PIU Students of the Week: The “A” Team

This week’s featured students are part of the “Liebenzell Scholarship” program which provides a substantial tuition discount to students who do not have sufficient resources (income, scholarships and grants) to afford to come to PIU. Even though the costs for PIU are among the lowest of all accredited private Christian colleges in the world, most of our students need to take advantage of the discount. In return for the discount each student works up to 5 hours per week for the school in various jobs. While one of the big reasons for this is to help the school meet needed expenses and keep tuition low, the main reason for the program is for students to get some work experience that will help them later in life. Many of our faculty and staff members have volunteered to supervise and mentor these students as they work. It has been exciting to see most of our students fit into their jobs and excel.
One of the biggest groups of student workers is in the Advancement department headed up by Lisa Collins, Lisa is our librarian too,but has graciously agreed to coordinate the school’s advancement efforts until a qualified full-time person can be found. The advancement team went to work, visiting high schools, contacting alumni, prospective students and donors, creating and editing school publications and social networking, with such fervor that Lisa dubbed them “The A Team.” The team consists of (left to right) 1) Mathew Fanoway- helping with creation and editing of publications 2) Johnny Esa - Coordinates communication with the FSM association of Churches on Guam and the Chuukese Alumni Association, and assists in Alumni Relations 3) Lisa Collins – The Big Boss 4) Camry Ann Fichan who handles filing of information 5) Josh Ladd - coordinates communication with high schools and helps with promotion. 6) Asia Oshiro – coordinates email, social networking and team communication and prospective students. She also helps with alumni relations. 7) Billy Edwin is the staff member who is in charge of alumni relations and works with Lisa to supervise and mentor the “A” team. Not pictured are staff/faculty members Joey Charles (Video Production Coordinator) and Samantha Owen (Publications Coordinator). It really is a pleasure to walk by the Advancement office and see the A Team happily hard at work!