Austin, Texas-native Rachel McCown considered several cities for her next job with Everest College before choosing Springfield. The new dean of education at the for-profit secondary educator worked most recently as director of student services in Austin. The Queen City’s appeal, McCown said, was partly due to an art scene reminiscent of her hometown years ago. Everest placed McCown in transitional housing in April before she moved into a downtown loft. She manages 25 faculty members and educational programs for 230 students, and in her spare time, she is among an informal group of “yarn bombers” creating artistic coverings for everyday objects around town.
Springfield Selection“I had looked at a couple of other areas … one of them was Chicago. Being a single person and moving to a huge city, I wondered if I would get lost in the city. Would it be hard to find my niche? Hard to find my community? One of the things I liked about Springfield was that I saw there was enough of a community that I thought I could become a part of and it was small enough that I felt like I could introduce myself to people and find my crowd. I was right.”
Yarn Bombs“Since moving here, I have become friends with quite a few people from the ideaXFactory, which is a really fun community. … Yarn bombing would be covering a piece of art such as a sculpture or possibly something normal like a tree or a stop sign with knitting or crochet or wrapping it in yarn. It’s about taking something that looks normal and making it more artistic. We are pairing up with the Springfield Art Museum right now on a project that should be finished around the end of October. It is going to be the sun sculpture [aka ‘the french fries’ near the museum entrance]. We are not going to cover the entire thing, but we are going to cover sections of it with bright, beautiful pieces of knitting and crocheting. We have about 20 people who meet regularly and knit, but for this we are going to invite friends from the community – friends who don’t normally come to yarn bombings.”
Dean on Campus“As the dean of education, I’m responsible for the education of our students, the management of instructors, developing a schedule and making sure (students) receive a quality education. One of the things I love about Everest is that we have so many departments that work together to help the students be successful all the way through. We have admissions and finance that help them get in the door, and then we have career services that help them when they are leaving as well. I partner with my counterparts to make sure the students are getting the best experience.”
This is Everest“We are very career focused. We have associate and bachelor’s programs as well as diploma programs. With associate and bachelor’s, we have paralegal, business administration, computer information systems, accounting and applied management. Then, with our diploma programs, we have medical, dental and medical/administrative assisting. … For our associate and bachelor’s programs, the classes go in three-month terms, so four terms in a year. The diploma programs are modular based. They are fast-track programs, so the students have seven to nine classes and each class is a month long. After that, they (work) in the field, where they get on-the-job training at a doctor’s office.”
Opening Doors“I always knew I wanted to help people make something better with their lives. I didn’t know if that meant I was going to work for a nonprofit or just how I was going to do that. When I was looking for a job, I found Everest and the student services position. It was exactly the right combination of working in a fast pace environment where I was helping better the students’ lives and working directly with students where I could say, ‘I know you can do this. Let’s find the resources.’ I feel like education opens doors.”
