"A doorknob became a symbol to me," Brevard College's Associate Professor Barbara Boerner exclaimed as she expressed her philosophy of teaching. That came about when one of her students advised her sister to enroll in one of Boerner's business classes, assuring her it would not be boring since Boerner could even make a doorknob seem interesting!
That philosophy must have worked, as Megan Street, Brevard College Class of 2009, corroborated that assessment. "I loved her classes, as she is a great teacher. Her classes are discussion-based where you can express yourself as an individual. She definitely helped me out and I recommend her to all my friends, since you take something important away from each one of her classes," Megan said.
Barbara Boerner was born in New Jersey but moved to the Winston-Salem area of North Carolina when she was in the third grade. Even at that tender age, Boerner had already set her sights upon becoming a teacher and has spent most of her working life in that field. either as a teacher or as an administrator.
She started teaching at a girls private school in the North Hampton area of Massachusetts, and then at the Madeira School, an independent private school for girls in McLean, VA. near Washington, DC. She also served as Dean of Admissions at Gaucher College, outside of Baltimore. MD.
Boerner completed her undergraduate work at UNC-Greensboro, majoring in History and Science. After she received a national science grant to study the physical sciences, she continued her education and received her masters degree at Loyola University. She is now completing her work on her doctorate in international business.
Boerner's parents came to the United States from Europe to escape oppression there.; Even though they could speak ten languages between them, they insisted that English be spoken at home. Her parents put a high value on learning and that an education was of utmost importance, since it was something that could never be taken away from you. Barbara took this advice to heart, and spent most of her life either in learning, teaching, or in school administration leadership.
Her father did insist that she spend one year working for a large corporation in order to familiarize herself with that phase of business. So, she did spend that year as an employee of Western Electric, which was her father's company, and got her feet wet in the corporate world.
After her work as Dean of Admissions, Boerner felt that was enough school administration and started to look for a place to retire. Since her sister had property in the Transylvania area and her brother was located in Asheville, she turned to this mountain area as a place to settle down.
Boerner spent ten happy years living in a log cabin on Round Mountain, southwest of Brevard. She then decided to build a home at Glen Cannon, closer to Brevard College, and enjoyed the beauty of the forests and carefree days playing many rounds of golf.
Barbara Boerner laughs and says that it was actually her dog that got her involved with Brevard College. "My dog was a big lab mix and she needed manners. At that time, Brevard College was offering a dog obedience class through its Continuing Education Program. So, we signed up and my dog loved going to school but she didn't do very well. So, she had to take several terms and during that time I got involved with the college
"That was during the period when Brevard College was transitioning from a two-year to a four-year school, and the college asked if I would like to do a study on the gender balance of students. I wrote up my report and the college then asked me if I would be interested in coming to work to help implement the suggestions for action, since they were going through sustentative accreditation problems at the time and I had a lot of experience in that field. Of course, I said: 'Yes.'
"Then Brevard College asked me to teach a course; and then another; and finally I joined the faculty. I love to teach and they have a wonderful college and faculty here. So, I joined and it has been great." Boerner said enthusiastically.
What Boerner truly enjoys about her work is the scale of the experience at Brevard College. They keep their classes small, the faculty gets to know the students, and the students know their teachers; so they have a good rapport.
Boerner says there has been quite a difference in Brevard College and its students since it became a four year program. They have many more majors now and have a strong core of liberal arts. They also have expanded into fields like lCriminal Justice and Psychology. Of course, college programs are dynamic and always reflect the challenges of both curriculum and pedagogy.
Boerner's program is The Ethical Business Organizational and Leadership Program. The course is three-fold: The ethical core of a business; conducting and sustainability of a business and its environment, and globalization.
"Students must realize they are working in a global economy now and be prepared to function and succeed in that environment," according to Boerner She also has a course which she calls: "Jungles for Sale:" which deals with international eco-systems, business ethics, effective communication, public speaking, and writing.
Of special interest to Boerner is the ethics feature of business development; something that is being added to almost all new business textbooks. She feels that this phase of business is especially topical now after the recent excesses of some corporations and the golden parachutes awarded to the CEO's of companies with failing business records.
Boerner maintains that some CEO's completely missed the ball, because they were absolutely isolated from the general masses and their lives. She feels that corporation leaders have to be sensitive to the environment around them and that many did not fully realize that conditions had changed while they were busy running their corporations into the ground.
Brevard College has a wide range of students, both foreign and American, from all types of cultures, Many of the students are the first collegians in the family.
"As a teacher, I feel that I have to start each year with students having a clean slate. I never look up the records of their prior class performances. These students are considered legal adults at age 18. Iif a parent were to call me and ask me how little Susie is doing, I would need Susie's permission to discuss her work with her parents. We faculty members feel that we are working with the students as mentors, not as their judges," Boerner explained.
"As part of the tuition, Brevard College has an Academic Enrichment Program which is really an incredible asset and is an illustration of the sensitivity. Under this program, students can get tutoring or special help if they need it, free of charge.
"That's what I love about this place. We strive to teach the whole person through relaxed conversation. Personally, I feel that I also am constantly learning. Recently one of my students finally triumphantly handed in an assignment with the comment: 'Teachers like you, just keep after us,'" Boerner recalled with pride.
A sense of humor is tantamount to teaching, in Boerner's opinion, as it puts everything into perspective and lets the teacher loosen up on the need to control.
She did enjoy working in administration, but feels that it was a different type of venue. With administration you move away from implementation to planning; and Boerner feels very fortunate that she got back into the implementation.
"The faculty that is attracted to this place really likes to teach; and all of us carry on some degree of research and writing, but teaching is our primary love. Since we have a very active faculty, these instructors bring the value of their experiences back to the classroom.
"Going into teaching was a quality of life decision and I am thoroughly enjoying my life as an educator," Boerner summed up her life's work.
