Cardwell-Hampton Named TBR Staff Member of the Year
March 6, 2025
Cardwell-Hampton Receives Top State Honor
Dr. Nicole Cardwell-Hampton, director of youth programs in the college’s Division
of Workforce Training, received the Staff Member of the Year award during the Tennessee
Board of Regents’ annual Statewide Outstanding Achievement Recognition (SOAR) award
banquet.
The banquet was held in Nashville on Feb. 28. TBR is the governing body for community
colleges and colleges of applied technology.
Cardwell-Hampton joined the college in 1997 as an associate professor of production
horticulture. In 2009, She moved to the Division of Workforce Training to lead the
college’s youth programs. Her responsibilities include coordinating non-credit camps
and programs for youth in all of the ten counties served by Walters State. Since 2022,
she has steadily increased the number of summer camps and now camps are available
on all four campuses and the Newport Center.
“Dr. Cardwell-Hampton’s success with youth camps and other youth programs is
phenomenal,” said Dr. Kim Bolton, executive director of the Division of Workforce
Training and dean of the Claiborne County Campus. “She developed the college’s popular
Underwater Robotics Camps and has taken it to the next level by organizing award-winning
competitive teams and hosting training for area educators who want to start their
own teams.”
The popular underwater robotics program allows middle school students to build
a robot and program it to complete tasks underwater at local pools. Last year, Mini
Medic and HAMtastic were added, giving young people the chance to learn CPR, and launch
and follow a balloon as it flew over the Atlantic. She also oversees the Talented
and Gifted Program, which serves 350 students each year and Kids College in the summer.
Cardwell-Hampton has also received several grants from national and local organizations,
which allow the college to offer many camps at no cost to students.
“Her positive and energetic attitude resonates well with middle and high school
students and is appreciated by her colleagues,” Bolton added. “She is often called
to speak to college recruits and serves on the Strategic Enrollment Management Committee,
among other college duties.”
Cardwell-Hampton often pursues the training needed to be a camp instructor. For
example, she is a certified archery instructor. She holds a bachelor of science and
a master of science from the University of Tennessee, an educational specialist degree
from Lincoln Memorial University and a doctor of education degree from East Tennessee
State University. She said this award was shared by everyone who plays a role in delivering
services to area youth.
“Every parent or guardian and youth served by this program played a key role
in my success,” Cardwell-Hampton said. “I would not be in this position if it were
not for the communities we serve, the faculty, instructors and staff who assist with
our youth programs, the youth who participate and local industry.”