Spartanburg Community College honors 2016 Wall of Fame inductees
June 2, 2016
SPARTANBURG, SC – Spartanburg Community College (SCC) recently inducted two individuals to the SCC Wall of Fame for their distinguished service and contributions to the College. Former SCC faculty member and administrator, Robert W. Isenhower, Jr. was honored as the SCC 2016 faculty inductee and Mrs. Lona Faye Perry was honored as the SCC 2016 staff inductee.
Henry C. Giles, Jr., SCC president; Faye Perry; Bob Isenhower
“The SCC Wall of Fame is a special award because of the individuals we honor – those who have served the college in an extraordinary manner, making the pathway for those to come even better,” explains Henry C. Giles, Jr., SCC president. “Our continued impact in this community is possible because of these amazing leaders and individuals who have gone above and beyond to uphold the College’s mission to provide affordable access to high quality education and training to Spartanburg, Cherokee and Union residents so that we may too serve as a catalyst for economic development. We are appreciative to these individuals for their efforts and support, and we are proud to honor them on the SCC Wall of Fame.”
Mr. Robert “Bob” W. Isenhower, Jr., began his career at Spartanburg Technical College in 1977 as a counselor, student activities coordinator and in 2005, after 30 years of service, he retired from Spartanburg Community College as vice president of planning and development. Whether teaching classes and interacting one-on-one with students, or working as an administrator behind the scene, Bob was a dedicated servant leader who always had the best interest of others in mind for all SCC students, faculty and staff.
“His touch can be seen throughout SCC to this day,” says his nominator, Celia Bauss, SCC registrar. “Bob was instrumental in organizing and designing SCC’s Writing Center, which today is The Learning Center or TLC as it’s affectionately known, and is an invaluable center for students to study and seek tutoring assistance.”
Described as the “go-to person” for everyone on campus, Isenhower was involved in multiple college-wide initiatives that are still part of daily work today –the college’s conversion to a new database system in 2001, the college-wide SACS self-study and reaccreditation in 2004, and a critical enrollment data report that is the basis for what is used today.
Mrs. Lona Faye Perry first came to Spartanburg Technical College in 1987 as a information, communications specialist, but it didn’t take STC leaders long to realize her outstanding skill-set and potential. Over the next seven years, Perry was promoted from working in student services as an administrative specialist to working for the dean of the arts and sciences division as the administrative assistant.
Says her nominator, Judy Sieg, executive director of the SCC Downtown Campus, “In those ‘olden days’ before computers when everything was done by paper, you could ask anyone at STC who to contact in the A&S division to get things done and the would always reply, ‘Call Faye.’ There wasn’t a thing that Faye didn’t know about or that she hadn’t done; she was amazing.”
Whether she was filing, reporting all necessary division paperwork involving multiple faculty members teaching multiple classes at different SCC campuses, coordinating semester registration details for her team, or planning special division celebrations, Faye took it all in stride and got things done with grace, humility and humor.
Even in 2009 when Perry was promoted to administrative assistant first for the SCC president and next for the vice president of academic affairs, she never lost her flair to manage multiple tasks simultaneously, remaining calm, positive and always smiling. When Faye retired in 2013 after 26 years of service to the College, she left a huge hole in the fabric of Spartanburg Community College.
