Employee Center

Congratulations to Sherry Parker!
 

As our Student Accounts Representative, Sherry is responsible for maintaining cash flow for the private payments our students make.  She is also responsible for third-party billing.  Sherry has a gentle nature which helps her to work with students and agencies in a positive way.  She maintains good relationships with them while managing our cash flow to expected metrics.  She has done an outstanding job of getting payments to our school in a timely manner, and built good rapport with students and agencies along the way.
 

While her position can be a stressful one, she maintains a positive attitude, and never seems flustered or annoyed.  She is an incredibly valuable and valued employee! 
 

Congratulations Sherry!  Your great work has not gone unnoticed.  You can reach Sherry to congratulate her at sparker@it-email.com. 

For some time now, BrightStar Education Group has been seeking ways to distinguish our school from the many competitors for our medical division students. We know that we have the best instructors around. What we need is a way to show prospective students that we go the extra mile to make sure they are able to succeed. This is especially true for medical division students, since there are so many schools who offer similar programs to ours. 

We are launching an online tutor (using a chat feature on MyIOT) that will give our medical division students a distinct advantage. Students will be able to access this online tutor at various times throughout the week, including evening hours. We have been searching for the right person to run this critical initiative, which will serve students from all Institute of Technology campuses that offer medical programs. We have now found that person. 

Kimberly Kempen has agreed to serve as our MyIOT Online Medical Tutor. Kim has the right combination of experience and skills to take on this new role. She was formerly an effective instructor in our medical division, and has most recently served as the director of Career Services for our campus. She understands how to relate to students, and she knows what our students need in order to attain success in their new careers. 

Kim will start her new role on Monday. While we search for a new Director of Career Services, I will manage the career services team. In fact, starting Monday, I will most usually be found in the career services office. 

We look forward to seeing how this effort increase retention and helps our students succeed. Once we have perfected the process with our medical division students, we will consider other programs that might benefit from an online tutor as well. 

Congratulations to Eunice Heard! Eunice is in charge of student collections at Modesto.  She has worked for BrightStar for 7 years in several different departments and has always found a way to make that department her own.  Eunice is a team player and works well with all other departments.  She has found her niche collecting payments with students and is successful because of her great rapport with them. 
 

Eunice has a unique ability to get students to understand that when she tells them that payments are due, they are due.  Eunice has always been a great employee, and we thank her for her continued dedication and hard work. 
 

Thanks again Eunice for all that you’ve done.  Keep up the good work!  

Lynn Meacham is the bookroom/externship coordinator at Modesto.  She is the epitome of a team player and will do whatever it takes to get the job done for the students and staff.  She works with all departments in keeping up with the books so that all students have their books and supplies on the first day of class.
 

Lynn makes sure that all of her files are updated and that books are returned or students are charged.  She is in charge of sizing all students for their uniforms for HVAC, MOA, PT and PMA, and is also the externship coordinator, making sure that all students have sites and turn their time cards in on time. 
 

With Lynn, “No student is left without or behind.”  She can be depended upon to take on any task without complaints, and the job always gets done.  Thanks Lynn for all you do!  Keep up the good work!
 

Ron Gardner has been promoted to Clovis’ new Assistant Director of Admissions. 

Mr. Gardner joined the Clovis admissions team in November, 2007 and has had an immediate and positive impact on the team, becoming one of our top performers shortly after completing his training program. During the first six months of 2008, Ron has earned the respect of his peers and of employees throughout our school. He is an enthusiastic and professional team player, with considerable leadership skill. During the next month, he will have the opportunity to train under the tutelage of Jim Haga, our company CEO, who is currently serving as the Clovis Campus Interim Director of Admissions. 

Congratulations Ron!  We welcome your leadership!

IOT Graduate Joseph Rodriguez has been promoted from financial aid clerk to financial aid officer! 

Mr. Rodriguez graduated with honors from the Administrative Office Professional program at Institute of Technology. A veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, he used the GI Bill to help pay for his education. Since he began his employment at the Institute of Technology- Clovis last year, Joseph has earned the respect and admiration of his co-workers with his hard work and his polite and helpful demeanor. Please join us in congratulating him on his new position as Financial Aid Officer.  

Modesto’s Komalam Mckenzie has achieved the prestigious status of Master Instructor for the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) program.  Komalam earned this coveted distinction by first passing the Microsoft Office Specialist certification exams and by meeting the rigorous requirements for becoming an MOS Master Instructor.  Microsoft Office Specialist is designed to prove computer skills and desktop productivity in programs that have become the standard for businesses around the world. 

The MOS Master Instructor credential will enable Komalam to better instruct students on these essential computer programs.  We thank and congratulate Komalam for her work in bettering herself and her students through becoming a Master Instructor.  Komalam we are lucky to have you!

Congratulations to Richard Melella!

Richard Melella has worn many different hats through his many years of service with IOT.  The one he has worn most recently has been the most important one that I can remember.  He has been directly overseeing the Career Services department at our Clovis campus (to help add stability and guidance) as well as giving guidance to our other campus Career Services departments.Richard was dispatched to give all of his attention to our placement outcomes for the campuses, especially the Clovis campus.  Our placement numbers were not in compliance with the state or our accreditation body; in fact, we had 2 programs out of 14 that were in compliance with the state.  Through his direction and the hard work of the individual career service department employees that number has climbed to 9 with just a few job/verifications/waivers to get to put us over the top for the state.

As for our national accreditation body, we have never been in position to report that all programs are in compliance, until now.  Richard is projecting that all programs will be in compliance for our national accreditation body by the end of the year.

A big thank you goes to Richard, but a bigger thank you goes to all of our Career Service Representatives for recapturing the vision for our students.  Richard, we appreciate your leadership!

After maintaining a streak of 60 days and counting without a drop in the NST program, these four instructors deserve to be praised!  Their sustained teamwork and passion is reflected in the program’s success and unprecedented retention rate.  These four instructors represent the quality of IOT’s instructors.      
                 
During Mike Sears’ 12 year tenure with the company, he has been a dedicated instructor of both business and technical programs. Currently, Mike teaches the first mod of NST where he helps each student develop good study and attendance habits by promoting a welcoming attitude of professionalism in his class.