{"id":2119,"date":"2012-04-09T08:21:31","date_gmt":"2012-04-09T13:21:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/?p=2119"},"modified":"2012-04-10T09:51:44","modified_gmt":"2012-04-10T14:51:44","slug":"sneed-eoy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/2012\/sneed-eoy\/","title":{"rendered":"Sneed named Chamber’s Employee of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Bronwyn Sneed was fresh from college when she started a new job in the financial aid office at Southern Arkansas University in January 1985. On her very first day of work, the business administration major was handed a financial aid application.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn those days, they were the sheets with \u2018bubbles\u2019 that you filled in,\u201d Sneed said, thinking back to the once-paper-intensive process. \u201cI just remember looking at it and didn\u2019t know how I was going to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sneed said that then-director Dorothy Duncan and her assistant Dorothy Bennett took her in, taught her the processes and made her feel right at home.<\/p>\n

Twenty eight years later the former secretary now holds the post held by her mentor. Sneed is director of financial aid.<\/p>\n

Since 2004, Sneed has fought a personal battle \u2013 against cancer. But even while going through rigorous medical treatments, those who needed her would find a smiling Sneed at her desk.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was hard, but work was really my saving grace,\u201d she said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t at home wallowing in pity, and I was surrounded by people who were promising to help me through this. They brought food, support, anything I could possibly need. They were there. SAU isn\u2019t just an employer. It is a family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sneed said there were days during her taxing medical treatments that she had to force herself to come to work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some days that I still think \u2018I can\u2019t do this,\u2019 then a student or former student walks in and tells me how they couldn\u2019t have made it through without financial aid,\u201d she said. \u201cJust when you question, someone says something and makes it all feel worthwhile.<\/p>\n

Defining Sneed as someone \u201cyou can rely on and trust,\u201d SAU President Dr. David Rankin awarded her the Magnolia Chamber of Commerce Employee of the Year Award on March 29 in recognition of her unfaltering dedication.<\/p>\n

He called her \u201cthe face of financial aid at Southern Arkansas University\u201d and spoke of her outstanding reputation.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s unbelievable,\u201d he said. \u201cThere has never been a ripple in her work, quality or quantity, her demeanor, her personality or appearance,\u201d Rankin said.<\/p>\n

Sneed and employees in the department work exhaustive hours, especially during peak times of university enrollment. It is not uncommon for the parking lot outside of Nelson Hall to be dotted with financial aid employee cars into the wee hours of the morning. It can be a tiring job where a \u201cthank you\u201d can be rare, but frustrations are freely verbalized.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe impact she has made on the college career of thousands of students can never really be measured,\u201d Rankin said. \u201cShe has talked face to face with many parents and students with the same grace and charm all through the years.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bronwyn Sneed was fresh from college when she started a new job in the financial aid office at Southern Arkansas University in January 1985. On her very first day of work, the business administration major was handed a financial aid application. \u201cIn those days, they were the sheets with \u2018bubbles\u2019 that you filled in,\u201d Sneed… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":2123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[276,77],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2119","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-community-corner","8":"category-financial-aid","9":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}