Spring 2006, Volume 9, No. 2

They Said It

“One of the best things about working with the bachelor of science in public service is helping our students with their internships, when they spend 15 hours per week in the agencies of their choice and use their knowledge and skills. The internships really stretch them and force them to pull together all the coursework and use it in helping people.

I also enjoy staying in touch with the alumni. We now have enough graduates who are working in the field - some of them are even supervising current interns in their field placements! - that it is really heartening. It is very fulfilling to visit agencies and see our graduates working there. The feedback we get from the agencies indicates that we are turning out ‘quality products’ with the skills, competencies and knowledge that they need.” – Dr. Harriet Jardine, professor of psychology (photo above left)

When I became a faculty member here a number of years ago, I was asked to teach a variety of freshman and sophomore courses from a number of different disciplines: introduction to computers, computer applications, systems analysis and design, accounting  and others. 

 While I enjoyed the diversity of the content and my freshman and sophomore students, it has been very fulfilling to concentrate on specific areas of interest and watch the changes that continue to occur in my junior- and senior- level students. – Richard Spiers, assistant professor of information technology (photo at left).

After Macon State became a baccalaureate institution, I began teaching junior- and senior-level courses in business management. While teaching has always been a passion for me, it became more of a joy after the baccalaureate transition. By the time students reach their junior and senior years, they have achieved a higher level of maturity and have a better understanding of what it takes to be successful in college. My favorite course is Strategic Management, our senior-level capstone course. Most of the students in this course are in their last or next-to-last semester, and they are a joy to teach.

Many of the students in the management track take three or four of my courses, and I get to know them more on a personal level. More often, they tend to seek my advice about their career and professional plans after college, and I hope that I give them good advice and that I influence their lives and careers in some positive way, however small.  – Dr. Clyde Conine, professor of business (photo above left).

It is exciting to contribute to the growth of Macon State College, and the addition of baccalaureate programs in math and biology has been a longstanding goal of the Division of Natural Sciences and Math. The biology and math faculty saw this as a unique opportunity to build a program that not only complements the other baccalaureate programs at the College, but extends Macon State’s reputation of academic excellence and quality. These are programs that meet our students’ needs and the needs of Central Georgia.  I’m personally excited about the prospects of having juniors and seniors in the division and the opportunity to mentor students for four years. – Dr. Eric Sun, chair, Division of Natural Sciences and Math (photo above).