The digital magazine for faculty, staff, students and friends of Pensacola State College
September 29, 2021
Left to right: PSC President Ed Meadows, PSC Athletic Director and Head Baseball Coach Bryan Lewallyn, CCUF President and CEO successor Lisa Brown, retiring CCUF President and CEO Carolyn “Beanie” Dwelle, PSC Booster Club Director Hailey Lotz, PSC Foundation Board of Governors member Damaris Gonzalez, CCUF Marketing Manager G. Todd Cunningham, and PSC Executive Director of Institutional Development Andrea Krieger.
Central Credit Union of Florida has pledged $100,000 over a five-year period to the Pensacola State College Athletics Department.

Danny Gilman, chairman of the CCUFL Board of Directors and a PSC alumnus, made the gift announcement Monday, Sept. 27, at a press conference in the College’s Hartsell Arena.

“Today, we are strengthening our commitment to funding the athletics program because we believe future leaders are groomed through PSC’s team sports and your strong focus on academic excellence,’’ Gilman said. “Our commitment to provide $100,000 to support the future leaders developed through PSC’s athletics program is a signal of our believe in your work and the value that work provides to our members.”

Pensacola State President Ed Meadows called the gift-pledge “a shot in the arm for athletics.”

The $100,000 gift will benefit the College’s six athletic programs – baseball, softball, men and women’s basketball, cross-country and volleyball.
Pensacola State College’s Director of Student Affairs Kathleen “Katie” Hudon has never stopped trying to better herself or her community. Hudon was named one of Pinnacle Award winners by 850 Business Magazine during a virtual ceremony on Thursday, Sept. 23. 

The Pinnacle Awards spotlight leading women in business and education across 18 Northwest Florida counties. Hudon was one of 12 women to receive the award this year. But even though it’s a “Pinnacle” award, Hudon knows that personal growth is ongoing.
Even though she an accomplished educator and academic leader with an impressive eight degrees, she’s currently working on a ninth – a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Business & Management here at PSC. She earned her first degree, an Associate in Arts, from then-Pensacola Junior College before the name was changed to Pensacola State College in 2010.

Her community commitment is impressive and extensive and includes assisting and volunteering with groups such as United Way, First City Art Center, Ronald McDonald House and Lions Club International’s SightFirst program.

“It was a great honor to receive this award and be in the company of such amazing women leaders in Florida,” Hudon said. “It was also bittersweet because my father had unexpectedly passed away this month and was supposed to join me as a special guest. I hope he was looking down from above.” 
Meet Sam Smith, Coordinator of the newly-created position of Workday Change Management for Pensacola State
Trying to figure out if Sam Smith is left-brained or right-brained is a tough task.

The new Pensacola State College employee sure seems equally adept at both. 

Smith is the first to fill the newly-created position of Coordinator of Workday Change Management at the College in the office of Institutional Research and Management Information Systems, a position she began in August. It sounds like a highly-technical and professional position – and it is. 

But it also allows Smith, a PSC alumnus herself, to indulge her creative, right-brain side.

Her job duties include communicating Workday changes and initiatives to PSC students, staff and administrators as well as assisting with Workday training, including scheduling and training content. 

Seems a big change compared to much of Smith’s previous work experience, writing fun, funky features as a writer with inweekly newspaper and Natural Awakenings Northwest Florida Magazine and as a freelance writer with the Pensacola News Journal. 

“I still get to use the creative part of my brain,’’ Smith said. “I’m still writing in this position. It’s actually awesome. Because I’m all about change and implementing change and being on the frontline of those efforts so this role really appealed to me.”

And she appealed – and stood out – to those at PSC responsible for her hiring.

“When we interviewed Sam, we knew immediately she was perfect for the role of Change Manager,’’ said Michael Johnston, PSC’s Associate Vice President of Research and Management Information Systems. “She is steadfast yet unpredictable. This position and her role targets areas of our institution that have to evolve.”

Smith has a Master of Arts degree in English and Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. She earned an Associate in Art degree with an emphasis in Journalism from then-Pensacola Junior College in 2005. 

Johnston said Smith’s academic background makes her a great fit for the job, noting that she has “studied communications extensively.”

“Her ability to communicate ideas and processes are going to be the key to our success,’’ Johnston said. “We are very grateful she has joined our PSC team.” 

Smith and her husband, Rudy Udaeta, enjoy hiking and bowling in their off time – her high bowling score is 230. 

In fact, when she first met PSC President Ed Meadows it was in a group setting and he was asking people to tell the others about themselves.

“I said ‘I love to bowl.’ Everyone else was giving these intelligent answers that were work related. Not me. It was just ‘I love to bowl.'” 

— Troy Moon
It was Milton Campus' turn for Pizza with the President
As the Pizza with the President event was winding down at the Pensacola State College Milton campus on Wednesday, Sept. 29, PSC President Ed Meadows noticed there were a few extra pizzas left over and made a deal – if someone had an additional question, they could take home a full pizza.

PSC student Holly Walker, a member of the PSC Robinson Honors program, got the pizza and some great advice. Of course, she was asking for advice when she asked Meadows and other administrators at the event what was the best advice they had ever received.

“I would say the best advice I ever received was to continue my education,” Meadows said. But that’s not all Meadows’ high school teacher told him.

“She said, ‘Ed Meadows, continue your education because no one can take that away from you. You can lose your job, you can lose your possessions, but you don’t lose the education you have gained. So, stay in school, tough it out, get the degree and you’ll be better off.” 
This was the second of three Pizza with the President events this month. The first took place on Sept. 20 at the Warrington campus. The third Pizza with the President event is from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 30, in the G. Thomas Delaino Student Center. 

Students chowed down on Papa John’s pizza while Meadows took questions, many submitted in advance. Other administrators who attended were were Erin Spicer, Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs; Tom Gilliam, Vice President of Administrative Services and General Counsel; Anita Kovacs, Vice President of Business Affairs and Halley Camacho, Student Services Advisor at the Milton campus. 

Questions ranged from “Why doesn’t Milton campus have an eatery or coffee shop on campus?” (Not enough student/faculty/staff on campus to make it profitable for a food business, thought Meadows said administrators will look into attracting a food truck) to questions about scholarship requirements.

“Historically, we always do this twice a year, but the pandemic interfered with that,” Meadows said. “It’s always good to meet with students and hear their concerns and questions. Also, it’s a good time for students to get some free pizza.”

— Troy Moon
WSRE to present free screening of award-winning Locklin doc
WSRE’s award-winning production, “Hank Locklin: Country Music’s Timeless Tenor,” will be shown on the big screen in the station’s Jean & Paul Amos Performance Studio at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 30,

Audience Q&A with Hank Adam Locklin and the film’s producers will take place after the film. Admission is free.
 
The one-hour film documents the story of Hank Locklin, who is best known for two monster hits, “Please Help Me, I’m Falling” and the self-penned “Send Me the Pillow You Dream On,” and as a longtime member of the Grand Ole Opry. The country crooner from Santa Rosa County recorded 65 albums with 15 million sold and had two Grammy nominations, six No. 1 hits and 70 chart singles. He is in the Florida Artists Hall of Fame and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.
 
Iconic country artists Bill Anderson, Vince Gill, Dolly Parton, Jeannie Seely, Marty Stuart and Dwight Yoakam, along with Locklin’s son, Hank Adam Locklin, are featured in the film as the primary storytellers. Other country greats in the cast include Charley Pride, Crystal Gayle, William Lee Golden, Ray Stevens and broadcaster Ralph Emery.
 
WSRE won a Gold Telly Award in the Television Documentary category for the production, putting the local PBS station licensed to Pensacola State College in the company of filmmaking powerhouses including Florentine Films (Ken Burns), ESPN and Smithsonian Channel.
 
This free film screening is sponsored in part by The Kelly Group at Morgan Stanley. The event will be held in compliance with Florida COVID-19 Response guidelines in place at the time.
Hour-long workshops with financial experts are scheduled for August-November and January-April. Topics include: Basics of budgeting; recovering your finances; understanding loans and repayment; identity theft; and more. Details: 850-484-2082 or bmwright@pensacolastate.edu.
PTK Beta Beta Gamma Chapter and Campus Veterans Office present the Fall Semester Annual Collection for Homeless Veterans, Sept. 21-Dec. 1, 2021.
Collections on the Milton Campus at Buildings 4200, 4400, 4300 and 4000. On the Pensacola Campus, collections at the Veterans Office, Building 6, Room 658.
Needed are hats, white over-the-calf socks, scarves, gloves, lapghans, and holiday cards (please do not seal the envelopes).
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