Farrell named dean of Northeast State Technologies Division

Northeast State is proud to announce Dr. Donna Farrell has been named dean of the College’s division of Technologies.

Farrell takes the helm of a division that last fall moved most academic programs into the new Technical Education Complex building on the Blountville campus. Technologies encompasses a variety of academic departments including Manufacturing; Electrical/Mechanical; Automotive/Auto body/Motorsports; Aviation; Business/Accounting; Administrative Professional Technology; Computer Science and Entertainment Technology.

“This building opens up so many doors to students that they don’t even realize,” said Farrell. “Not only with the programs, but the partnerships this division creates with different people and industries.”

A first-generation college student, Farrell attended Elon University on a music scholarship. She opted to pursue a major of computer science and graduated with her bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. She went on to earn a master’s degree in Business Administration and a doctorate in Educational Leadership. After a career in the private sector, Farrell joined Northeast State as an instructor in Computer Information Technology.

Farrell leads a division of traditional technologies such as electrical and mechanical trades as well as emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things and Cyber Defense. Farrell said the Technologies Division seeks to give students the option to select different certifications to supplement their two-year associate degrees or technical certificates.

“We want our students to have additional options for obtaining credentials so when they graduate, they have an advantage over others they may be competing with for jobs,” she said.

There are many departments featuring certifications from industry titans such as CISCO, CompTIA, NIMs and NC3. These credentials act as valuable assets for students to enhance career opportunities with technology-driven industries.

Farrell and her Technologies colleagues want to increase the number of those professional certifications in various degree programs. They also plan to do more cross-curriculum collaboration between the programs in the TEC for a real-world simulated manufacturing environment. Additionally, Farrell looks forward to seeing upgrades in the Automotive Service department’s facilities.

“We have pretty well-versed group of faculty members as far as working in industry and bringing that experience to the students,” she said. “Having industry experience is a benefit to our students.”

The Girls Rule Technology Camp serves as a great example of revealing technologies options to students. Sponsored by the Technologies division, the camp opens to middle-school girls each summer on the College’s Blountville campus. On the first day, campers were hesitant to engage in group projects such as building catapults or constructing speakers. By day three, camp counselors were constantly impressed with their trouble-shooting skills.

“Sometimes, you don’t know what to dream for,” said Farrell. “If I don’t know what opportunities might lay out there for me, how do I figure that out? We want to provide career options to our campers they may not be aware of.”

As an information technology professional focusing on Cisco Networks, she programmed computer safety and tracking systems for mining industry. Farrell found herself in Wyoming setting up geographic mesh networks in the pit mines. She added that, “working on top of a silo in -30 below weather is not for the faint hearted.”

One morning a network went down. Farrell trekked out to troubleshoot. She met a bull moose trapped in a pit mine. Bullwinkle expressed his displeasure with this confinement by head-butting a sled housing for a network antenna. A problem-solving situation discussed rarely, if at all, in information technology education.

“Nowhere in school do they teach you, ‘In case of moose, you should do this,’” said Farrell with a laugh.

The story ends happily as game wardens arrived to tranquilize the moose and safely transport him back to the wild.

You could say mining was in Farrell’s blood. Her father worked as an electrician and electrical systems chief in the coal mines of Southern Appalachia. Farrell began learning automotive maintenance and welding before she hit middle school. Her childhood involved learning electrical systems, building street rod cars, and welding from her father. Her early years also fueled her lifetime love for motorcycles.

“I’ve been on a bike since I was five years old,” she said. “I actually met my husband at a gas station while we were both riding motorcycles.”

Farrell coaches for the Harley Davidson-Riding Academy and the Motorcycle Safety Foundation as an instructor for safety courses. She’s also a member of the Motor Maids, the oldest women’s motorcycle club in the United States.

As the need for technology-driven professionals grow in the economy, Farrell wants the academic programs found in Technologies to become a first choice for high school students and adults seeking a career reboot. She looks forward to expanding programs to engage middle school, high school, traditional and non-traditional students to create a wider, more diverse group of students and graduates.

“Everyone can learn from each other,” Farrell said. “We may all be at different places in our lives and what we are going through, but if we slow down and just listen, there is always something to learn.”