Montgomery College English Professor Tammy Peery, who teaches at the Germantown campus, won this year’s International Exemplary Leadership Award. The Chair Academy is a professional organization for college chairs who are in charge of leadership development. Professor Peery is the Faculty Council Chair, and was nominated for the award by her colleagues.

For not in the know, Montgomery College redesigned its governance system in favor of a more streamlined organization within the past two years. This is the first year that the new system has been in place, and as a result, the first year that Professor Peery has served as Faculty Council Chair.

According to Professor Peery, the Faculty Council has meetings twice a month. They work with administration on faculty concerns and have been at work redesigning the college’s General Studies Program, alongside general academic restructuring.

When asked about her role as Faculty Council Chair, professor Peery replied, “There’s lots of travel. I’m at Rockville [campus] everyday, there’s a lot of different committees to meet with, a bunch of email communications, and meeting lots of different staff and students.”

The professor noted that when comparing the Germantown campus with the Rockville campus, Germantown tends to be much smaller and more focused on academics, whereas Rockville is very large and diverse, and offers many more extra-curricular activities. The trade-off, according to professor Peery, is that students at Germantown can have a closer relationship with faculty than students at Rockville.

Being Faculty Council Chair “[Is] like an extra job,” professor Peery said. But evidently, it’s a job that she has proven more than successful at.