Tammy Watkins named National Communicator of the Year

The National Council for Marketing & Public Relations honored Tammy Watkins of Millsboro as its 2017 National Communicator of the Year at the organization's annual conference in March.

Watkins was the northeast regional recipient of the award in 2016 and competed against six other community college communication professionals for the national designation. The award honors a two-year college marketing professional who has demonstrated special leadership and ability in college communication.

Watkins currently serves as instructional coordinator and full-time faculty at Delaware Technical Community College. In this role she teaches business, management, marketing, and training and development courses. She also assists with strategic planning, recruitment, advising, retention and student success initiatives, and evaluation of adjunct faculty. Prior to her recent job change, Watkins served as assistant vice president for marketing and public relations at Delaware Tech from 2012 to 2016, providing statewide leadership, administrative oversight and coordination of all marketing, public relations, advertising, social media and crisis communication.

With a career spanning more than two decades at Delaware Tech, Watkins is characterized by her peers as a consummate professional and leader. As assistant vice president for marketing and public relations, she provided leadership for an independent, comprehensive marketing study and led the development of a new statewide marketing campaign. She collaborated closely with administrators and staff to address student needs at every level. She served as a key member of the Student Success Committee to increase student connections with the college and transition to college life.

Watkins joined Delaware Tech in 1996 as a graphic designer and has held a variety of other positions at the college, including marketing coordinator, marketing operations manager and instructional director/department chair for the business administration and computer information systems programs at the Owens Campus. Watkins has a bachelor's degree in communication, journalism and public relations from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania and a master's degree in education from the University of Delaware. She is currently pursuing her doctoral degree in educational leadership from Delaware State University.

The council supports the professional development of community college communicators, serving more than 1,700 members from more than 550 colleges across the United States and Canada. It is the only organization of its kind that exclusively represents marketing and public relations professionals at community and technical colleges and is one of the largest affiliates of the American Association of Community Colleges.