Spring 2008 PDF - University of South Carolina Upstate

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Alumni Profiles management, he worked fifteen years for four different banks, going through the ups and downs of mergers and acquisitions, management and culture changes. He realized that along the way he had made excellent connections and customer relationships that would benefit from a bank with a simple motto: “The customer comes first.” So, with partner Allan Ducker, Miller opened CommunitySouth Bank & Trust, a bank with $340 million in assets that covers the Spartanburg, Greenville, Greer, Anderson, Easley and Mauldin markets. With 85 employees and expansion plans on the table, the president of this successful startup bank still has time for his wife of 15 years, Sharon, their two children, the Rotary and Sertoma clubs, as well as golfing and SCUBA diving. 1991 Jayne Case A non-traditional student graduating with a 3.7 GPA, Jayne Case claims that she owes half her degree to her husband because he took care of the house and their two children while she attended USC Upstate to get her nursing degree. “I was a Mary Black Memorial Hospital Scholarship recipient for all three years so I had to keep grades high to retain the scholarship,” says Jayne. She credits Professor Jim Ferrell for his “gentle demeanor the helped students to learn with less intimidation.” After graduation, Jayne worked at the Mary Black Memorial Hospital. In 1996, she began teaching at Spartanburg Community College. Recently, Jayne received her master’s degree from Clemson and is currently serving as the department’s interim department head. She is very proud of her two sons, Will and Nathan, and believes that raising them to be successful men has truly been the biggest accomplishment of her life. 1991 John Feith As a psychology major, John Feith learned early on in his time at USC Upstate “that to ‘get along and get ahead’ in the workplace you have to be very perceptive of what goes on around you because there are all sorts of formal and informal networks in the workplace…and anywhere, really.” While many psychology concepts make sense in the academic setting, John’s professors were quick to point out that 22 University Review applying those concepts to the workplace is not as cut and dry. “They made me understand that the better I understood these concepts, the better prepared I would be in the workforce, managing a workforce and managing workforce behaviors,” he said. John and his family live in Dyersburg, Tenn., where he is CEO of a string of medical clinics across West Tennessee. He uses the lessons learned as a student daily in two of his most important roles: hiring employees who can lead and work well in teams, and staying accessible to his workforce. When asked if any faculty left a lasting impression on him, John says that he owes a great debt of gratitude to Dr. Jan Griffin. “As a child, I had always struggled with school and I was perfectly content to do the absolute minimum to get by,” he says. “But when I met Dr. Griffin, she wouldn’t let me slide by. After my first test in her class she pulled me aside, looked me straight in the eye and basically told me that she wouldn’t accept mediocre work from someone who could do much better. If Dr. Griffin had not intervened and persevered with me, I’m certain that I would still be struggling for direction and living a much different outcome.” 1991 Eric Hunter Farming was not the career choice Eric Hunter had planned while a student and baseball player at USC Upstate. But he did always have the entrepreneurial spirit, even while working post-graduation management jobs in retail and restaurants. After he and his wife, Kristi Ulmer, also a USC Upstate graduate, adopted a son Ryan, now 11, Eric struck out in the strawberry growing business on acreage near Easley in 1997 as a part-time venture that would allow his wife to be a stayat-home mother. But when the “Hunter Farms” business took off, he became a farmer full-time. A pumpkin crop was added as well as the greenhouse business where he grows bedding plants, and a corn maze soon followed. While he began farming “with absolutely no experience whatsoever – I had never in my life grown anything,” the farm grew into a family affair with his wife and mother employed full-time, and 15 – 20 part-timers employed at the peak of the season. Always an athlete, Eric uses his spare time to compete in triathlons both on the South Carolina level, where he finished the year ranked ninth for his age group, and on the international “Ironman” level where he competed in Cancun, Mexico, and Clearwater, Fla., last year. On Sundays, you can find Eric at Set Free Christian Fellowship in Powdersville where he is a care pastor and a teacher in the children’s ministry.
Michael Moton All the jobs Michael has held since graduating with a degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting have been in the accounting sectors as a bookkeeper, business analyst and financial accountant. Recently, however, he made a career switch and is now employed by USC Union as a transfer/career counselor where he advises students with career choices and transfer opportunities. Originally from McCormick County and currently residing in Inman, Michael says that the “leadership opportunities at Upstate gave me the practice and confidence to meet most challenges” and that his service in student organizations improved his interpersonal skills and helped him meet his job expectations. He fondly recalls Drs. Carson, Wiles, Drucker, Martino, Rector, Butler and Clary and says that “overall, I enjoyed all my professors, the staff and classes.” Other memorable moments include seeing (and blushing at) the French Quarter while in New Orleans for a Gamma Beta Phi convention, winning the Earl Gordon Medal, and walking across the stage to graduate. Married to Nikki, Michael is raising a son, Shaquielle, now in the ninth grade. In his leisure time, he enjoys listening to NPR, reading and “tinkering” with his Web site muatas-quest.com. 1994 Shelly Butterfield 2005 was a momentous year for Spartanburg native Shelly Butterfield. She gave birth to twins Beth Anne and Zachary, and she opened her own business, a CPA firm specializing in small business tax accounting. As the owner of a growing Greenville firm that integrates accounting and tax preparation and planning for entrepreneurs, Shelly is in charge of “networking, human resources, administration and sometimes washing dishes!” A nontraditional student who says that she was more serious about college after her first attempt, Shelly credits Dr. Diana Clary and Dr. Meyer Drucker for encouraging her to succeed giving her practical advice to jump into her career. Shelly has been married to Marc for 12 years, and she is active in various civic groups including Dining For Women, Downtown Sertoma Club and the YWCA. 1995 Carolyn Farr Smith As a communications/ journalism major, “working on deadline” is a familiar phrase to newspaper and TV journalist Carolyn Farr Smith, who graduated with newspaper experience already under her belt from working on the student-run newspaper, The Carolinian. Her Carolinian experience, in addition to Dr. Ray Merlock and Dr. Nancy Moore’s friendship and advice, taught her the importance of deadlines, “which has served me well in my career.” After stints at The Union Daily Times as lifestyles editor and the Spartanburg Herald-Journal as features editor, she made a career switch to TV. As the assignment editor at Fox Carolina news, she gathers and assigns news stories to the reporters and photographers, monitors various news sites for possible news stories, and talks with members of the community about upcoming events, possible story ideas and important issues to viewers. Married with a two-year-old son, this Greenville native also serves as chair of Piedmont Media Professionals, president of Media Women of South Carolina, and on the USC Upstate alumni board. 1996, 1997 Stacey and Jackie Mills S Alumni Profiles Stacey and Jackie Mills first met in the Dean of Students’ office where Jackie was working as a student assistant. Married for ten years with three children, Stacey is now a senior minister at Mountain View Baptist Church in Greenville and a teacher at Woodmont High School while Jackie teaches biology at Eastside High School in Greenville. During their time at USC Upstate, the couple was very active in student life activities on campus, each serving as president of student organizations and participating in leadership development sessions. “We were exposed to community and human service organizations which gave us opportunities to work in the trenches with everyday people who struggle to make life work for them,” they said. “Those experiences, coupled with the faculty and staff who pushed us to succeed, have given us a sincere desire to give back to our community in many ways.” In addition to the obvious highpoint of meeting each other, the Mills’ count their involvement with the search committee that brought Chancellor Stockwell to University Review 23
Page 1 and 2: University The Review SPRING 2008 T
Page 3 and 4: Susu and George Dean Johnson, Jr. a
Page 5 and 6: entrepreneurs and for life-long lea
Page 7 and 8: RUNNING For Peace RACING For Opport
Page 9 and 10: developed in the camera, they have
Page 11 and 12: University by Morning and High Scho
Page 13 and 14: Founders’ Day Celebration Honors
Page 15 and 16: USC Upstate a Stepping Stone BY CLA
Page 17 and 18: USC Upstate’s alumni have great s
Page 19 and 20: is knowing that I affected so many
Page 21: her graduation from Upstate with a
Page 25 and 26: teaching school administration, and
Page 27 and 28: teaching was palpable, and her love

Spring 2008 PDF - University of South Carolina Upstate

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?