South College Admissions team members helping HUG included (front l-r) Sheilah Mendez, Lauren Galyon, Anna Rosetti; (background l-r) Lisa Susong and Pamela Bizot.

Helping HUG promotes teamwork

Recently the South College Admissions Department participated in a group HUG. That is, they lent a hand to the Habitat for Humanity Urban Garden (HUG) Foundation to improve a community garden.

HUG is an education program in which master gardeners and volunteers help Habitat for Humanity homeowners learn about landscaping and gardening.

This particular garden is part of the Beardsley Farm, a community horticulture center which grows fresh vegetables, fruit and honey for the Mechanicsville community.  It provides plants and vegetables for local food pantries, Second Harvest Food Bank and Habitat for Humanity homes.

There is no better way to promote departmental team-building than by working together on a project that brings you back to something as basic as growing food. Our team pulled weeds, pushed wheelbarrows, built compost bins, planted plants and earned praises from the HUG staff for making a difference.

I have always been extremely proud of the team we have at South College. I believe that we all share the same goal of providing a strong educational foundation to help our students achieve their goals. That focus on helping our students succeed is what sets us apart. It is important for each person to realize they are a significant part of that process - to learn how important teamwork really is.

Anna Rosetti was one of the nearly 15 team members who spent a long morning clearing that plot of land. In spite of being extremely sore the next day, Anna said it was great to work together on a project outside of the office. They learned a lot about gardening, and discovered a different side of one another. Anna also mentioned how rewarding it was to give back to the community.

It is important that each of us gives back to this great community. Efforts like Habitat for Humanity do that well. This garden project provided a double benefit; team building for our staff and service to our community. See what good a HUG can do!

South College graduate and award winner, Katrina Gibson

“Demonstrate the desire to be the best.” That is the challenge issued to the South College Class of 2010 by keynote speaker Keith Goodwin, president and CEO of East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. Friends, family and colleagues filled the historic Tennessee Theatre Saturday, June 19, for our 128th graduation ceremony.

Speaking as an employer, Mr. Goodwin encouraged the 200 graduating students to be “passionate and competitive with a commitment to excellence.” That pursuit of excellence is what we strive for at South College. It is the focus of the staff and faculty and a direction we like to acknowledge.

To that end, we were pleased to honor several students as well as two faculty members with awards for excellence, distinguished service and outstanding achievements in their field. We provide our students with a quality education and valuable experience in the work field; but it is the extra effort and personal commitment that make these honorees stand out.

Our top award, the Presidential Award, went to two incredible students. Katrina Gibson, who relocated to Knoxville following the devastation of hurricane Katrina, was honored for her perseverance, attitude and performance in pursuing a degree in radiography. And T.J. Eubanks, Jr., who received his bachelor’s degree in elementary education, was honored for his outstanding scholarship and service. The collection drives he organized through the school provided much-needed books and classroom supplies to poor areas throughout East Tennessee.

Faculty member Gay Dunlap received the Distinguished Teaching award and Gary Taylor received the Distinguished Service award for his outstanding institutional, professional and community service. Other award winners were as follows:

• Joyce Smith - Medical Assisting Pursuit of Excellence
• William Lloyd Walker - Outstanding Student (Imaging Sciences)
• Mike McGimsey - Outstanding Student (Physical Therapy Assistant)
• Amber Wieniewitz - Outstanding Student (Nursing)
• Rebecca Doell - Outstanding Student (Criminal Justice)
• April Denard - Outstanding Student (Legal Studies)
• Larry Brown - Outstanding Student (Criminal Justice Associate)
• Wesley Wright - Excellence in Business
• Heather Morrison-Monger - Outstanding Student (Business Administration)
• Jessica Mills - Outstanding Student (Health Science)

From here, our students will go on to practice nursing, medical assisting, accounting, business and much more. Some of our students will continue to serve our community locally while others have set their sights for missions of hope abroad. Whatever their course, we wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors

Briefly he suggests you:

1. Stop and smell the flowers. In other words, take time to enjoy the simple things.
2. Become a good listener, but think for yourself. When listening to others think, “They just may be right.”
3. Turn off electronics once or twice a week. Pick up a book and read; even if it just puts you to sleep it will help you relax.
4. Have chutzpah. Be feisty, self-confident; eliminate self-doubt.
5. Get married. Life is better with a partner. Plus it gives you good material for when you are writing a book or seeing a psychiatrist.
6. Have children. Children add texture to your life and teach you humility.
7. Be as smart as you can be; but remember it is better to be wise than smart.
8. Smile. Anger has become the national pastime. Try for less negativity, go for the positive.

Goodwin also advises, “Do what you are passionate about.” He says even if you fail, fail big because you were going after something big. Don’t waste time living life for someone else. Follow your heart and it will most likely lead you to a fulfilling career.

The best piece of advice he ever received? If you live each day as if it were your last, someday you will be right!

We focus a lot on career goals at South College. We pride ourselves on providing educational opportunities in fields with job opportunities. We are constantly on the lookout for new career growth areas to help our students succeed. But there are students that come to South College with even higher goals.

Joyce Smith is such a student. At 75 years young, Joyce will receive her Medical Assisting degree this June. She doesn’t have aspirations of going to work in a physician’s office, though Dr. Steven Hall at Foothills Family Practice, where she is finishing up her practicum, says he would hire her in a minute.

Joyce has embarked on this new field of study in an effort to be more valuable to her team on medical mission trips. Her inspiration is Psalm 92, which says that you will flourish and still bear fruit in old age.

“I went on a mission trip to Africa to help build a church 15 years ago. We took one doctor and one nurse,” Joyce explained. “Women came to the village from miles away, carrying their children, just to see our one doctor. There is such a need for medical care.”

Since then, in addition to her counseling work at her church and local schools, she has volunteered with Dr. Tom Keun Kim at the Free Medical Clinic. She felt, even in that role, she could be more help if she had actual medical training.

It had been nearly 40 years since Joyce completed her master’s degree at the University of Memphis, and she was quite nervous about being a student again. But her determination, encouragement from her husband of 55 years, John, and the prayerful support of family and friends helped guide her through. She credits the caring, student-focused faculty and staff at South College (and a nice young man who helped her with computer questions in class) for her success.

She will soon graduate with a degree and valuable training in Medical Assisting and already has plans to accompany One Vision International on a medical mission trip to Haiti. She also hopes to resume her volunteer work with Dr. Kim at the Free Medical Clinic. I know she is leaving South College well-prepared for these tasks.

She is also leaving many of us at South College truly inspired. I wish Joyce much success and thank her for reminding all of us that the true value of education is how we use it to help others.

The South College faculty is exceptional. Every day, our students are being inspired and motivated by professors at the top of their game presenting fascinating material from first-hand experiences. In an effort to share this wealth of knowledge with our community, we have assembled a speakers bureau.

Community groups, schools and civic organizations now have a new, free resource for programs offering quality speakers with timely information on a wide range of topics. For example:

• Dr. Ken Harbert, dean of the School of Physician Assistant Studies, has over 20 years of experience as a clinician, health educator and a health care administrator. With years of experience in the United States Navy, Coast Guard and Public Health Service as well as the New Mexico Medical Reserves, he has a unique perspective on American emergency preparedness and the transition from military to civilian life. He has spoken throughout the country to academic and business groups alike; his experiences are both intriguing and enlightening.
• Dr. Michael Miller, our assistant professor of Criminal Justice, pulls from a history in law enforcement and real-world experience when he discusses local law enforcement’s role in the global war on terror or the war on drugs.
• Dr. Kimberely Hall, executive vice president at South College, has been key in identifying new programs with emerging career paths for our students. She has extensive knowledge about educational challenges in the 21^st century.
• Dr. Jamie Nelson has the inside scoop on “The 21^st Century Classroom” and “The Future of Online Education.”

This is just a sample of the invaluable insight our distinguished faculty and administrators have in a variety of fields. Click here for a list of our exciting speakers and topics and plan a fascinating program for your upcoming meeting or event.

Merit Construction crews are in the process of tearing out the old cubicles and walls on all three floors to create classrooms, labs and office space. The goal is to begin classes in the new Parkside Centre Learning Site this fall.

The Parkside Centre facility is a perfect fit for us, with plenty of parking and room to grow. This year the enrollment at South College topped 1,000, representing tremendous growth over the past five years. With this new site, we will be able accommodate this growth as well as expand our course offerings.

The new Parkside Centre Learning Site will include the nursing, physician assistant studies, and elementary education programs, as well as the new school of pharmacy we are planning to begin in August 2011.

Our signature Lonas Drive facility will continue to be our main campus, housing our general studies, legal studies, business, imaging sciences, physical therapist assistant, medical assisting and science programs.

We look forward to this expansion and to the great opportunities it provides for students throughout our region.

That is why I am so excited about our new expansion plans. You may have heard the news that we will soon be moving into Parkside Centre, the former corporate headquarters of Goody’s Family Clothing on Parkside Drive. This facility is perfect for us: It has over 85,000 square feet of space for classrooms, labs and offices as well as a 200-seat auditorium.

As we continue to add career-centered programs attractive to students preparing for today’s employment opportunities, we appreciate the space this additional campus will provide and what it means for the programs we can offer.

We are currently in the midst of the accreditation process necessary for adding advanced degree programs, including a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree. When approved, this program will allow our pharmacy graduates to finish their course work in three years and take their Tennessee board exams to become licensed pharmacists. The PharmD program will be among those housed at our new Parkside Centre Learning Site.

We have already begun the conversion of the space and expect to begin classes at the new facility this fall. We continually work with Knoxville-area employers and project 10 to 15 years out to determine what fields are projected growth areas for employment. We are so excited that this space will let us continue to grow our programs to meet these needs. We are also exploring additional programs in the health-care fields, a culinary arts program, and even some programs taught via the Internet to serve students outside of the Knoxville area.

With all this growth, however, we are committed to maintaining a small-school environment with small class sizes and an attractive 15-1 student-teacher ratio. We want South College to continue to help each student’s individual dreams find direction.

It was 1989 when I came to Knoxville to become president of South College, then Knoxville Business College. We then had a staff of 16 and a narrowly focused business curriculum.

We poured our heart and soul into improving facilities and expanding our course offerings. We were very proud of the improvements we made to our building on N. Fifth Avenue.

Our enrollment grew quickly as our course offerings grew more diverse. Our goal has always been to meet the business and economic needs of our community through professional and career focused academic programs. We want our students to be able to turn their education into a great career. In 2001, we changed the name of the school to South College to reflect these program changes.

South College moved into our new state-of-the-art building on Lonas Drive in 2006. We have grown now to a staff of 161, increased our course offerings by 175 percent, and this year our enrollment exceeded 1,000 students. We have expanded significantly from a strictly business curriculum, adding such diversified programs as paralegal and legal studies; criminal justice; medical assisting; physical therapist assistant; nursing; radiography; nuclear medicine; pharmaceutical science; elementary education; and physician assistant studies. Our programs are offered at varying degree levels, and we have just received approval to add doctorate level-programs, starting with a doctor of pharmacy program.

Over the past 20 years, South College has grown from a small business school to a regionally accredited institution. I drove past the old building that we were so proud of the other day and it reminded me of how far we have come.

I want to thank the Knoxville community for 20 years of support for South College. We are committed to growing in directions that best help our students succeed, providing an incredible value not only to our students but the whole community as well.

At an accreditation meeting in Atlanta, the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) approved our request for a Level 5 designation for South College to begin a pharmacy doctoral program. With SACS approval, South College now will apply to the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) in January 2010 and will undergo a review during the next 18 months.

If the process goes as well as we hope, we anticipate classes for the doctoral program to begin in fall 2011.

The Level 5 approval from SACS is important not only for the pharmacy program, but for the continued growth of the school overall. It means that South College has now become a doctoral granting institution, which opens the door to a variety of other graduate programs. We have already begun developing graduate programs in the field of education.

It has always been our goal to offer our students an education that will best prepare them for their future careers. Earning a doctorate degree places graduates at the top of their profession. We are proud that the accreditation team gave their consent and approval to our program.

As we strive to meet the demands of both students and the East Tennessee business community, I am excited by this new designation, which will allow us to continue growing in the right direction.

It’s graduation day for our first 27 students to complete the Masters of Health Science degree in our Physician Assistant Studies program. This diverse group completed 15 months of classroom training followed by a 12-month clinical phase that included rotations all across East Tennessee.

Our inaugural class is a great one, filled with exceptional students who will make wonderful health care providers. Our own Kim Sanders was named PA Student of the Year by the Tennessee Academy of Physician Assistants at the Academy’s recent conference based on her academic excellence, professionalism and commitment to community service. Kim Rose, who earns her degree this year, is a former combat medic in Iraq and has contributed much to the program. Rob White is graduating as an officer in the U.S. Army. The class is full of motivated, compassionate and highly qualified individuals.

The variety of experiences each student brings to the class helps enrich the program and better prepare our graduates for exciting careers. And as the only Physician Assistant Studies program in Knoxville, our applicants come from a wide geographic area. This year we had over 675 applicants vying for approximately 50 spots available in this program. The selection process is intense.

South College has a rigorous and challenging program for Physician Assistant Studies. But when they are through, the students are well prepared for a rewarding and exciting career.