PEL Staff Members Moving On

Three of our PEL staff left us at the end of October. We are grateful to each of them for their service to PEL, and we rejoice with them as new chapters in their lives begin.

by Anne W. Anderson

photos courtesy of EC Marketing & Communication

 Julee Breehne has been with PEL for almost nine years and has worked in several admissions capacities, most recently as PEL's Assistant Director of Admissions. She has accepted a position as the K-12 Coordinator with the University of Florida's Innovation Station in Sarasota County.

Breehne, who began working at PEL's Sarasota campus in 2007 with center director Linda Johnson, moved to Florida after graduating from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, with a degree in mass communication and broadcast journalism. She worked as a morning co-host for an Arcadia radio station and volunteered with the Sarasota Film Festival, which led to a position with the Sarasota Arts Council. She also worked as a tour coordinator and cast member for Florida Studio Theatre's Write-a-Play program, which performs plays for and teaches play-writing skills to elementary and secondary school students, and spent five years as development manager for Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida.

Breehne, who began a master's program ten years after completing her undergraduate degree, said she remembered "how weird it felt to go back" and could empathize with adults who were returning to college. But, she said, she quickly grew to appreciate the multiple challenges faced by many of the people she met who were returning to school. At the same time, Breehne said, what many people needed was just confidence.

"I have seen so many highly accomplished people -- heavy hitters in their fields -- who were intimidated and overwhelmed by the idea of going back to school," said Breehne."They saw academia as a foreign world. They just needed to see it in the terms they were used to. I might say, 'Remember when you ran for office or started that business?'"

Breehne said she often had potential students bring their families to admissions meeting.

"I loved it when they'd bring their kids and their husbands or wives," Breehne said. "All those people will be affected and have their own questions. It's important to gain their support, too."

Breehne also represented PEL at various education fairs and other events, and she has maintained connections with PEL graduates who have moved into various fields. This past May she wrote an article for The PEL Connector about Sarasota PEL graduate Trevor Harvey and his work with the Newtown Conservation Historic Project.

Breehne looks forward to bringing these multiple skill sets and all of this knowledge to her new work with the UF's Innovation Station engineering program. Breehne explained that UF and State College of Florida have an agreement allowing students to complete the first two years of their degree at SCF, then finish at UF. the goal is to encourage those students to bring their engineering skills back to the Sarasota County area in industry and entrepreneurial ventures.

"I will be working first with high school students and then younger students to interest them in engineering and to move them into that stream," Breehne said. "They have a vision and funding. We just have to make it happen."

Breehne said she is grateful for the "really, really great mentor" she had in Linda Johnson, who trained her to "see the person," and for the "endless possibilities" she sees in bringing her knowledge of a liberal arts education to a STEM-oriented program that includes digital arts as one of the possible majors.

But the biggest adjustment, Breehne said, will be working with a population that is at least half the age of most PEL students.

"I don't know if it will be easier or harder," Breehne said with a laugh, adding that she is looking forward to the challenge.

Breehne and her husband, Miguel, who is a test pilot and contractor with the Naval Research Laboratory, have a daughter, Eleenor, who is in kindergarten this year.

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Janice Writt, who has been PEL's Reception Coordinator for the past two years, has accepted a position as Accounts Payable Clerk in the Eckerd College Business Office.

Writt, who is from Virginia, earned a degree in Recreation, Health, and Tourism from George Mason University and worked at a community college while she was attending school. After moving to Florida, Writt worked as an administrative assistant at Alpha House of Pinellas County and did some event planning before coming to Eckerd PEL.

In addition to being the friendly face and sympathetic ear greeting people as they have come into the PEL office, Writt also has proctored the CLEP, DANTES, timed writing, and other tests; has managed the PEL Facebook account; has helped edit and develop the PEL websites, and has helped process admission records.

"Whatever pops up and needs to get done," is how Writt described her work.

"I have gotten to know people across campus," Writt said, "especially people in Foundations, because of the work I have done with the writing exhibits, and people in Marketing and Communication, because of the website and social media work."

Writt also has served as the PEL representative to the College's Staff Council.

Writt said she has enjoyed working in PEL. "It's been a good team of people who really care about the students," she said, adding that one of her favorite times is just before classes start. "That's when students bring in their stories to share," she said.

Writt understands what it means to go back to school, too, and to juggle a job and a family. She has been taking Business Administration courses, which she hopes will help her in her new position. Plus, she and her husband, Jeremy Writt, who is a multimedia and video technician at St. Petersburg College, are new parents to Jaxson, born October 25. They also have a 7-year-old Dalmatian named Dallas.

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Kathy McDonald, PEL's Director of Admission and Recruitment, has accepted a position as Network Partnerships Manager with the Florida College Access Network (FCAN), which is housed at USF Tampa.

McDonald, who is from Evanston, Ill., earned a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Southern Illinois University and a master's degree in Management from Northwestern University. She worked for major corporations in the Chicago area, including Oracle, Kraft Foods, and AmeriTech, before opening her own coffee house and, later, a corporate gift business.

At the same time, McDonald was providing marketing consulting services and exploring questions of career-life balance in her book, Creating Your Life Collage: Strategies for Solving the Work/Life Dilemma. In the process, McDonald discovered an affinity for adult education.

"I liked leading workshops," McDonald said. "And I just loved adult education. I believe in the transformative power of adult learning."

Tiring of cold winters, the McDonald family moved to Florida in 2004. " That was the year of the hurricanes," McDonald said with a laugh, "but we stayed." McDonald worked for several years with Bisk, a company that works with colleges and universities to develop online education programs.

But it was writer Ann Patchett's appearance as keynote speaker at the 2013 Writers in Paradise conference that introduced McDonald to Eckerd College.

"I drove over to hear Ann Patchett," McDonald said. "And I thought, 'Wow, I want to work here!'"

McDonald joined PEL a year ago as the program's Director of Admission and Recruitment. She currently serves as second vice-president for the Tampa Bay Higher Education Alliance and, as a co-chair of the Senior HR special interest group of the Association for Talent Development, offered career-development workshops to businesses interested in offering education benefits to their employees. She also partnered with Mary Anderson, in the College's Career Services offices, to present lunch-and learn events to attract potential students.

"I continue to be amazed and inspired by our students," McDonald said. "They are juggling so much. The fact that they persevere and stick with it to graduation is pretty amazing."

In her new position with FCAN, McDonald will work with the regional cooperative networks that have formed across the state to help increase the number of working adults with post-secondary certificates or degrees. Comprised of business leaders, K-12 educators, higher education leaders, and community organizations, the local cooperatives work together to create stronger higher education pathways for under-served populations.

"Right now, the focus is on the K-12 pipeline and on creating a culture that values post-secondary education," McDonald explained. "But adult education programs also need to be part of this initiative, and I am excited to be able to advocate for adult learners in this new role."

McDonald and her husband, John, who is in real estate, have a daughter, Samantha, a freshman studying chemistry at the University of Florida, and a son, Liam, graduating this year from Middleton High School in Tampa. They also have three dogs, Sadie, the Javanese "elder stateswoman," Lucy, a Golden Retriever, and Ripley, a Border Collie puppy.

Anne W. Anderson is PEL's director of blended and online learning 

and is co-editor of The PEL Connector.