PCCHA Recognition Awards

CALL FOR AWARDS NOMINATIONS!

The PCCHA Awards Committee is accepting nominations for the 2023 Ruby Rich Burgar Award for Outstanding Service to College Health and the Golden Gull Award for Best Practices in College Health, now through July 31, 2023!

Congratulations to the 2023 Affiliate New Professional Award Recipient: Ms. Rebecca Norwick

Over the past three years, educators experienced first-hand the importance of flexibility and innovation as they grappled with how to execute their mission in a pandemic environment where self-quarantining and isolation were the norm. How do you operate a place of higher education in a way that minimizes human interaction while also facilitating learning and engagement?

Ms. Rebecca Norwick, from Sonoma County, California’s Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC), was one of the individuals tasked with helping bridge these seemingly incompatible demands, and by the accounts of her nominators, she more than succeeded. In addition to working with college administrators to develop and implement protocols for addressing the unique public health needs of the time, Ms. Norwick resourcefully procured free vaccines, operated drive-through vaccination clinics, organized mass vaccination events and otherwise generally advocated for student health by any means necessary. And while she could have been consumed completely with duties related to the coronavirus pandemic, Ms. Norwick still found time and energy to expand the reproductive health services offered at SRJC and broaden student access to these services by working to increase insurance coverage. For her passion, resourcefulness, and tireless advocacy for student health, PCCHA is delighted to honor Ms. Norwick with this year’s Affiliate New Professional Award! Please join us in recognizing her!

Past Award Winners

2021 Affiliate New Professional Award Recipient: Zakiya Rhodes

Colleagues at the Health and Counseling Center (HCC) of Reed College, where Ms. Zakiya Rhodes serves as Operations Manager, describe her as a true leader who persists in the face of adversity and who is regularly finding ways to take on pressing challenges. Ms. Rhodes is described as being the “glue” that held HCC together during a time when the Center was undergoing significant changes to its leadership and culture. One of Ms. Rhodes’ notable contributions was her development of the Equity Team taskforce that she chairs, whose mission is to promote equity, inclusion, and an atmosphere of support and acceptance for minority student populations. Additionally, Ms. Rhodes authored, for the Center, formal hiring guidelines and a protocol to encourage the placement of staff who put a high value on culturally responsive and equitable healthcare practices. In Ms. Rhodes’ four years working at HCC, she has also initiated staff-trainings on issues involving diversity and multiculturalism in the workplace and in patient care. Please join PCCHA in recognizing Ms. Rhodes for her inspiring contributions to college health!

2019 Ruby Rich Burgar Award Recipient: Cheryl Hug-English, MD

 The Ruby Rich Burgar Award was established in 1977 to recognize individuals of outstanding character who over their lengthy careers have made significant contributions and provided exemplary service to college health and the Pacific Coast College Health Association. Named for Ruby Rich Burgar, Executive Director of PCCHA from 1977‐1988, this award represents the highest recognition given by PCCHA and continues to honor Ms. Burgar who passed away in 1996. The 2019 Ruby Rich Burgar Award goes to Cheryl Hug-English, Medical Director of the Student Health Center, University of Nevada, Reno.

For the entirety of her 40+ year career, Dr. Hug-English has been involved in college health in one capacity or another. She has taught med school students, served on various boards and committees, presented at major conferences, served as staff physician at the Student Health Center at the University of Nevada, Reno, where she presently serves as medical director, in a role she has held since 1994. Dr. Hug-English’s loyalty to PCCHA runs deep: She served as secretary of the board in 2014-2016; helped host the Regional Conference in 2017; received a PCCHA research/program grant in 2011; and has presented at ACHA and PCCHA conferences and meetings over 10 times; and is the current Regional Representative to ACHA. Dr. Hug-English has presented at numerous other college health conferences and conducted and published a vast amount of student health research, designed and implemented campus health initiatives such as UNR’s Ebola Protocols, and proposed public policy as when she testified in 2015 at the Nevada Legislature for a Tobacco Free Campus. No stranger to leadership roles and active involvement, Dr. Hug-English has chaired various organizations at UNR including the Eating Disorders Task Force, and she served on that university’s Sexual Assault Prevention Task Force and on its Infectious and Communicable Disease Control Committee, to name a few. 

Dr. Hug-English is described by her colleagues as extremely kind, positive, and inspiring. Her nominator, who has worked under her for 20 years, praises her listening skills and managerial aptitude, calling UNR’s Student Health Center “the most well-run medical facility I have ever seen,” where staff and students alike are happy. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Hug-English for her extraordinary and impactful career in college-health!

2019 Golden Gull Award Recipient: University Health Services Collaborative Care Team, UC Berkeley

The Golden Gull Award was established by PCCHA in 2001 to recognize exemplary, innovative, and inspirational programs in college health. This year’s Golden Gull Award goes to UC Berkeley’s University Health Services (UHS) Collaborative Care Team in recognition of their compelling program for increasing student access to campus behavioral health services. 

University of California Berkeley, has seen a 5-7% increase in students utilizing behavioral health services each year; during the peak of the semester, the university’s Counseling and Psychological Services typically has 2-3 week waits for intake appointments, and follow up therapy appointments may need to be spread out to every two, three, or sometimes, four weeks. 

To address this resource shortage and to reach underserved students who could benefit from counseling, University Health Services at UC Berkeley, added behavioral health providers to their primary care team, trained their medical clinicians on “warm handoffs,” and administered mental health screeners to all student patients on intake. The intention was to frame mental health as a normal component of primary care to increase the prospect that students will receive appropriate treatment and to identify psychological disorders early on as to improve their prognosis. The behavioral health providers offer brief/focused interventions and are typically available to meet immediately with students, following a medical clinician’s referring them in-person (warm handoff). This is thought to increase students’ likelihood of accessing support since it requires less effort, cost, and wait for an appointment than it would to schedule with Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). 

As a result of the UHS Collaborative Care Team program, 40% of UC Berkeley students have been screened for anxiety and depression in the past academic year. Mental health referrals from the primary care team to CAPS has declined by around 70%, which, the team believes, is due to the effectiveness of faster intervention and detection of disorders. The program’s success was primarily evaluated by anonymous student surveys—of those who responded, 85% reported that it was beneficial and worthwhile, and student testimonials attest to the idea that the program reached individuals who may not have otherwise accessed care. 

Please welcome us in congratulating the UHS Collaborative Care Team at UC Berkeley for their innovative and effective approach to increasing campus behavioral health access and winning the 2019 Golden Gull Award!

UHS Behavioral Health Manager, Anthony Dragonette, Psy.D. (center) and his colleagues from UC Berkeley are presented the 2019 Golden Gull Award at the regional conference, by PCCHA Awards chair, Brian Davies (second from left)

Ruby Rich Burgar Award For Outstanding Service to College Health and PCCHA

The Ruby Rich Burgar Award was established in 1977 to recognize individuals with long, continuous, and outstanding service to college health and the Pacific Coast College Health Association. Named for Ruby Rich Burgar, Executive Director of PCCHA from 1977‐1988, this award represents the highest recognition given by the Pacific Coast College Health Association and continues to honor Ms. Burgar who passed away in 1996.  This award is presented at the PCCHA Regional Conference in October.

Ruby Rich Burgar Nomination Instructions

Golden Gull Award for Best Practices in College Health

The Golden Gull Award was established by PCCHA in 2001 to recognize exemplary, innovative, and inspirational practices or programs within 4 areas of college health: clinical services, consumer services, counseling services, and health education and promotion services. This award encourages the creation of programs to improve college health practices and advance the health of students. The Golden Gull Award is presented at the PCCHA Regional Conference in October.

Golden Gull Award Nomination Instructions

The Affiliate New Professional Award

This award recognizes a PCCHA member who has worked in the field of college health for 5 years or less and has made a significant contribution to his or her institution and/or PCCHA. Candidates for the award must have a current individual ACHA membership. The Affiliate New Professional Award is presented at the ACHA National Conference in the spring.

Affiliate New Professional Award Nomination Instructions