Staff Spotlight: Cheryl Hemric, Staff Person of the Year

From winning international design competitions to having an opportunity to photograph a sitting President on the campaign trail to breaking stories on the living conditions of students after the wrath of Hurricane Florence, Cheryl Hemric’s career in the North Carolina Community College system has been one journey after another.

Hemric was recently named the Staff Person of the Year at Robeson Community College.

According to her nominator, Hemric who serves as the Public Information Officer, “is a living example of the mission of Robeson Community College…. She has strived for excellence, success, and results from students, faculty, and staff by the efforts she puts into promoting each and every program that RCC offers.” 

Hemric started her career as a graphic designer at Guilford Technical Community College, which is where she earned three associate degrees – an associate of applied science in advertising and graphic design, an associate of arts in general studies, and an associate of arts in business education. She also earned several certificates in photography, computer graphics, and project management.

“GTCC was where I went to school and working there allowed me to learn so much, not just about marketing, but about education and the community college system,” Hemric said. “I stayed there for 17 years, it was a great opportunity.”

Hemric’s artwork and designs have been seen all over the state – from billboards along I-85, I-95, I-74, I-73, and I-40 to ads in magazines such as BusinessNC and Our State, to commercials broadcast in Lumberton, Greensboro, Jacksonville, Greenville, Wilmington, Myrtle Beach, and Florence.

The stories that Hemric has written have been shared around the globe countless times, and her press releases have been reported on by various news outlets across the country including The Robesonian, WRAL, WECT, WWAY, WITN, WCTI, WNCT, and WNCN, Spectrum News, WMBF, WFXB, WBTW, WPDE, EducationNC, CNN, MSNBC, and Al Jazeera News.

Stories on Robeson Community College have also gone viral and have been picked up by local stations across the United States including affiliates in Hawaii, California, Texas, Missouri, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Kansas, Florida, Oregon, Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Alabama to name a few.

“I love telling people that I am a product of the community college system,” Hemric stated. “I would not be where I am today if I had not started at a community college. The skills and hands-on training that I received while getting my degree in advertising and graphic design 25 years ago, I still use to this day.”

“My instructors were so proficient and had prior experience in the industry, they really made a difference and taught me everything that I know about advertising and design,” Hemric said. “I don’t think I could have received that kind of training anywhere else… even my instructors outside of my major, for English for instance, were top notch and really cared about making me the best that I could be… all of my instructors pushed me beyond what I thought I could achieve and for that I will be forever grateful”

Hemric often sees that same sentiment shared by students at Robeson Community College.

“I often hear our students at RCC share experiences similar to mine as I interact with them and share their story of how community college has changed their life,” Hemric said. “Our faculty and staff at RCC are dedicated, they care about our students, and they love what they do. Our students are the mission and that’s how every employee feels on our campus.”

“That’s why I love what I do,” Hemric said. “I love promoting community college and all that you can achieve with a two-year degree. My goal as a graphic designer and now as a marketing director has always been to make community college look as good, if not better than any 4-year institution because I truly believe in our mission and all that we do.”

“People often have a stigma attached to community college and I hope that during my career, I have been able to remove that because there’s so much more opportunity through a community college than what you’ll find anywhere else,” Hemric said.

“I graduated in the top 10 of my high school class of 200. I could have gone to any college I wanted, I was even offered a full-ride scholarship to one university, but I gave it up so I could attend community college because I knew based on the classes I was taking that I would be job ready and prepared for the workforce as a designer,” Hemric said. “I feel like I took the road less traveled in some ways, and it has paid off for me ever since.”

Hemric went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Liberty University and a master’s degree in marketing from Southern New Hampshire University, which inspired her to get outside of her comfort zone and pursue a director’s position in marketing. She got her chance just about a year after completing her degree when she landed a position at James Sprunt Community College.

“It was a smaller school and I thought it would be a great opportunity to transition from a designer to a director,” Hemric said. “It was also closer to the beach and I thought, what more could you ask for?”

During her time at James Sprunt, through her marketing efforts, she was able to help increase enrollment at the college by 10%. She also says she discovered why she believed she was led there.

“When Hurricane Florence hit, it absolutely devasted Duplin County and the surrounding areas – particularly those who lived along the Northeast Cape Fear River,” Hemric said. “It was absolutely heartbreaking; I had never seen anything like it before in my life…. The college was closed for 3 weeks, and even then, some of our students still couldn’t make it to campus.”

Most of the reporting on the Hurricane had been of those living along the coastal areas, but with the major flooding that occurred, students living inland were just as impacted – if not more so than those closer to the ocean.

“So, I thought, what can I do?” Hemric said. “The answer was the only thing I could do and that was to write the stories of our students who had lost so much.”

Hemric broke the story of the living conditions of students in Duplin and Pender counties, which garnered local, regional, and national news attention.

“Through the stories that I wrote, I was able to help a student secure a grant for $1250 that he gave to his family to help with living expenses,” Hemric said. “One of our students was living in a tent, and when her employer saw her story on TV, they gave her an emergency grant which allowed her to buy a camper so that she wasn’t out in the cold, two students who lost everything, were gifted scholarships to further their education by generous donors, and one student who had not had electricity in his home for over 3 months, finally was able to get re-connected.”

“Through that experience, I learned the power of journalism and how reporting can change lives,” Hemric said. “In Burgaw, for example, after the stories aired, aid in the form of water, food, and supplies, immediately came to everyone living along the river.”

Her role in Eastern North Carolina would eventually prepare her for her current position at Robeson Community College, which is significantly larger in terms of enrollment and land size.

“One of the things I love about being at Robeson Community College is that our President, Melissa Singler, has allowed me the opportunity to take our marketing efforts to new heights, the results of which have allowed the college to soar… we have a very active student body and I love that we are so involved with our community.”

Hemric has been instrumental in starting several new outreach events at RCC, including College Admissions Day, the college’s first Homecoming, a Holiday Craft Fair and Tree Lighting Ceremony, and a Fall Festival event at the college’s COMTech location.

“I hope that we can continue to grow as a college. I would love to see Robeson Community College be listed as one of the top 5 out of the 58 in the community college system in terms of enrollment… that’s my long-term goal and I believe we just might get there in a few more years, especially since we have increased our FTE significantly, at times breaking records with our continuing education and CCR enrollment.”

Over the last few years, Hemric has also assisted the North Carolina Community College System through PRIMA – the Public Relations Information and Marketing Association which serves all marketing professionals from the 58 community colleges in North Carolina. In addition to being a member, she served as Central Director for several years while at GTCC, and in 2018 became the social director. In 2019, she was nominated to serve as President of the organization, a position she held until 2022.

Conferences for PRIMA were scheduled in 2020 and 2021 but had to be canceled due to the pandemic. Also, another issue arose – many members of the PRIMA Board had moved on to other jobs, leaving Hemric with only two members to assist in planning the 2022 conference, and many marketing members in the NCCCS were new and had never heard of PRIMA.

“It was a bit of a challenge taking all of that on,” said Hemric. “But I understood the importance of PRIMA and I was determined to make the 2022 conference one of the best ever and to also raise awareness of what we do as an organization to build up momentum and to get people excited about our group again.”

“I have always loved attending the PRIMA Conferences over the years, they have been very helpful in learning new trends and gaining tips of the trade. It was also nice networking with others across the State,” stated Hemric. “As President of PRIMA, I wanted to bring the conference to Robeson County because I wanted everyone to see all that we have to offer. Robeson County is very unique and I have loved having the opportunity to experience the culture and cuisine here and I wanted to share that with my friends and colleagues across the state.”

And, so she did.

The PRIMA conference was held in 2022 on the campus of Robeson Community. It featured 30 speakers from across the country, including best-selling author and international speaker Ekaterina Walters. Fun events were also scheduled during the conference, allowing all registrants to become immersed in the culture of Robeson County, with a tour along the Riverwalk in downtown Lumberton and a trip to the Lumbee Tribe’s Cultural Center in Maxton, which featured a special cultural exhibition, which included song and dance, storytelling, and Native American cuisine.

“The PRIMA conference turned out to be a real treat and what seemed like the whole county showing us their hospitality, along with the college,” stated one PRIMA member. “The Lumbee Tribe shared not only dinner and culture but also gave us an amazingly rich history lesson about “Strike at the Wind,” an outdoor drama.”

Another attending stated, “The PRIMA conference was so beneficial and made me love my job and department even more.”

Hemric’s commitment not only to Robeson Community College but to the State of North Carolina has been clear and evident.

As her nominator wrote, “Ms. Hemric is very proficient in all aspects of her job duties. Not only has she been commended across the campus of Robeson Community College, but she is also applauded across the State of North Carolina by various entities such as EducationNC, myFutureNC, and the North Carolina Community System Office.”

Her nominator goes on to say, “Our campus has received numerous phone calls and emails praising RCC for showcasing the community of Robeson County and for how widespread information is being broadcasted throughout the state from Robeson Community College…. Although it takes the college as a whole to achieve this, Ms. Hemric has the ability to literally place the college on the map in a way that it has never been done before.”

For Hemric, winning the Staff of the Year award was a bit of a surprise, but is thankful to her nominators and those who believe in her work.

“Marketing has always been fun to me, and I know that education can change your life, so that’s why I try so hard to make sure that we get our name out there,” Hemric said. “I’m always trying to think of how I can improve upon what I have already done to get more people motivated to attend college to get a degree or take short-term training classes… every class whether it’s for professional development or personal enrichment makes a difference upon your life.”

“I know that college can be intimidating, especially for first-generation students,” Hemric said. “I want to make college look and seem fun, I want people to be inspired….That’s the message that I hope people see through our marketing efforts.” 

“And I would like to think that somewhere along the way someone has seen one of my ads or read one of my stories and thought, “I can do that,” and I hope that they were inspired to get a degree and that they now are living a better life, that they are able to better care of their family financially, and that they are doing what they always dreamed of doing…. If I have been able to do that for just one person, then it has all been worth it, because one life changed can change the world.”