Five Western Nevada College faculty members reached a professional milestone earlier this month when their tenure appointments were approved by the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents.
Kathryn Cocking, nursing and allied health instructor; Christian Copley Salem, chemistry and biology instructor; John Duerk, political science and history instructor; Jaspreet Gill, mathematics instructor; and Gregory Sly, criminal justice instructor, received tenure after serving the college and its students for at least three years with excellent instruction ratings.
Cocking arrived at WNC in 2020 after a distinguished administrative career at Carson Valley Health and Barton Memorial Hospital. She worked as the director of nursing at Carson Valley Health for four years and devoted 34 years at Barton, where she was employed as the director of nursing and vice president of operations.
Prior to Barton, she worked in the neonatal intensive care unit at UC Medical Center in Davis, Calif. She earned her Master of Science in nursing at California State University.
Copley Salem took a less-traveled road to college instruction. He worked as a grocery store manager before realizing his lifelong dream of teaching at a community college.
He has an associate degree in science from Truckee Meadows Community College, a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry and molecular science biology from University of Nevada, Reno, and a Ph.D. in pharmacology from UNR.
Duerk, who received the first two years of his college education at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake, used that experience as the reason why he pursued teaching at a community college.
He earned his bachelor’s degrees at Illinois State University and his master’s and Doctor of Philosophy degrees at Northern Illinois University. He instructed students at colleges in California, Texas and Arizona prior to coming to WNC.
Sly carved out a 30-year law enforcement career before “retiring” in Carson City and launching his second professional career. Initially a grant writer for WNC, Sly accepted the reins of the criminal justice program in 2017. He has also taught at Lake Tahoe Community College and Truckee Meadows Community College.
Gill earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Nevada, Reno, and will complete her master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Colorado in the fall. She has been teaching mathematics and engineering at WNC since 2013. Prior to teaching at WNC, she worked at the Nevada Governor’s Office of Energy.
Foundation Board welcomes two new members
The Western Nevada College Foundation announces two new additions to its board.
Campagni Auto Group Director Cliff Sorensen and Harley-Davidson Financial Services Lead Consumer Credit Officer Amber Kellner have joined the board, which now has 25 members.
Sorensen has served as president of the Carson City Chamber of Commerce, the Boys & Girls Club of Western Nevada, the Nevada Associate of Employers (emeritus) and the Northern Nevada Association.
He was the chamber’s 2023 Volunteer of the Year and earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Boys & Girls Club in 2024.