NECC President Lane Glenn, Rick Lizotte, Trish Schade, and Rich Padova newsroom

The Employee Recognition Award recognizes the many and varied contributions of the college’s nearly 700 employees. Employees are selected each quarter based on recommendations from supervisors and co-workers. Recipients receive a $150 certificate to the restaurant or mall of his or her choice.

Schade, an associate professor in NECC’s academic preparation program, was nominated by several faculty members who praised her for, among other things, launching the Student of the Month Program and the College Success Seminar, “She has high work standards and is an effective role model and mentor for faculty and advocate for students,” wrote Janice Rogers, assistant dean of academic preparation.

“I have also witnessed the way Trish works with her students,” wrote Clare Thompson Ostrander, assistant professor of developmental writing. “She is the perfect combination of compassion and straight talk.”

She has taught at NECC for five years. Prior to that, she taught for 10 years at Merced Community College in California, Endicott College, and Salem State. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English with a German minor from the University of New Hampshire and a Master of Arts in English from Boston College.

Padova has been an adjunct faculty member in the Global Studies Department for eight years.
He holds an Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts degree from Northern Essex, a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geography from Salem State College, a Master of Education in School Counseling from Northeastern University, and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in History from Salem State University.

He was nominated by veteran faculty member Peter Flynn who praised him for his involvement both on and off campus. He has developed four new courses for his department – “Urban Geography,” “Urban Planning,” “Quest for the Presidency” and “History of the Merrimack Valley.” He also serves on numerous NECC committees.

“Richard Padova is by all measures an extraordinary member of our faculty and a person who reflects very well on NECC in the community and local media,” Flynn wrote.

Lizotte ESL professor and curriculum coordinator for the Center for Instructional Technology, was nominated by more than half a dozen of his co-workers. He was hailed for being a wonderful coworker, teacher, faculty coach, committee member, advisor, and teammate to many at the college.

“Rick has been with NECC for over 30 years and maintains the same level of care and enthusiasm for teaching and his students as he has had from the start,” wrote co-worker Cherie Hagen. “Rick’s contributions to the entire college community are enormous.”

Lizotte holds a Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics from Boston College and a Master of Arts in Linguistics and a Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics from Brown University.