Tiersa Martin had recently graduated high school when she started at American Career College (then, American College of Optics) and has served the organization with pride for nearly 25 years. Starting as a part-time receptionist, the Campus Registrar at ACC-Los Angeles and now a Compliance and Risk Management Liaison, Tiersa has seen the organization grow tremendously through the years. Though the college has evolved, Tiersa says she’s proud that the student-centric philosophy the college was founded on is still central to organization’s mission today.
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Tell us more about yourself, your background and what brought you to ACC?
I first joined American College of Optics in 1989 when I was 18 years old as a part-time receptionist. For the first year I worked four hours a day, four days a week answering phones and taking messages. My responsibilities increased to include tracking attendance and grades. I eventually transitioned to assisting in the financial aid and registrar offices. I was in the accounting department for a couple years then moved back to the registrar position where I worked closely with the director of education and program directors, the admissions department, financial aid department, student services, extern coordinators and the placement department. Now I’m at College Administration in the Compliance and Risk Management Department conducting internal audits.
What was ACC like when you started?
There were 12 employees (see first holiday party photo), and we all believed in David Pyle’s vision for the company, and still do. David has incredible conviction and is truly inspiring. The entire active student population was 88 students, many of whom were coming back to school later in life. We were a small and efficient team and many of us wore multiple hats. At one point I was Registrar, Financial Aid Officer, Business Office, Accounts Payable, and more! As our organization grew, I became the Registrar at ACC-Los Angeles for 15 years and helped grow and train the other Registrar offices as we opened each of our other campuses.
Even though our organization has grown and changed so much over the years, we have not lost sight of doing what’s in the best interest of our students.
Tell us about your current job
I’ve been in my current role for about seven years or so and I think growing with the company helped me understand all aspects of the organization. Those experiences helped me as an internal auditor because I know the direction and path each area should be following and how we should be complying with our regulatory bodies in all aspects of our business. As an auditor we look at all areas of each campus to ensure we are compliant with our governing and accrediting bodies and evaluate if we are at risk in any way and what we can do to better ourselves.
What do you find most interesting about your job through the years?
After 25 years I still love what I do. For many years I was on the “front-line” interacting with students at the campus, getting students through their education process and helping them better their lives which was incredibly rewarding. Whether it was a single mom getting her education to better her family’s lives or the student who was the first person in their family to receive a college diploma, it’s really exciting to see the lives of our students change for the better. The campus environment is so high energy and high volume, so much fun!
My position now is also rewarding in a different way and gives me joy to know that we are doing things the right away and we are doing right by our students every day.
It’s amazing to see the trends in student populations today because we are incredibly diverse in all aspects, but we are still changing students’ lives and providing them an incredible education and career opportunity in healthcare.
What is your most memorable moment here?
Well I have a lot of them but when I look back, three moments really stand out:
- When we changed our name from American College of Optics to American Career College, which meant we were growing from a little optical school to expanding our curriculum and program offerings to prospective students.
- When the ACC-Anaheim campus opened. It took a while to find the right spot and when we did it was so exciting to see our growth and it meant there would be more campus locations to follow.
- When West Coast University was acquired. That was a tremendous opportunity for further growth because we went from offering diplomas programs to associate and bachelor degrees in healthcare management.
It never ceases to amaze me how much we’ve grown through the years. Through my time here I’ve seen us grow so much, but at a pace that makes a lot of sense and still serves our students’ interests first.
Who/what is your biggest inspiration/influence?
My grandfather was my biggest influence. He instilled loyalty in three generations of my family. Loyalty was a big thing for him in all aspects of his life – his relationships, his faith, his work – all of which are incredibly important to me. He taught his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren so many important life lessons including work ethics, love, values and morals, to never give up in pursuit of our goals and to always be a hard worker.
What is your motto?
“Be in the moment,” be in the experience, good or bad. Just be present and enjoy each moment and grow from it.
What do you enjoy doing while you are not at work?
I love my family and spending time with my children is most important to me. My son is entering his junior year in high school, he loves music and plays the guitar and my daughter is now a college graduate serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines. I am a huge fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers; I go to as many games as I can. I enjoy going to Disneyland. I love everything Disney …mainly Mickey Mouse.
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