The digital magazine for faculty, staff, students and friends of Pensacola State College
January 24, 2020
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Dona and Milton Usry came from Oklahoma to Pensacola in 1986 and Pensacola State College – and Northwest Florida – found lifelong friends and supporters.
The couple’s support of PSC is substantial and inspiring – and not solely because of the Usrys’ $100,000 donation to PSC in 2019, a gift that established the
Dona and Milton Usry Endowed Accounting Scholarship. The monetary support is staggering, but it continues a dedication to PSC that goes far beyond financial support.
On Jan. 21, Pensacola State College honored Dona and Milton Usry, who have become personal and appreciated friends to many in the PSC family, including college president
Ed Meadows.
The Usrys, along with friends from within and outside the PSC family, gathered in the PSC Board of Trustees Room which, after its dedication, became the
Dona and Milton Usry Board Room. At the same ceremony, a portrait of the Usrys was unveiled in the Pensacola State College Hall of Honor. (Dona Usry said one of her favorite touches in the portrait is the framed photos of her family in the background.)
“They are true friends to Pensacola State College and, personally, to so many of us here," said Meadows, who told the attendees of Dona and Milton’s loyal concern when Meadows was ill a few years back.
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The establishment of the Dona and Milton Usry Endowed Accounting Scholarship will assist accounting students for generations to come, said
Doug Bates, past president of the PSC Foundation Board.
He told the Usrys that their contributions will work to produce success “beyond anything they can imagine.”
“We get to come to PSC, and we get to see the students walk the halls, graduate, leave, start families, feed their families and do all the things we want graduates to do," Bates said. “But we can’t do it alone.”
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Dona and Milton Usry, left, observe the unveiling of the plaque naming the new Dona and Milton Usry Board Room in the administration building of Pensacola State College. Photo by Zack Blessing
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Dona Usry’s history with PSC dates back to 1999, when she served on the PSC Board of Trustees until 2014. She served two terms – 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 – as board chairwoman. She is also a member of the WSRE-TV Foundation Board of Directors.
Known as a cheerleader for PSC, she’s a frequent name on the PSC Facebook page, even sending out well-wishes to students or instructors she reads about who have made positive news in the school and throughout the community.
Milton Usry was an esteemed educator even before he arrived in Northwest Florida. He was Regents Professor of accounting for 25 years at Oklahoma State University before the couple moved to Northwest Florida. Upon arrival he joined the University of West Florida accounting faculty, gaining legendary status at the university. He was named UWF’s first Eminent Scholar as well as the Mary Ball Washington Professor Emeritus of Accounting.
PSC is not alone in reaping the benefits of the Usrys’ support. They have been longtime and major supporters of groups ranging from the Pensacola Symphony to Manna Food Pantries. But Dona Usry admitted a special love for PSC.
“The leadership at Pensacola State College at this time prompted us to go ahead and give this gift,” she said. “We were so pleased to become involved with Pensacola State. It’s one of the best things we ever did.”
-- Troy Moon
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Financial Aid Day
will take place from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 16, in Building 5, the Student Center, on the Pensacola Campus.
Financial Aid Day is an annual event where students can get help with applying, registering and paying for college. Currently Pensacola State College offers more than 240 scholarships to eligible students. Admissions, Advising and Financial Aid counselors will be available to help new and returning students and their parents get started at Pensacola State College.
You can ask questions, use the Computer Lab to fill out online forms, and have one-on-one assistance. Knowledgeable volunteers will walk you through the entire process. They will even help you fill out the
FAFSA
(Free Application for Federal Student Aid), which is the first step to receiving financial aid.
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PSC's
Nonprofit Center for Excellence and Philanthropy will present its latest workshop,
"Donor-Centered Proposals and Presentation," from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 29, in the Nonprofit Center, Bldg. 17, Room 1703, at the College.
Leading the workshop will be
Cathy Brown of The Fund Raising School. Cost is $75 per registered attendee.
The workshop will cover donor centricity; how you can test your communication; how to quantify donors vital to your mission’s success; putting the donor at the center of communications, stories, and thank-you notes; quantifying your organizational effectiveness and efficiency in a way that allows donors to own the success; what research tells us about how donors feel about fundraising; components that matter in the fundraising relationship.
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Student info not puzzling for Stephanie Denmark
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Interim registrar keeps close tabs on the progress of thousands
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Relaxation is not
Stephanie Denmark’s thing.
“I like to keep my brain active,” she says. “I have a problem just sitting and relaxing. I like to stay busy.”
That’s a good thing for Pensacola State College. Denmark is the College’s interim registrar, which means that she and her staff of about 10 records specialists and transcript evaluators must keep track of the records of students on all PSC campuses and centers. Just this past year alone that meant more than 12,800 student applications and a total head count, across all terms, of 32,401.
She recites some of the duties of the registrar’s office: “Grade postings, international students, transcripts, graduation requirements, all admissions documents, perform verifications – did I say graduation requirements? – for the most part, that’s what we’re responsible for.”
But rather than finding it a daunting task to deal with the records – and futures – of so many students, Denmark pretty much revels in it.
“I enjoy figuring out how things work and why and how they fit together,” she says. “I’m very much a puzzle person. I enjoy learning. I could be a career student, I think, but it doesn’t pay the bills.”
Originally from Mobile, Alabama, Denmark received her AA from PSC and then earned a bachelor’s in information technology from American InterContinental University. She worked as registrar at Fortis Institute in Pensacola for nine years, then worked as assistant registrar at Coastal Alabama Community College in Bay Minette, Alabama, for three years.
“I was looking to move back to Pensacola,” Denmark says. “Pensacola just feels like my home. I’ve invested a lot in this community, I have close friends here and I loved the idea of coming home and being part of the community again.”
She joined Pensacola State as completion adviser in August 2019.
A completion adviser, she says, makes sure that students who apply to graduate meet all the graduation requirements.
“When students apply, I work the graduation application and email them and let them know what requirements they don’t meet,” Denmark says. “Then, for students who didn’t apply for graduation, I’ll let them know that they’re close to graduation and put them in the system as a tentative completer.”
For someone in the education administration business, however, the move from Alabama to Florida is not without its quirks.
“It’s definitely been busy,” she says. “Florida is a performance-based funding state. Alabama wasn’t, so that is something that I’m having to learn. It’s a totally different beast. But for the most part it’s been warm, it’s been welcome. The people I’ve encountered have been very helpful.”
Denmark was named interim registrar upon the departure of previous registrar
Susan Desbrow.
What’s the best part of working at PSC?
“This is going to sound cliché, but helping the students,” Denmark says. “I enjoy working with the people in this office. We’re very busy, but the people in this office are truly amazing people. They are very hard workers.”
-- Mike Suchcicki
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LET'S GO TO THE MOVIES!
Check out the upcoming movie nights for the spring semester! All movies will be in
Hagler Auditorium
on the Pensacola Campus and begin at
6:30 p.m.
Movie nights are
FREE
for all PSC students, faculty, staff, their families, and friends. Drinks and popcorn are provided by the
Campus Activities Board
(CAB).
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H
ave a great PSC graduation story? We want to hear it!
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If yours is like most families that include Pensacola State College graduates, you have memories of great anecdotes or unique situations having to do with the graduation ceremony. Perhaps something fascinating or unusual happened at the event. Perhaps you have three generations of PSC grads in the same family. Perhaps your journey to a PSC diploma took a unusually circuitous route. If so, we would like to hear that history, those memories, those anecdotes. Share your tales with an email to
thepirate@pensacolastate.edu
. Be sure to include your full name and contact information (phone number or email). And thanks for sharing!
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There's never an idle moment at Pensacola State College, whether you're into art, athletics, drama, music, science, technology, engineering, dance, movies, books or just plain socializing. Make plans to make plans with
our online Calendar
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