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GHC says farewell to two faculty membersJack Sharp By Whitney Anderson
What he believes to be the two biggest changes are the increased usage of technology in the classrooms and the elimination of tobacco use on campus. Back when Sharp began working here, there were disposable ashtrays on every desk in the classrooms. “Students were allowed to smoke in class, to dip snuff and to chew tobacco and spit into plastic cups - Yuk! Of course the use of tobacco was at the discretion of the individual instructors, and I allowed the usage of tobacco unless a student came to me with a complaint,” said Sharp.The biggest change in technology that Sharp said he has seen occurred in the middle of the 1990s with the advent of the college’s Information Technology (IT) Project. Every student, at then Floyd College, was required to bring a laptop computer to class. The students were able to have Internet access in every classroom, and they would follow along with the instructors, using CDs that the teachers gave them to use during class that contained all the necessary materials.Even though the IT project failed, Sharp still continues to use CDs that go along with the textbooks whenever possible, and several of his students follow along with their own CDs in class and at home. Sharp says that his greatest accomplishment while working at GHC is the publication of his textbook, “Precalculus,” which he co-authored with Phillip W. Bean, his good friend and professor of mathematics at Emory University, and Thomas J. Sharp, his brother and professor of mathematics at the University of West Georgia.The book was published in 1993 by the PWS-Kent Publishing Company in Boston, Mass. The textbook was used in teaching College Algebra and Precalculus at the college for two years. Sharp will be receiving his 30-year award at the annual faculty recognition super at the end of this semester.All the students who are going to miss Sharp don’t have to worry yet. He plans to teach here at GHC part time for as long as he is needed. By Mary Prickett 
Another long-time employee of Georgia Highlands College is saying goodbye. Carolyn Parks, associate professor of child development and director of the student success centers, will be retiring on July 1.
Parks started with the college in 1977 part-time and worked off and on until 1991, when she came on full-time. According to Parks, she worked with grant money and Head Start teachers. She has also taught Lifespan Psychology, as well as General Psychology and Early Childhood Education.Parks was the director of the Cartersville campus on Gilmer Street for eight years, until the new campus opened. In her current position she oversees the operation of the student success centers, which offer tutoring, assessment and advisement. “The best part of working with the college is all the advising I have done with students over the years,” Parks said. “It has been fun to watch tentative, unsure students become successful students. It has changed their lives.”Parks said that what she will miss most next year are her colleagues and student interactions. GHC faculty honored Parks by selecting her as the mace bearer in this year’s graduation ceremony.“I have no immediate plans,” Parks said. “I like furniture and antiques.” She said she would like to open a booth to sell antiques and antique furniture, but she would also like to spend time with her grandchildren. Parks has two children and said that she thinks that they will be fine with her retiring as long as it makes her happy.Parks is looking forward to her retirement and said that it’s time for a change. |
Dr. Jack Sharp, professor of mathematics at Georgia Highlands College, will be retiring in June after 30 years of service.