Theresa Ehren, Quality Assurance Engineer for Campus Partners, fits the profile for the perfect employee. She is a smart team player who is very caring about her fellow employees and the community. She also has the perfect image-or should we say shares the credit for the successful launch of our document imaging system.

Originally hired in July 2007 to assure that all software developed by our company for private loans met the business requirement for the initiative, Theresa joined the imaging project team as it approached completion. She had previously worked for a major bank where she was responsible for developing the system, whereby the bank could furnish imaged checks rather than paper checks with bank statements. Her background proved invaluable to our imaging activities, and Theresa was tapped to serve as project manager, QA Analyst and liaison with Systemware, our imaging system vendor.

Theresa is quick to tell you that the imaging system was a team project and her input was no more exceptional than other staff members’ contribution. The project, led by Charles Parker, Director of Loan Accounting, and Paula Hall, Servicing Support Supervisor, was high on our customers’ list of priorities. Paula’s team imaged over 114,000 documents and worked hard to index the documents for easy retrieval by our customers via System 3i. In discussing the imaging project, Theresa made it clear that she was part of a team including Vicki Vogler, Web Administrator, Jan Blalock, Senior System Analyst, and Sheryl Shoaf, Business Analyst, who were critical to the project’s success.

Future projects for Theresa include several workflow enhancements, including the launch of imaged deferment and cancellation forms on the desktops of our forms processing team, which will save time by eliminating the need to notify the team of the receipt of the forms. She is also working to improve call center reporting, which is critical to meeting our performance standards. She will continue to serve as a liaison between the Operations team and the Application and Product Services team.

She has high praise for Sharon Swaim, Director, Product Services, Judy Smith, Director, Application Services, and Gail Mayo, Business Analyst, who have been key resources for Theresa since joining Campus Partners. She also credits Pat Spry and Debra Adams, who have been “so helpful” in explaining processing procedures and campus-based and private loan operations, to her. She says that she puts Paula Hall “on a pedestal” because of the manual work that had to be completed to make the imaging project a success.

Although Theresa has worked here for almost two years, her relationship with the company and her manager, Judy Smith, goes back a long time. Theresa had actually worked as a Customer Service Representative for the company when it was part of Wachovia Bank. After receiving her college degree, she worked for Judy, who answered all her questions and thoroughly trained her to work in IT.

Theresa admits that the answering question part of being her manager is not an easy task. “When I had a job in college working in the cafeteria, my supervisor told me that I asked too many questions. He told me just to do my job. Fortunately, the staff at Campus Partners is completely different,” Theresa stated. “I am curious. I have to understand what I am doing and the logical reason for doing something. This translates into our ability to improve processes and achieve quality assurance.”

Theresa’s mother often reminds her that of the 8 children in their family, Theresa was one that was never bored and always wanted to learn. Being a member of a large and caring family has shaped Theresa’s personality. She is extremely concerned about the well-being of other employees and the community. She is an active member of the Activities Committee and often brings in treats for the entire company—and they are delicious! She has helped organize the company’s Relay for Life team and other activities.

In her personal life, Theresa and her husband, Mike, are parents to sons, Christopher, age 14, and Stephen, age 13. They are very actively involved in soccer, and Theresa serves as a team manager for one son’s team, while her husband coaches the other. In the summer, the boys swim, and during the school year, Theresa and her husband make sure the boys focus on academic success.
As noted above, Theresa is an exceptional cook and avidly watches the Food Network Channel. She also keeps busy by playing the flute for her church. Other notable activities include reading biographies and autobiographies. She recently completed reading “A Life to Tell,” which is a chronicle of one woman’s experience hiding in a small bathroom in Rwanda to escape the ongoing genocides. She and seven other young women lived there for 91 days before being led to safety. Unfortunately many members of her family died during this time. The book deeply moved Theresa who found the story inspirational and moving. Another favorite book is “The Secret Life of Bees.” Theresa likes these books because “they inspire me to try harder.”

And trying harder is something that Theresa is very good at; as evidenced by her success at work and in her personal life. Just as she is inspired by others, her radiant personality and history of good work also inspire her co-workers.