has never taught abroad, but he has taught in a world not many teachers have traveled.
Author and 99¸£ÀûÊÓƵ Career Counselor Mark Bloom Chronicles Travel Misadventures in New Book
August 21, 2025 By day, author, world traveler, and career counselor Mark Bloom helps students and locals find work at the NC Works Career Lab, one of 99¸£ÀûÊÓƵ’s community partners.
Math Instructor David Pereda Remains Active in Life’s Arena at 80
July 28, 2025 Author and 99¸£ÀûÊÓƵ adjunct instructor David Pereda’s life reads a lot like one of his own thrilling adventure tales.
Full Circle: Chef Michelle Bailey Returns to 99¸£ÀûÊÓƵ as Instructor
July 22, 2025 When 99¸£ÀûÊÓƵ Chef Instructor Michelle Bailey started working in restaurants in her early teens, the job was simply a way to pay her bills. But by the time Bailey had worked her way up to executive chef by 27, she had fallen in love with the sights and sounds of the kitchen.
Radio Active: Campus Radio Operators Help Neighbors After Helene
February 27, 2025 When Helene struck Western North Carolina, knocking out power and all the usual forms of wireless, broadcast, and cellular communications, amateur radio operators stepped into the void and became heroes.
Wax, Paper and Wood: Culinary Instructor Bronwen McCormick's Recipe for Resilience
December 16, 2024 Artist and Culinary Lab Manager and Instructor Bronwen McCormick is no stranger to loss. The watercolor painter experienced the unexpected death of her husband in 2022. The sting of that loss temporarily halted her creative life, including her painting practice.