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Campus Headlines
Berry | Shorter | Coosa Valley Technical College | Georgia Highlands
Rachel Rogers joins Shorter as director of athletic development
(Media release) Hiawassee native Rachel Rogers has joined Shorter College's Office of Institutional Advancement as director of athletic development.
 Rogers, a 2004 Shorter College graduate, has spent the past six years working for the Rome Braves. In her most recent role as community relations manager/executive suite director, Rogers worked to foster relationships between the Rome Braves and Northwest Georgia and to cement the Rome Braves as a community partner.
As a Shorter College student, Rogers was active in Student Government Association, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Recreation Society, Epsilon Sigma, Zeta Rho Fraternity, and intramurals. In addition to her academic achievements, she also became the first person to cheer all four years at Shorter College.
"I am thrilled to be back on the hill," Rogers said. "As a student, Shorter College gave me the opportunity to grow as an individual during my most impressionable years. I am extremely happy to be given the chance to give back to the institution that has done so much for me. It is my hope that I now can be the difference in someone else's future."
Rogers is an active member in the Young Professionals of Rome and The Church at Northside, and she serves as a community volunteer for a number of organizations.
Teresa McPherson joins Shorter's human resources department
(Media release) Rome resident Teresa McPherson has joined the Human Resources Department at Shorter College.
 McPherson comes to Shorter from Rome City Schools where she served on the RCS Benefits Committee for three years and was named 2007 Support Person of the Year for Rome Middle School. Prior to working at Rome City Schools, she was a youth program director at the Rome-Floyd County YMCA.
McPherson received her bachelor's degree in business administration from Shorter College and is a graduate of East Rome High School, where she graduated with honors.
She and her husband, Steve, have two sons, Pete and Morgan. She has served as West End Elementary PTA co-president, earning the first-ever Georgia PTA President's Award. In addition, McPherson has held several other volunteer positions with the Rome Middle School PTO, Rome High School PTO, Rome High Dugout Club, Rome Band Boosters and Fellowship Baptist Church.
Dr. Glenn Garrido new director of bands at Berry
(Media release) A new conductor is gracing the Ford Auditorium stage this fall, and his passion can be felt in every seat. Dr. Glenn Garrido is the new director of bands and coordinator for Berry College’s music education program.
“Dr. Garrido has brought a new energy to the music department,” said Dr. Stan Pethel, chair of Berry’s fine arts department. “He is a talented conductor and programmer with excellent experience.”
You can see Dr. Garrido in action at the Berry College Wind Ensemble’s fall concert Thursday night, Nov. 20, in Ford Auditorium. He will be working with Major Donald Schofield, director of the Air Force Reserve Band. Admission to the 7:30 p.m. performance honoring U.S. troops is free and open to the public.
Originally from Maracaibo, Venezuela, Dr. Garrido holds a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering and a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Zulia State Conservatory of Music. He came to the United States in 1991 and was offered a full scholarship from the University of New Hampshire to complete his master’s degree in conducting. After graduation, he moved south to accept another scholarship from the University of Florida, where he earned his doctorate in music education with an emphasis in instrumental conducting.
Dr. Garrido spent the last eight years teaching at Fort Valley State University in Fort Valley, Ga. He then packed his baton and moved to Rome with wife Maria and their three boys – Glenn, Gabriel and Gregg – to join the faculty at Berry.
“I like the reputation of Berry, and I have been able to make good connections,” Dr. Garrido said. “I also enjoyed my first Mountain Day conducting the symphonic band.”
When he is not teaching, Dr. Garrido is presenting lectures about Latin American band music and composers at conferences hosted by such notable groups as the Georgia Music Educators Association and the College Band Director National Association. He also has published two articles analyzing major works by Latin American composers for the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles
The Argo, Shorter's yearbook, honored at college media conference
Pictured are, bottom left to right: Amber Wilson, Joshua Pipes and Bethany Dykes.
Top, left to right: Caryn Ethridge, Zack Smith and Paige Cook.
(Media release) The student-produced yearbook of Shorter College - The Argo - earned fourth place "Best in Show" at the Associated Collegiate Press and College Media Advisers Conference in Kansas City, Mo.
The 2008 edition of The Argo, titled "True Colors," was the college's first full-color yearbook. "It was a great way to debut and show off the use of color in this publication," said Shorter's Assistant Professor of Communications and yearbook adviser Allison Hattaway.
The Argo was one of four collegiate publications that garnered the "Best in Show" award in the zero-to-300 page category.
"We are very proud of this award," Hattaway said. "I can honestly say that this was the most dedicated and energetic staff I have advised in my time at Shorter. I think that their energy and efforts came through in the 2007-08 book and the judges took notice of the great use of color and typography, strong photography, solid writing, and the consistent theme "True Colors" throughout the book. We keep raising the bar for ourselves each year and I'm optimistic that we will continue to improve with each book."
Hattaway, into her eighth year of overseeing the yearbook production, said this was the second consecutive year that The Argo has won national acclaim.
The 2008 Argo featured the work of more than 15 students and six student editors. Amber Wilson served as editor, and the assistant editor was Joshua Pipes. Others included sports editor Zackary Smith, student life editor Bethany Dykes, people and organizations editor Caryn Ethridge and entertainment editor Paige Cook.
Berry selected as one of six Georgia 'Colleges of Distinction'
(Media release) Berry College is one of only six colleges in Georgia featured in the newly released 2008-09 edition of “Colleges of Distinction,” published by Student Horizons Inc. Unlike traditional numeric-based college guidebooks, this publication appeals to students’ unique interests – recognizing that “the best” college for one student may be vastly different from what is best for another.
“The schools in this group are some of the very best in the country. Some are household names; some are ‘hidden in plain sight’; what they all share is that they are great places to get an education,” said Wesley L. Creel, president and founder of “Colleges of Distinction.”
Approximately 40 colleges in each of the six geographical regions in the U.S. were recognized for meeting four key criteria that make a college truly exceptional: engaged students, great teaching, vibrant communities and successful outcomes.
These are the “hidden gems” of higher education institutions – as determined by a review board of academicians, guidance counselors and parents.
Joining Berry among Georgia colleges and universities are Wesleyan College, Georgia College and State University, Agnes Scott College, Oglethorpe University and LaGrange College.
“A great college experience involves learning by doing as much as learning through classroom study,” said Dr. Stephen R. Briggs, president of Berry College. “This guide is helpful because it focuses on how colleges engage students through great teaching and vibrant campus communities rather than on a superficial ranking by test scores. Berry College is delighted to be included in this guidebook that focuses on the quality of campus experiences and successful outcomes.”
Prospective students can visit online at www.collegesofdistinction.com to learn more about featured schools, including Berry College. Visitors can read tips from high school guidance counselors and essays from college students, presidents and other members of different campus communities.
Make that Shorter University as of June 1, 2010
(Media release) Shorter College President Harold E. Newman today announced the college's intent to change its legal designation to Shorter University. The change will become effective June 1, 2010, and marks an important development for the 135-year-old institution that is affiliated with the Georgia Baptist Convention.
 The status change was approved by the Shorter College Board of Trustees at its October meeting and today (Tuesday, Nov. 11) was approved by delegates attending the annual meeting of the Georgia Baptist Convention. The convention's approval was necessary because the status change requires an amendment to Shorter's charter.
"Since its founding in 1873, Shorter has had a reputation for providing excellent academics within a caring environment," Dr. Newman said. "Our aim is to create a Christian university where students will receive a top quality education in an environment that fosters spiritual growth. University status reflects what Shorter has already become through the extraordinary growth and progress of recent years." Today, the college enrolls approximately 3,000 students who study on four campuses in Rome, North Atlanta, Lawrenceville, and Riverdale.
Dr. Newman added, "Several years ago, the college's leadership team and I identified university status as a centerpiece of Shorter's strategic plan, and we believe that Shorter fits nicely into the definition of a regional teaching university. Achieving recognition as a regional teaching university, as a Christ-centered community, and as a community committed to globalization are the central pillars of our strategic plans for the future growth and development of Shorter."
Dr. Nelson Price, chairman of the Shorter College Board of Trustees, expressed enthusiasm for the transition. "From the inception of my working with Shorter, we have had the bold ambition to see it excel, and we feel the title of university will enhance the understanding of the level of academic excellence offered at Shorter. We also desire to see the academic success enhanced by the infusion of the Christian faith."
The status change will enable Shorter to better respond to market forces within the state of Georgia and within the higher education community at large, Dr. Newman said. "Becoming Shorter University positions us for future growth. It does not, however, change the nature of Shorter. We remain committed to providing a high quality educational experience that features personal interactions with faculty, a strong focus on students, and excellence in all areas."
Dr. Newman added that the change will require little internal restructuring since the college already follows a university-style structure. "For much of the past decade, we have operated under a university model in that we have had separate schools headed by deans and have offered graduate programs," he said. "This change in designation solidifies that reputation."
>For more, click Shorter
Frank Barron donates vintage Piper to CVTC
Pictured left to right: Jon Byrd, Director/Instructor, CVTC’s Aviation Maintenance and Avionics Technology programs; Frank Barron, CVTC Foundation Education For Work Donor and Steering Committee Member; and Dr. Craig McDaniel, CVTC President.
(Media release) There are three topics that Frank Barron loves to talk about. His family is always first, with Coca Cola taking second. Barron’s third great love is aviation. Barron’s donation of a 1967 Piper Cherokee 140 PA28-140 to the Coosa Valley Technical College Foundation’s Education For Work campaign allows him to share his love of aviation with the students at CVTC.
“The first lesson I took was in June of 1950, right out here at Russell Field with a fellow by the name of Herb Carlyle,” remembers Barron, former officer and director of seven Coca Cola Bottling Plants throughout Georgia. “He took me up for 35 minutes and I’ll never forget it.”
Barron has loved flying all his life. “Flying was just something I had always wanted to do. In September of 1950, I guess I was 17 or 18 years old, I soloed for the first time. The plane was an Aeronca Champ. It took me 6 hours and 10 minutes in dual instruction to be allowed to fly the plane solo. You wouldn’t see that in this day and time. You probably have to have 12, maybe 20, hours of instruction before they will let you solo these days. I flew a fair amount when I was in college. I would scrape up five dollars and rent a plane for an hour and fly around.”
“After college, I went in the Navy during the Korean War. I spent three and a half years in the military. When I came home, I went to work at the Coca Cola business. I got married and had children, and I didn’t have the time or the money to fly.”
Barron rekindled his love in 1977. “Our company bought an airplane because we were scattered all over the state and we were killing ourselves driving up and down the roads. That’s when we got seriously into aviation. We bought a company plane and kept it here at Russell Field. I immediately started flying again. That same year my cousin, Mike Barron, and I bought the Piper.”
“The plane was 10 years old when we bought it and had been mistreated. You could stand at the nose and look all the way through to the back; there was no motor, no dashboard, no nothing. It was a derelict really. We hired Larry Owen, a mechanic out here, to rebuild it for us.”
“Mike and I owned the plane together until he bought a plane of his own. By that time my son was flying so we owned it together for a while. He bought a plane, so I ended up owning it by myself. This Piper is a great airplane. It’s got something like 2700 hours total on the frame, which is fairly low time on a plane this old. It’s a wonderful flying airplane. I owned it for 30 years, until last year, when I decided I was going to move into another category of flying called Light Sport Aircraft. Light Sport has much smaller aircraft and smaller horsepower.”
“When the time came to get rid of this airplane, I was on the steering committee for the Coosa Valley Technical College Foundation Campaign. By virtue of being on that steering committee, I realized what CVTC was trying to do, particularly with the advent of the aviation programs, and I thought what better thing could I give to the foundation than this airplane. I’m just really so pleased that they got it and it will be used for such a special purpose.”
The plane will be used by the faculty and students at the Coosa Valley Technical College Aviation Training Center as a training tool, much like a lab.
“It’s hard to explain the level on which this donation helps our program,” stated Jon Byrd, Director/Instructor of CVTC’s Aviation Maintenance and Avionics Technology programs. “To have that type of airplane available for training our students is a blessing. Airplanes like this, no matter the size, all have the same systems in them. A plane like Mr. Barron’s will show our students these systems and how they work. The students can then apply their knowledge to bigger planes. To find a plane in that good of a condition is unheard of. The planes a lot of aviation maintenance schools have to practice on can be in really rough shape, but this one is in such good condition. Our students are really lucky to have an airplane like this to use for training.”
“This donation helped us meet our goal for CVTC’s Education for Work campaign, but it has special meaning because of who it came from,” said Craig McDaniel, President, Coosa Valley Technical College. “Frank Barron is as well known in the world of business and industry in Georgia as anyone and to have his support for our aviation program and for Coosa Valley Tech means a great deal.”
Barron sees a great future for aviation, and CVTC’s Aviation Training Center, in northwest Georgia. “The training of avionics and aviation technicians is such a need in this area,” stated Barron. “Until now, we had to take our planes to Chattanooga to get the smallest electronic problems fixed. There is a great need for people who are trained in aviation maintenance and avionics, this training center is going to fill that need. Aviation is a necessity for the economic health for this nation. I’m very pleased that Craig McDaniel and others had the foresight to pursue such an endeavor. I predict it will be wildly successful. There is an enormous quantity of highly talented people in this area; all they need is just the opportunity to get the correct training. The training center will ensure a successful future and a successful life for these people, as well as being a great aid to the economic health of the area.”
The Education For Work campaign is a five year investment plan designed to enhance economic development through workforce education in Floyd, Gordon, and Polk counties. The money raised through the Education For Work campaign will go toward four specific areas of need including high school initiatives, new program development, library resources, and financial assistance to students.
Coosa Valley Technical College’s Foundation was created in 1989 to allow the college to be responsive to the needs of the community and the economy. A 501(c) (3) corporation, the Foundation provides a way for services to be delivered when state and federal resources are not available. For more or to make a donation, contact Lisa McDonald, CVTC Foundation, at 706-295-6928.
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