Cogburn one of TSJC’s Employees of the Year

Ashlie Cogburn of Alamosa is one of four TSJC employees nominated as Employees of the Year.

ALAMOSA — Each fall Trinidad State employees nominate and then vote for coworkers who exemplify the values that best support student growth and learning for Employees of the Year.  It all boils down to a common mantra at Trinidad State - Students First.  Employees are chosen from four job categories: faculty; classified; administrative, professional, technical staff; and adjunct instructor.

Those chosen include Ashlie Cogburn from the administrative, professional, technical staff category. Cogburn lives in Alamosa and works between the two campuses, Valley campus and Trinidad.

She is assistant director of Student Life and Engagement and has been employed at Trinidad State for six years. She has a B.A. in sociology and criminology and a master’s in Higher Education Administration. She has worked in admissions, advising, orientation, event programming, drug and alcohol abuse prevention and student leadership and has been a Title IX investigator. 

She loves to help students find their voice and then watch them create positive change.

She loves kids and is a foster parent with her partner. Her other interests are hiking, biking, refurbishing furniture and hanging out with her dogs. 

Cogburn is always positive and is loved by students and coworkers alike.

Other TSJC staff nominated for Employees of the Year include:

• Sarah Sloane (faculty), who has been a faculty member at Trinidad State since 2012 teaching both Physical Education and Criminal Justice classes.  She’s a licensed helicopter pilot and up until a couple of years ago she played on a semi-professional women’s football team.  She holds a BA in Criminal Justice and two master’s degrees, in Criminal Justice and Human Performance.  She is currently attending the Southern Colorado Law Enforcement Training Academy and plans to become a reserve law enforcement officer.  Her next goal is completing a certification in athletic training and then pursuing a Ph.D.  Prior to her education career she worked in the software industry and in the insurance industry processing claims after natural disasters and investigating suspected fraudulent claims. 

• Dan Jolly (classified staff) has worked in Maintenance at Trinidad State for 14 years. He has great mechanical skills and can often be found around campus fixing and maintaining buildings, doing snow removal or running a piece of specialized equipment. He’s a graduate of Trinidad State’s Diesel program and for years was employed at a local garage as mechanic.  He also oversees maintenance of Trinidad State’s fleet of buses and cars. He grew up in Aguilar, a few miles north of Trinidad, and still enjoys farming.

• Wayne Monk (adjunct instructor) has been an adjunct instructor at Trinidad State for two and a half years teaching psychology and sociology. He has a B.S. in Business and Education and a master’s in psychology but his experiences are wide and varied.  He was in the Navy serving as a radio operator and has seen much of the world.  He lived in Iran for two years. He’s a carpenter, flight instructor, sailor, dog trainer, horse trainer and Licensed Mental Health Counselor. He’s a husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather.  Monk is a retired probation officer and enjoys breeding Tennessee Walking Horses at his home west of Trinidad. He also just started working on his Ph.D in psychology.

These Trinidad State employees will be honored at an event at the Governor’s Mansion in Denver on April 10.