LIVE From South College - "All About Dallas" with Turner South & Chris McCracken plus New Navigation

Keywords South College, Dallas campus, healthcare programs, student success, community engagement, dental hygiene, imaging studies, education, career pathways, alumni success

Summary The conversation highlights the exciting developments at South College's Dallas campus, including new programs, facilities, and a focus on community engagement. Campus President Turner South, Dean of Academics Chris McCrackin and Host Kathleen Stockham discuss the growing interest in healthcare programs, particularly in imaging studies and dental hygiene, and the importance of creating a welcoming environment for students. They also share personal journeys and insights into the challenges and opportunities of transitioning to a new campus, emphasizing the commitment to student success and the unique offerings of South College.

takeaways

• South College Dallas is launching new programs to meet community needs.
• The Explore South section on the website highlights alumni success stories.
• Dental hygiene and assisting programs will provide low-cost services to the public.
• Student interest is high in imaging studies and surgical technology.
• Creating a welcoming environment is a priority for the new campus.
• Traffic in Dallas has been a significant adjustment for the team.
• The transition to Dallas has been met with enthusiasm from the healthcare community.
• Personal journeys of the staff reflect a commitment to education and student success.
• South College aims to help students achieve their dreams and find direction.
• The campus is focused on building a strong team culture.

Sound Bites

• "Traffic has been the big change."
• "Don't walk, run to South College!"
• "Where Dreams Find Direction."

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to South College and New Dallas Campus

02:13 Overview of Dallas Campus Facilities and Programs

05:21 Building a Supportive Campus Culture

07:14 Popular Programs and Student Interest

09:02 Dental Programs and Community Engagement

10:34 Personal Experiences in Dallas

13:06 Pathways to South College Leadership

14:25 Advice for Future Students

24:03 Introduction to South College and New Features on Website

25:45 Exploring Alumni Success Stories and Pathways on the Website

Got a question? Have some feedback? Email us at SouthCollegePodcast@south.edu or come visit us at www.south.edu.  Follow us on social media too.  The Live from South College Podcast is your source for all South College activity including new student information, deeps dive’s into our 100+ programs, and concentrations,  “Tools of the Trade,” and even Live on location from all of our campuses! Great interviews with Faculty, Staff, Deans and hear from South College students and alumni in their own words. From Certificates all the way to Doctoral degrees, catch up with “Live from South College” for the lighter side of helping your dreams find direction. 

Transcript

TRANSCRIPT – All About Dallas with Turner South & Dr Chris McCracken plus New Navigation

Kathleen Stockham (00:41)

Welcome to the Live From South College podcast. I'm your host, Kathleen Stockham. The Live From South College podcast is your source for all South College activity, including new student information, deep dives into our 100 plus programs and concentration, tools of the trade, and even live on location from all of our campuses. Great interviews with faculty, staff.

deans and hear from South College students and alumni in their own words. From certificates all the way to doctoral degrees, catch up with Live from South College for the lighter side of helping your dreams find direction. Well, they say everything is bigger in this location and I've already seen the numbers to prove it. Since opening this newest location just a few months ago, the buzz is hot.

on South College's westernmost location and growing. My guests today are the key reason why everything is coming up bigger and better. Please welcome South College Dallas, Texas campus president Turner South and Dean of Academic and Student Success, Dr. Christine McCracken. Hey guys.

Chris (01:48)

Hello!

Kathleen Stockham (01:50)

thank you so much for being here. I'm so glad to have both of you. Our Dallas, Texas campus has only been up and running about six months at the time of this recording and already you are shattering records left and right on enrollment. Lots of great things are happening, so let's get to it. All right, Turner, tell us about our new Dallas campus and the reason for expanding into Texas.

Chris (02:13)

Thank you Kathleen. So our campus is located in Farmers Branch about 55,000 square feet initially which we walk by a first and a fifth floor. They said everything's bigger in Texas and it certainly feels that way here as the campus is just gorgeous. The space is honestly one of our biggest footprints coming into a new city as well. So some of the classrooms much larger they range from anywhere from about 24 seats up to 84 seats and so

speaking to some of the nursing labs themselves, you know, we've built these out to hold 12 plus beds. And so again, a lot of exciting things on the facilities front. Obviously on the program front, we are coming to the Dallas area with programs like the diagnostic medical sonography, radiography, surge tag, MA. We are also pending border nursing approval for our ASN program. But some of the ones we're excited about as well in the future, you we are

I'm hoping to start a dental hygiene program here. And so, you other ones all the way out until 2027, which would include being on the agenda with CAPT for a DPT program. And, you know, we are actively recruiting for a physician assistant program director as we hope to launch that program here as well. So again, a lot of exciting things on the horizon here in Dallas and looking forward to the continued growth. For the reasons for coming to the area, this is just a tremendous medical.

area and we've been very it's been a very warm welcome from all of our clinical partners as well and so it's been a real joy to be here and meet with other individuals at these hospitals and other community leaders and again we're looking forward to you know getting students into the cohorts so they can we can start helping meet the the need at the hospital level and community level as well.

Kathleen Stockham (04:01)

that's awesome. So PA, Dental. Hello? mean, that's amazing. That is so exciting. I know that the dental clinic is doing extremely well and dental hygiene is a huge program for our Nashville campus. So that's even more amazing that it's coming to Dallas. So when will the new location be finished?

Chris (04:21)

The new location, so we actually are building out almost in parts in a way, but the fifth floor will be done on June 13th and that will include all the classrooms, labs and faculty areas. ⁓ The first floor will be done July 11th and that will be all of the administrative offices, but also the dental clinic and dental lab as that will all be housed on the first floor as well. And so we're looking forward to the installation.

dental clinic, again, will have 30 chairs and we really look forward to not just having the students here on site but giving back to the community as well. It's such a tremendous opportunity to offer low cost cleanings to the community and something that we're really proud about our national campus and looking forward to bringing it here as well.

Kathleen Stockham (05:07)

No, I love it. That's awesome. OK, Chris, you are the brand new Dean of Academic Tell us how exciting that's been, which includes your move out West and how Dallas students can locate you.

Chris (05:21)

Yeah, exciting. ⁓ It's definitely, I'm not sure if it even quite covers it, Kathleen. ⁓ It's every day is moving and shaking here, that's for sure. And as Turner says, we're both building our physical facilities, which is certainly great. But also we have this unique opportunity of building our team from scratch. And so as we're onboarding people, we're being very deliberate about creating a certain culture here on the campus.

We certainly want this environment to be very welcoming. We want everyone who comes here, whether they're a student, a supportive family member, staff member or a faculty member, people should feel like this is where they want to be and that we're all working together for students to be successful and for everybody to have a job here that fulfills them. And so that is one of the most exciting pieces of this for me.

As far as where I'm located, currently we are all in a temporary space, but once it's all said and done and we are in our new bright shining space, I will be out and about both on the first and the fifth floor, but my office is on the fifth floor and I am hoping that students will come by and say hi and tell us a little bit about their story and tell us all how we can best support them.

Kathleen Stockham (06:37)

Yeah.

I love that. And if you've ever met Chris, she is definitely not someone that sits behind a desk. She is always up and about and everywhere. So I have no doubt they will absolutely know who you are. And just for the record, for all of my listeners, we're recording this particular episode in May. So as we are referencing openings in June, it's coming right around the corner. June will be here before you know it. So I also share your excitement of how awesome it's going to be to get this open. All right, Chris, another question

for you, what seems to the most popular program, at least right now in your early stages?

Chris (07:14)

That's a great question. We have a lot of student interest, as you were saying, big numbers, ⁓ right, left and center. And as Turner mentioned, the programs that we currently have in the queue now, we see a lot of student interest in our imaging studies, which we see across the entire institution of South College. So that would be in radiography and our ultrasound programs. But we're also seeing a lot of interest in surgical technology and

of course, nursing. And we know that in the future there will also be interest and demand within the medical assisting, dental assisting, dental hygiene, and so on. One of the intricacies of opening a new campus and starting new programs, even within a very well established school, is that there is a process of accreditation and approval of all these programs. So because of that,

There's a very deliberate rollout and startup of programs and a certain mechanism for advertising and so forth, which of course you know all about being in charge of all of our advertising. And so because of that, you know, a little bit of a staggered start to some of the programs, but we are very excited about the kind of interests that we're seeing.

Kathleen Stockham (08:16)

⁓ that's awesome. Well, again, just search tech and we've talked a lot about search tech on the podcast. I've had the senior program chair Chris Blevins on. I've actually been involved in some videos and things for search tech. That is such an amazing field. I think if I had it to do all over again, that's what I would want to do. And it's awesome. But then the dental hygiene clinic, can you talk just a little bit more about

the programs that we're planning. So the dental assistant and the dental hygienist and a little bit more about what those students can expect.

Chris (09:02)

Yeah, we're very excited about these two programs. And of course, as Turner says, it's such a wonderful opportunity to interact with our community in the sense that we will be offering low cost services to the public so that our students have clients that they can practice their skills on. But from a student perspective, these are two distinct programs, but of course, go hand in hand. And the dental hygienist program

is a full two years of education within that major that then we feel very confident about turning out excellent clinicians after that. It's a little bit of a wait for us. It won't be till next year until that program is ready just because of how accreditation for that program works. But alongside that, we are then working on

establishing our dental assisting program, which is a certification program that is of shorter duration and where one can come in without having a large amount of college experience already. ⁓ Students can roll their sleeves up and get to learning what it's like to be a dental assistant. And that is also something that's in demand here in the community.

Kathleen Stockham (10:13)

Yeah, that's awesome. Well, I'm excited to see that happen. And again, you know, I know it's been a huge program for Nashville. So I suspect the Dallas program is probably going to be even bigger. So Turner, I know that you're not necessarily new to Dallas, but what's been like the most exciting or surprising thing for you about coming back to the Metroplex?

Chris (10:34)

You know, that's an interesting question here. And I jokingly say that the traffic has been the big change. And so I say I went from the land of roundabouts in Carmel, Indiana to now where it only took me about 15 minutes to get home. Now I'm taking about 45 minutes to an hour to get home and stand still traffic. So I always say that the traffic jokingly is the biggest surprise. But, you know, outside of that, in terms of just the campus as well, it's been, you this is a little bit larger of a campus startup than then.

Indy was and so as you know, when things are bigger, it's a little bit more interesting as time goes. So again, I've enjoyed getting back into the doubt. The DFW Metroplex looking forward to my first real hot summer here

Kathleen Stockham (11:16)

Yeah, that's awesome. Well, you forgot to mention barbecue. I lived in Dallas and Hard-Eight barbecue. That is legit. It is literally one of my favorite places on the planet and it's fabulous. But I don't envy you on the tornado front because you guys have had some serious weather. And that's one thing that I actually don't miss about living in Dallas is all of the crazy tornado watches almost every day. It's nuts. All right, Chris, same question for you. You're actually new to the Dallas area. How's it been for you?

Chris (11:20)

Yeah

I am. Although I should say, I lived in Fort Worth for a short period of time, many, many years ago, ⁓ as I was working as an occupational therapist here. So the traffic is not a big surprise to me. But the week that I moved here, which happened to be in January, it was nine degrees. And that to me was a big surprise. It's like being back in Norway here.

Kathleen Stockham (12:05)

my gosh.

Chris (12:10)

So, but, joking aside, I think I've been very pleasantly surprised at the reception that we've gotten from the healthcare community here. they have been just, fantastic in terms of their interest. And, and, and I say that I'm surprised because we know we have a lot of competition here with other programs in terms of.

finding clinical seats for our students and in the collaborations with the healthcare community. But despite that, they've been very interested, they've been very enthusiastic, they look forward to seeing the programs that we will start and to students being ready both for clinicals and employment. So very pleasantly surprised at that.

Kathleen Stockham (12:54)

Yeah, that's great. Hey Turner, you mentioned this a few minutes ago. You were actually the president of our Indianapolis campus before you got here. What has been your pathway to South College? Tell us a little bit more about your journey.

Chris (13:06)

Yeah, so I actually went down the street to Texas Christian University for my undergraduate degree. Shortly after that, I then began working with Atlanta as the director of finance role under the Atlanta campus president, Josh Huffaker. And so worked there for a little while and actually started my MBA at Auburn as well online. And so in the process of attaining that, I actually relocated up to Indianapolis, which is crazy. It's right about four years ago to date that I relocated up to Indianapolis to as we

launched that campus. And so I was there for three and a half years and really enjoyed my time up there. It was a great experience starting that campus. know Courtney was on here not too long ago and telling all the great things she's doing up there now. So again, it's been a wonderful experience. I've enjoyed everything I've done here at South. I can't imagine really working anywhere else at this point. And so looking forward to, again, moving down here, building this campus up and

Again, really getting this canvas to where it needs to be and should be.

Kathleen Stockham (14:09)

Yeah, that's awesome. That's also very cool because you're right, you've really gone from one climate to another. So I agree with you. think summer is going to be really interesting. All right, Chris, same question for you. What's been your pathway to this point and why did you choose South College?

Chris (14:25)

Yeah, I appreciate that question because it's been an interesting journey for me. I am an occupational therapist, as I mentioned a few minutes ago. And so I have really spent my entire career in health care, both as a clinician and in various leadership positions throughout the years. And, you know, for me being in leadership and especially being a therapist has always been about

educating anyway and been about facilitating people's progress and specifically within OT, you know, meeting someone where they are in their journey, whatever their circumstances are, and then being the guide to them reaching their goals. And so I liken that to being in higher education where we obviously are very invested in doing the same thing for our students. And so

I do also have an MBA and I have a doctorate in occupational therapy and therefore, know, have my taste of graduate level programming as well. And I was fortunate to start in a role at our Knoxville campus where I was

training in various departments and with various other leaders to prepare me for such a role as the one that I'm in today. And it was such a blessing because it gives me a better understanding of how the pieces fit together. And I feel like I am at least now equipped to ask the right questions. And ⁓ that is important.

Kathleen Stockham (15:45)

Mm-hmm.

hat's important.

Chris (16:05)

And it also gave me the opportunity to get to know a lot of wonderful people who work not just in Knoxville, but across our institution, who are my mentors and my great help to this day. so that's just been a wonderful experience and I feel prepared me for coming here.

Kathleen Stockham (16:25)

I had no idea you were an OTD. So I just interviewed Dr. Christine O'Day, who is our Dean of Graduate Studies. And we spent a lot of time on the podcast talking about the OTD program. And I've gotten to know a lot of the faculty and a lot of the staff that makes up both the Knoxville and the Atlanta campuses. And what a cool program. I really, really love it. So I'm excited to see where that goes. So there I learned something about you today that I didn't know. All right.

Yeah, it's awesome. So Turner, I got a question for you. Knowing what you know now, if you had it to do all over again and you were back to being that 18, 19, 20 year old student, what program at South College would you choose?

Chris (17:08)

You know, that's an interesting question. I would have to say the radiography program. I just think the, honestly, going through the construction process of itself, it's so exciting. I mean, the entire room being lead lined and it's just really neat that you're able to take real, x-rays of individuals and whatnot. You know, some of the equipment that we have on site, you know, some that actually include real human bones in it.

And so again, I think it's really neat that these students here will get about as real life x-rays as they can get.

Kathleen Stockham (17:41)

Yeah, I love that. And I think that's another thing about imaging sciences that I always find, as just a regular consumer, I have no idea what I'm looking at. But these students really are able to come out of these programs and can identify things, whether they're looking at maybe, through a pregnancy or they're, being able to get a little bit deeper and see, pictures of where there are bones and things that are not in the place they should be. I think it's fascinating. And it's something that I know

the people coming into these programs, they're gonna walk out of these programs and know so much more. I completely agree with you. I'm of leaning more towards Surge Tech. I think, as I mentioned before, if I had a chance to do it all over again, I think that looks really easy. So Turner, one other question for you, and it's kind of a pop quiz for you. What kind of student were you in school?

Long pause here. (Ha Ha)

Chris (18:33)

No, I would like to think I was a good student. Now, I think my parents might have another opinion at times. However, you know, I was one that I like to wait till the last minute and get everything done right before the test. Now, sometimes that worked, other times it didn't. But I will say I've learned a lot from my 18, 19 year old self that nowadays, you know, I make sure to try to plan things out so I don't repeat those mistakes.

Kathleen Stockham (18:39)

Yeah

I love it. Yeah, parents are always the last to know until the report card comes in. I can relate to that story. All right, Chris, same question. Although I have a strong suspicion, I know the answer. So tell us what kind of student you were.

Chris (19:13)

Yeah, yeah,

it will probably not surprise you to know that I was a straight A student my whole life. ⁓ But it's you know, and my my approach was always the opposite of Turner's. It was to do anything, you know, as soon as you knew that you had it to do. Certainly not waiting until the last minute. But, you know, that's how I was how I was influenced at home. And there was always very high expectations and

Kathleen Stockham (19:19)

Not surprised. ⁓

Chris (19:40)

I tried not to disappoint anybody, whereas my sister was quite different from that. yeah. Hopefully not.

Kathleen Stockham (19:47)

Well, hopefully she's not listening. ⁓

And we skipped over a big headline. You're from Norway.

Chris (19:56)

I am from Norway. I was born and raised there, moved to the US after undergrad. And I remember when I moved that I was 21 years old and I told my parents I would be gone for about a year. And that has now been almost 30.

Kathleen Stockham (20:15)

goodness. that's that's a big secret. Wow. That's awesome. Alright, so Chris, what advice do you have for anyone thinking about applying to the South College Dallas campus?

Chris (20:23)

Absolutely.

That is a great question. Is it okay to say don't walk, run? ⁓ Which of course in the Metroplex really means, you know, crawl along in your car on the interstate ⁓ until you're so frustrated you have to pull off the road. But no, joking aside, we do have a wonderful team here, a growing team. We have wonderful programs that we will be putting on.

Kathleen Stockham (20:36)

Of course!

Chris (20:55)

And I think that students will find that South College does a lot of things differently than many other institutions. We have students who come to us who are interested in our programs that bring five, eight, 12 transcripts from other schools telling us that they've tried many different things. They've tried many different schools and never really quite achieved their goals. And we certainly take pride in being the place where

that will change and where we get to see them successfully walk across that stage and truly live that motto that South College has about helping these students find the way to obtain their dreams, right? Where dreams find direction. So it's not just about having a hope or a dream, but it is actually about finding a way to do it.

Kathleen Stockham (21:46)

Yeah, that's awesome. What a great way to wrap this up. Well, there you have it. Big time growth in the Big D. So many exciting things happening out there. And if you happen to be in traffic and see either Turner or Chris.

wave to them because that's probably where they're going to be if they're not in the office. And Lord, some of the best barbecue in the whole world. Just going to continue to harp on that because it's really some of the best. I want to thank my two guests for spending a little time with me. That's Dallas campus president Turner South and the Dean of academics Dr. Christine McCracken. Thanks guys.

All right, time to saddle up and move on. Coming up after the break, we've added some new real estate to the website that might make you stop and consider your future or at least see others who are out there where you want to be. Stick around, we'll be right back.

[South College Radio Ad Spot]

Kathleen Stockham (24:13)

Hey, welcome back. If you've been with the pod for a while, you know all about the best info about South College, which can be found on our website at south.edu. And I know it's the best website because there's some really great people who work on it every day. And woohoo, shout out to my team.

Or if you're new to the pod, you'll need to punch up www.south.edu for an easy to navigate and well-structured experience, looking at the hottest and most popular programs available at all 10 of our campuses, plus online and also CVE across healthcare, business, technology, legal studies, and more. But now we're excited to unveil a new section of the website called Explore South.

The Explore South tab on the homepage is now home to our incredible Alumni Association and Alumni Services. But now we have added a new section you will love called Pathways. Pathways is an inspirational section highlighting key alumni and their journeys at South College and beyond. Some are currently serving in the military, others are raising families and finding success in the workforce.

You will also find many alumni sharing reasons they've returned to South College working towards or finishing an even higher degree level. We love our alumni and what better way to shine a bright spotlight on their achievements than to give them their own page. Want to share your story? The Pathways page also has a link where you can share your own experience for us to review.

Our new Explore South section is now home for your favorite podcast too. The Live From South College podcast is now part of this new Explore South section. But of course, you can still find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Amazon Music,

Player FM or wherever you get your podcast. South College in Motion, our video library is also part of this new section. This amazing video page is home to all of our program videos, campus videos, and even our TV ads. We have some new things coming soon for the south.edu site that you'll need to stay tuned for, so stick around for that. Well, that's gonna do it for today with 10 campuses across seven states plus online and CVE.

There's a pathway for you at South College. Hope you enjoyed this latest episode of Live From South College. Thanks for joining me. If you love it, give us some stars. And of course, you can always send us feedback by emailing us at southcollegepodcast at south.edu. Have an awesome day and let your dreams find direction. See you next time.