In addition to forming the Teaching Scholars Academy, Nery has made it her mission to build relationships within her department while giving students opportunities to serve. Her favorite community development initiative is an annual trip for third-year students. Working with Charleston Promise Neighborhood, a South Carolina nonprofit serving an area where families are caught in the cycle of poverty, Campbell students see the impact that educational grant money can have on children’s lives. While Nery is proud of the School of Education’s curriculum and emphasis on service learning, she says it’s the personalization students receive at Campbell that makes it a good choice. Her door is always open to students — an unusual arrangement in larger schools. She wants students to be able to stop by to ask where to go to get advising help or optimize their schedules, and her staff knows the ins and outs of course requirements so well that any one of them can talk students through what they need to complete their program. “I have a job to do, and that’s to work with our students to help them through their studies and make it as pleasant as hard work can be. That’s what makes the job fun,” says Nery. “I love seeing them later on in life and hearing that the faculty and staff in the School of Education were there for them — that we were helpful.”
THERE FOR HER Nery’s confidence in her department faculty and staff is no accident. With the exception of a few long-time adjunct professors, she has been responsible of the hire of every faculty member currently on full-time staff.
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“I think it’s the strongest faculty we’ve ever had, and that’s not because I hired them, but because they work together across disciplines.” In 2003, the School’s faculty and staff rallied around Nery when a seizure at work led to the discovery that she had a benign brain tumor. Her treatment and surgery kept her at home for three months while she slowly integrated everyday activities back into her schedule. Meanwhile, Nery’s duties as dean — representing Campbell at conventions, coordinating budget expenditures and developing schedules for the next semester of undergraduate and graduate courses — were taken up by her coworkers. “I was fortunate,” she says. “There are wonderful people who work in the School of Education and I talked with them every day. Even though I wasn’t physically here, I knew what was going on. I was fine because I knew things were running just like they should.” Only 10 years later, Nery was dealt another blow when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, just after the passing of her husband Robert. While she underwent chemotherapy treatment and had to avoid the buffet-style food in Marshbanks, her faculty and staff began having lunch with her around their conference table in Taylor Hall. The tradition that still stands, even after Nery’s recovery.
A fire at the site of the new student union caused quite a scare on April 11, before the flames and plumes of smoke — which could be seen for miles — were extinguished by firefighters representing several nearby communities. No one was injured, and an investigation indicated the cause to be a welding incident. University officials believe the fire will have a minimal effect on the final completion date for the union, which is expected to be finished and ready for use in December of this year or early January.
Since overcoming cancer, Nery has become a grandparent to four grandchildren and looks forward to spending time with them upon retiring. “I hope I can still stay connected to Campbell, because it’s been a wonderful part of my life. I’m not sure where God will lead me, but He led me here and it has been a great home.” KATE STONEBURNER
I love seeing [my students] later on in life and hearing that the faculty and staff at the School of Education were there for them — that we were helpful. — Retiring School of Education Dean Karen Nery
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STUDENT UNION SCARE
“For that hour during the day, we are just friends,” says Nery. “They took care of me — they still do.”
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North Carolina. Teaching Scholars receive up to $8,500 in scholarship awards for each academic year enrolled in the teacher licensure program, and earn academic credit for their participation in cohort activities related to service and leadership.
#CAMPBELLGIVINGDAY Thanks to the Campbell University community, #CampbellGivingDay 2019 was a BIG success. More than 1,160 alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends joined together to complete all of the challenges set forth by Annual Giving and raised more than $225,000 in one day. Campbell Giving Day is special not only because of what it accomplished, but because these gifts will impact Campbell and its students now and for years to come. C A M P B E L L M AG AZ I N E 19
