Stockton Receives Petrizzo Award

PETRIZZO AWARD – Dr. Jim Stockton, vice president for institutional advancement at North Arkansas College, is shown Monday receiving the 2004 D. Richard Petrizzo Career Service Award in recognition of distinguished contributions to the two-year college marketing and public relations profession from Ann Whiteside, president of the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations.

Dr. Jim Stockton, vice president for institutional advancement at North Arkansas College in Harrison, today received the D. Richard Petrizzo Award for career accomplishments in college marketing and public relations.

Ann Whiteside, 2004 president of the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations, made the presentation to Stockton during a special luncheon at the organization's national conference, which is being held at the Renaissance Harborplace Hotel in Baltimore, Md.

She quoted Dr. Ed Franklin, executive director of the Arkansas Association of Two-Year Colleges, who said of Stockton, "He handles all activities in a characteristically calm manner...Jim is a master at his craft and makes a very tough job look easy. He brings credit to his job and his profession."

Stockton, who has worked at Northark since 1977, was recognized for his service to his college, his community, and his profession. A member of NCMPR since 1982, he has received regional and national awards for feature writing and advertising campaigns.

In 2002 he was selected Communicator of the Year for District 4 of NCMPR, which includes Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. He also serves as executive director of the North Arkansas College Foundation and supervises academic and administrative computer services at Northark and is board president of the North Arkansas Partnership for Health Education.

After introducing his wife Gail, Stockton said, "I feel happy, proud, and very lucky today, which pretty much describes every day I've spent with Gail over the past 25 years."

In thanking his friends and colleagues at North Arkansas College and the board of directors of NCMPR, Stockton singled out Northark President Dr. Jeff Olson; the college's founding president, Dr. Bill Baker; and Micki Somers and Jacquie Markle, his current and former assistants.

The highest award given for community college marketing and public relations, the Petrizzo Award was named in memory of the late D. Richard Petrizzo, an early NCMPR president. The honor was first given in 1991 to Dr. Dale Parnell, who served as president of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) from 1981 to 1991 and wrote The Neglected Majority.

An affiliate council of AACC, the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations today has more than 1,550 members, including public relations and marketing professionals, college presidents and others involved in promoting two-year colleges, from more than 600 colleges across the United States, Canada, and Bahamas.