Media Contact
Kenya King
Director
Public Relations and Marketing Communications
Perimeter College
[email protected]
Clarkston, Ga.-Perimeter College at Georgia State University celebrated some of its superstar staff members during the 2025 Staff Day festivities held on the college’s Clarkston Campus.
In addition to a full day of team building plus personal and professional reflections centered on gratitude, the July 17 event offered college leadership and staff members an opportunity to salute the outstanding contributions of their colleagues with staff awards.
Perimeter College Dean Barbara Johnson offered her congratulations to this year’s award recipients.
“This cohort of Staff Awards winners definitely stand out for their exceptional dedication to service excellence and leadership,” Johnson said.
“The value that they bring to Perimeter cannot be overstated. I am beyond grateful for their contributions and exemplary performance.”
Here are the 2025 Staff Awards recipients and snippets shared from their nominators:
Felicia Clayton
Panther Pride Award
In addition to her responsibilities in Financial Affairs, where she has served since 2017, Felicia is known throughout the college as an extraordinary event planner. For the past few years, she has served as lead coordinator for Staff Appreciation activities. Last year, she led efforts to plan Perimeter’s 60th anniversary celebrations.
“Felicia has consistently demonstrated exceptional professionalism and a strong work ethic.”
“She has enhanced the college’s monthly budget-to-actuals reporting process during a period of rapid transformation. Her ability to identify and implement improvements has led to clearer communication and faster, more informed decision-making for college leadership.”
Lynne Coughlin
Panther Pride Award
Lynne’s nominator described her as the “heartbeat of the Office of Grants Development and Administration,” where she has served since 2008 as administrative assistant. Her commitment to customer service and fostering community in the workplace is commendable.
“If we could replicate Lynne, Perimeter College would be an even more extraordinary place. She embodies our community’s core values of inclusion, kindness and service.”
“Her role in maintaining critical grant metrics, taking detailed staff meeting notes and preparing key documents for senior leadership meetings reflects her unwavering commitment to both operational excellence and the people behind the work.”
Nancy Hallowell
Panther Pride Award
In the spring of 2024, Nancy took on the task of creating an administrative manual to document cyclical tasks that she had to take care of for the Alpharetta Campus English Department where she works as an administrative coordinator. In true Nancy fashion, it turned into much more.
“This manual has improved continuity and filled critical knowledge gaps. Nancy also demonstrated service excellence when supporting the Promotion and Tenure process by designing a OneDrive system that made the workflow seamless.”
“What is most inspiring about Nancy is her curiosity and drive to understand the bigger picture.”
Abigail Biles
Rising Panther Award
Abigail began her tenure at Perimeter College in January 2024. Her colleagues in the Clarkston Campus English Department, where she serves as administrative coordinator, quickly recognized her remarkable skill, leadership qualities and dedication to success.
“Abigail takes the lead on improving many departmental processes. For example, she developed a new framework for handling Part-Time Instructor (PTI) agreements…as a self-starter, she created a tracking spreadsheet to collect and verify all information before initiating the Adobe Sign process.”
“Abigail’s self-starter mindset, focus on success and creative collaboration make her a rising leader at GSU Perimeter College.”
In addition to their recognition at the annual Staff Day Appreciation event, each Staff Awards recipient received custom award plaques and a monetary incentive.
Story by Kysa Anderson Daniels
Photo by Bill Roa