ORANGE, Calif. - Santiago Canyon College (SCC) recently recognized the recipients of the 2024-2025 Faculty Excellence Awards and Distinguished Classified Awards.
The Faculty Excellence Award honors the best examples of academic excellence from SCC’s distinguished instructional staff as determined by students and peers.
The 2024-2025 Faculty Excellence Awardees are:
- Full-Time Faculty Excellence Award: Scott James
- PT Faculty Excellence Award: Cynthia Ferrufino
- PT CE Faculty Excellence Award: Eduardo I. Sosa
Scott “Scotty” James' journey at Santiago Canyon College spans over 26 years. He has evolved from student to classified professional to full-time faculty. His career path reflects a profound commitment to accessibility and student success.
Beginning as a student worker, a member of the Honors program, and a campus advocate, Scotty earned election as student senator, representing his peers' interests while developing leadership skills. While completing his bachelor's degree, he secured a full-time position at SCC in the Disabled Students Programs & Services (DSPS).
It was within DSPS that Scotty discovered his passion for assistive technology. Working with visually impaired students, he witnessed how text-to-speech technology transformed their educational experience, providing crucial access to course materials. Students using this technology often learned to read at three times the speed of typical visual readers. Scotty also mastered text-to-speech reading and now considers it his "mini superpower." This experience inspired him to earn an M.A. in Educational Technologies to deepen his expertise in adaptive learning tools.
Throughout his career progression, Scotty has remained at the forefront of educational technology at SCC. As professor and Distance Education Coordinator, he has championed the improvement of SCC's online learning program, increasing student success rates by approximately 10% and helping faculty transition to quality online instruction during unprecedented challenges.
Today, Scotty's work focuses on AI and educational equity. He advocates for AI implementation not as a replacement for human connection, but as an accessibility tool customized to diverse learning needs.
He presented to the California Community Colleges Board of Governors, giving SCC a voice in shaping statewide AI policies. Additionally, he serves as a subject matter expert for the AI 4 Learning Network, a prestigious collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University, AXIM Collaborative (the Harvard-MIT joint endeavor that succeeded edX), and College of the Canyons, developing AI curriculum for educators.
In recognition of his pioneering work and expertise, Scotty was selected for the highly competitive AI Innovation Fellowship with the California Community College Chancellor's Office, positioning him among thought leaders developing comprehensive frameworks and ethical guidelines for AI integration across California community colleges. Scotty's career exemplifies how technology, when thoughtfully applied, can create more equitable educational opportunities—and sometimes give us little superpowers.
The Distinguished Classified Award recognizes the SCC Classified employees who best exemplify their dedication, work and team performance, and are an inspiration to the campus community.
The 2024-2025 Distinguished Classified Awardees are:
- FT Distinguished Classified Award: Charles Kang
- PT Distinguished Classified Award: Patty Lupercio
- SCC Spirit Award: Tracy Montana
Charles Kang started working at SCC as the Textbook Buyer for the Bookstore in October 2018. In this position, Charles has had the unique opportunity to work closely with many different departments and groups around campus. In March 2022 Charles was promoted to Operations Specialist due to his reliability and dedication to hard work.
In April 2023, Charles was the Interim Bookstore Manager for 18-months, providing stability and growth for the Bookstore and Perch Café. Prior to Charles’ employment at SCC, he spent 7 years earning his AA from Cypress College and then 3 years at Cal State Fullerton earning a BA in Business Administration. Although the journey took a while by taking one or two classes a semester, Charles recognized the importance of balancing work and the need to complete his education.
Charles is known around campus for carrying a positive and professional attitude. He is well liked by staff, students, faculty, and administration. Instantly upon meeting Charles, it is evident that he has “good energy,” it is infectious and can lift people's spirits whenever he is around. He is the kind of person that you would be delighted to interact with. He is also very sincere, thoughtful, and kind. He takes a genuine interest in others and makes friends with ease with everyone. Charles is grounded, empathetic, and humble, which allows him to work well with a wide swath of people from diverse backgrounds with is incredibly helpful in the work in Higher Education.
In his free time, Charles enjoys spending time with his daughter, son, and 5 cats. He is an avid gamer, playing both video and board games, a comic book enthusiast, owning more than 10,000 comics, is a fantastic cook – once owning a restaurant and has hobbies in gardening, listening to podcasts, watching TV, and building Legos.
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About Santiago Canyon College
Santiago Canyon College (SCC) is designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is one of two colleges in the Rancho Santiago Community College District , serving approximately 17,000 students annually. Accredited in 2000, this dynamic and award-winning institution is located in the city of Orange and provides an array of educational opportunities to more than 195,000 residents comprising the community. SCC offers 221 degree and certificate programs (including 28 associate degrees for transfer). SCC has been ranked among the “50 Best Community Colleges" in the U.S. by College Choice, recognized multiple times by The Chronicle of Higher Education as one of “The Great Colleges to Work For," received Gold-level status as a Military Friendly School®, and boasts award-winning, dedicated faculty, high-quality and student-centered education, and has an excellent university transfer rate supported by transfer-guarantee programs.