Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 21, 1994 TAG: 9403210030
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MEGAN SCHNABEL STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But her dedication has not gone unrecognized. Branscom, an associate professor of accounting at Virginia Western, is one of 11 recipients of the State Council of Higher Education's 1994 Outstanding Faculty Award and the only honoree from a community college.
Stephen Fisher, of Emory & Henry College, and Margaret Brouwer and Andrew McThenia Jr., both of Washington and Lee University, also received the $5,000 award.
Branscom, 58, who has taught at Virginia Western for 20 years, was nominated by colleagues and students who praised her efforts to bring an international perspective to the school.
"Our students need more global exposure," Branscom said. "And they can't afford a junior year abroad."
If students can't go out to the rest of the world, the next best thing is to bring the rest of the world to Virginia Western, Branscom said.
So, starting with her own accounting classes, Branscom began to think globally, introducing students to the finer points of foreign accounting systems.
"International business is really where it's at," she said. If students aren't well versed in international finance and accounting, they won't have an easy time of it in the business world, she said.
Branscom's efforts didn't stop at the door of the business department, though. Now the first program head for international education at Virginia Western, she is working with the rest of the faculty to integrate more global elements into the curriculum.
The program is still young but already has attracted exchange teachers and speakers from Korea, Romania, Hungary and other places, she said. While the school doesn't have a full-fledged student-exchange program, there is one Virginia Western student studying in France this semester, and art and business classes will be held in Europe this summer.
Branscom, too, has been an exchange student of sorts. She received a grant from Virginia Western to research accounting and education in Europe in 1990, then continued her international studies after being named Chancellor's Commonwealth Professor for 1991-92. She would like to conduct similar studies in South America with the money she receives from this most recent award.
The fact that Branscom competed against faculty from four-year schools, who typically have more time and resources at their disposal than community-college instructors, makes this most recent honor especially meaningful, said Elizabeth Payne, program head of Virginia Western's Institute for Business Development.
"We were very, very proud of Sallie," Payne said. "So often good teachers do their work behind the scenes. Sallie was particularly outstanding, because she has been very innovative with bringing the international scene into her accounting classes."
Not bad for someone who never planned to become a teacher.
"I was not going to be a teacher," Branscom said. "I was going to be a very glamorous businessperson in New York."
The CIA offered her a job after she graduated from Radford College, she said.
She paused, chuckled. "But as often happens with women, I had a boyfriend," she said. That boyfriend - now her husband - took a job in Blacksburg. So she took a job teaching at what then was known as Southern Seminary and Junior College in Buena Vista.
With years of teaching behind her, Branscom said she now realizes she couldn't be happier doing anything else.
"I'll miss it so much when - if - I ever retire," she said.
But there's always the CIA.
by CNB