A self-employed real estate agent, lumber company manager and chief financial officer were recently appointed by Governor Asa Hutchinson as trustees for South Arkansas Community College with the same goal in mind — to serve the community that surrounds the college.
Kerri Brown and Melissa Jerry were formally introduced as board trustees during a meeting in February, according to a previous News-Times report. Jerry is a Southern Arkansas University-El Dorado Branch alumna, she said.
SouthArk was born in 1992, after a merger between Southern
Arkansas University-El Dorado and Oil Belt Technical College, followed by a special vote and millage.
When she was younger, Jerry said she dreamed of becoming a commercial truck driver. Because she worked as a bookkeeper for years, Jerry said that she naturally became interested in accounting and decided to keep working while taking classes at SAU-El Dorado.
“That was my first venture into college as a single parent. I can certainly relate to a lot of the students attending that school and got a great education there. I went on to Magnolia and finished up getting an accounting degree,” Jerry said. “It’s always been a special place to me … If the school wasn’t here, I wouldn’t be able to do it.”
After graduating from SAU, she got her personal accounting certification and worked as an internal auditor for what is now Simmons Bank. Today, she’s the chief financial officer at First Financial Bank, where she’s worked for over 15 years.
“The college has always been important from the bank’s standpoint, being a good supporter. I’ve been very proud of that,” she said. “We’ve have several board members who have served on the college board, the foundation board or both and the opportunity came up for me to send in my application to become a trustee. I did and was selected.” Because Jerry has “a soft spot” for the institution, she said that she’s “glad to give something back” and she saluted the institution’s “great faculty.” She previously served on the SouthArk Foundation board.“Being in the chief financial officer position here at the bank will help me contribute from the financial aspect. It’s certainly not the same kind of accounting for a profit business like a bank is, versus an educational institution. It’s a little bit of a learning curve but I’m getting there.”
Brown, who also attributes her success to quality instruction at SouthArk, grew up in a family of educators, she said. She completed the college’s physical therapist assistant program that she called “the best in the state” and eventually became a PTA instructor. She said that she was inspired to go into the physical therapy field after attending several physical therapy appointments with her mother, who had her hip replaced twice.
“Whenever I was in high school, I would drive her to therapy, sit with her and watch her do her therapy,” she said. “It just struck a chord with me and I always knew that’s what I wanted to do. So I was thrilled that they started the program here, because I was headed to Conway to get a (physical) therapy degree.”
She also was the rehab director at Hillsboro Manor for eight years until she decided to work in the commercial real estate business with her husband Mark, but she still renews her license “just in case.” Between working in real estate and raising her daughter, she was involved with the El Dorado Service League for seven years.
Brown said that the PTA program “has high standards and a waiting list to get in. It’s not a walk in the park.”
“The physical therapist assistant program is so dynamic and so fabulous. We came out of there with the ability to earn a very high salary,” Brown said. “It was really no need for me to leave here and pursue anything elsewhere because my family was here, I was married and I just didn’t have to.”
As a trustee, she said that she wants focus on ensuring that the fellow trustees “remain diligent in keeping (the PTA and occupational therapy assistant) programs active because it’s good for community and it brings a lot of students from outside of this area.”
Employability is also reoccurring thought in José Covas’ mind during meetings and he said trustees “set the goals for the president.” Covas joined the SouthArk Board of Trustees after being appointed in April, replacing Calion Lumber Company owner Charlie Thomas.
“I’m a true believer that a community college should provide an education primarily in fields that will contribute to the employment of that community and fields in which students can find employment,” he said. “We have make sure that we mold as things change in our community. A program may have been very important … in 1998, but in 2017 that program may not be appropriate for employability.”
Aside from education, other components to employability include the willingness to work, do well and set goals. The lumber professional was born in Puerto Rico and lived several places before graduating from Hope High School, he said. A notable move was to Alaska, where his father worked in the lumber industry. Though his father worked in the lumber industry, he said that he didn’t think he would.
He started working in the lumber and wood products industry as a laborer in the late 1980s, according to a previous News-Times report. Covas worked Willamette Industries for about 10 years, climbing the ladder from a laborer position to finishing supervisor before moving on to Del-Tin Fiber. After working in two managerial positions there, he joined Calion Lumber in 2005, he said.
“My role as plant manager came from two things. One from my degree, but also from my work experience,” he said. “One of the major reasons why I’m at Calion Lumber Company is because I’ve had 17 years of work experience, with the majority of that being in a managerial (or) supervisory role.”
Prior to starting his position at Calion Lumber, he bounced around different institutions in south Arkansas, with a stint at Southern Arkansas University and Henderson State University. He eventually with a B.S. in Organizational Management from John Brown University, he said.
“(There are) different concentrations with a business degree and mine emphasized the management of organizations and people within those organizations … from accounting all the way through human resources,” Covas said.
While he attend classes at the community college, he said that instructed several community education classes in Spanish and Microsoft Excel “in a non-traditional setting.”
“They were tailored classes for the nursing and banking communities and I also taught Spanish for Travelers … where they could learn phrasing and important words they may need throughout their travels. I also taught some Excel class, some introductory courses.” he said. “I was actually a Microsoft certified engineer years ago … It was really a lot of fun. We’d meet in the evening time typically for a couple hours and run through the courses and probably would meet five to 10 times before the course was finished.”
All of the new trustees expressed that they’re still learning the ropes and getting acquainted with everyone, but they’d all agree with Covas’ comments regarding getting started.
“I’m excited about being a trustee and being involved with the education of our community. I think my business background will bring some benefit, along with the other trustees’ (backgrounds), to some of our goal setting and the way we do things.”
Brittany Williams may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter and like her on Facebook @BWilliamsEDNT for updates on Union County school news.