South Plains College selects Kenny Burns for 2022 Faculty Excellence Award

 

LEVELLAND – In 2008, Kenny Burns began his teaching career at South Plains College. Since then, he has earned a reputation among his peers as a master teacher, an outstanding colleague and a reliable supporter of SPC students. He has been chosen as the 2022 recipient of the Faculty Excellence Award at South Plains College.

 

The award was presented during the 64th Annual Commencement Ceremony in the Texan Dome. The award recognizes a faculty member for exemplary work in the classroom, service to the college and service to the community. 

 

Burns serves as a professor in Law Enforcement and chairperson of Professional Service and Energy. He brought along years of experience as a Texas Peace Officer. Burns holds a Master Peace Officer License from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, and he has assisted in many police department opportunities, including Active Shooter training for the Health and Safety Committees.

At SPC, Burns has served on multiple committees, including the Faculty Senate for four years as well as building and grounds. He helped rebuild the entire Basic Peace Officer Curriculum in 2019 as well as developed more than 1,000 state test capstone questions.

He also teaches at the Law Enforcement Academy, where he promotes the program’s mission of "Honoring the Fallen by Training the Living." Burns assigns "Silent Partners" or fallen officers, to each cadet for him or her to become familiar with the officer’s story and End of Watch date to be recited at any time when requested.

"To practice this vision myself, I have created and overseen endowments of scholarships for two students I have had the pleasure of teaching and working with who lost their lives in the line of duty: the Deputy Jason Fann Memorial Scholarship and the Josh Bartlett Memorial Scholarships," he said. "The scholarships were both awarded in 2022. I take daily pride in honoring both of these wonderful men."

Burns has organized a new training circuit to enhance and improve officer fitness and wellness for the academy with 25 stations developed to include movements commonly used in the profession of policing. He has created relationships with law enforcement agencies inside and beyond the SPC service area which has resulted in more than 50 percent of the summer academy cadets to be hired and paid by these agencies before the students begin the academy, sparking an effort and trend of "home grown" officers who get an opportunity to serve their own communities that would not have otherwise had a chance to attend an academy.

"Some of these agencies that come from outside our service area bypass institutions with academies and send their candidates up to two hours further to our program because ‘they get the best bang for their buck,’" Burns said. "These agencies can fund a candidate and know that he or she is doing daily physical training, getting a quality education, and having housing during the academy, which makes it an all-inclusive one-stop shop, giving them the best quality candidates to serve their communities."

 

In the classroom, Burns is working with the sociology department to create a course in American Minority Studies that focuses on bridging the gaps between law enforcement and minority groups. The course will examine the misconceptions that have led to calls of police defunding and negative rhetoric throughout the country.

"I also maintain my skills by working in a police role for Texas Tech Athletics, assisting with major sporting events, which often enables me to further recruit for the SPC program," he said.

Burns became the chairperson of the Pastor/Parish Relations Committee at First United Methodist Church in 2008. He served as a member of the Administrative Advisory Board of the American Diabetes Association for four years, from August 2009 to December 2013. Burns served as the vice president of the Community College Criminal Justice Educators of Texas from 2012 to 2014 and as president from May 2018 to 2019. He was the chairman of the Safety and Security Committee from August 2013 to August 2015.  

Burns said he believes in the statement that a person will never work a day in his life if he loves what he does. This is his philosophy.

"Every single day I have spent at SPC, I have enjoyed, and I constantly promote employment opportunities to others because of this wonderful institution I am fortunate and blessed to be a part of," he said. "I cannot count the times I have been off and away from SPC, and found myself promoting the program as well as others to anyone I have the opportunity to talk to. I will never be satisfied with the status quo, and I will look for daily improvements to our program until I retire from here, knowing that there is always room for improvement.

Burns said that most of all, his favorite part of the job is following graduates in their careers and maintaining a large network of police chiefs and sheriffs to ensure I always have an opportunity to help them find the exact job that they dream about," Burns said.

The police academy has had a 100 percent passage rates for 25 consecutive graduations. He holds the students to very high standards, and makes sure this is consistent across his disciplines. He has created a program that continues to be among the top in the state of Texas.

Burns received his Associate of Science at Western Texas College, Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences from Midwestern State University and Master of Criminal Justice from New Mexico State University where he passed the Theory Comprehensive Exam with Distinction. He worked as an adjunct criminal justice professor for three years at Lubbock Christian University prior to coming to SPC.

The Faculty Excellence Award is the highest honor bestowed by the South Plains College faculty upon a colleague who exemplifies the qualities and ideals of a “master teacher.” The award was established in 1965 to honor master teachers for their dedication to teaching excellence. Faculty members are nominated for the award by their peers and are selected for the award by their peers. Recipients are presented an engraved medallion signifying this achievement and an honorarium sponsored by City Bank.