Dr. Christopher Washington, executive vice president of Urbana University, a branch campus of Franklin University, announced the appointment of Melanie Beatty-Quesenberry to the Urbana University Board of Advisors. Sharing their diverse expertise, board members serve in a consulting capacity to Urbana University leadership and provide input on matters such as strategic partnerships, fundraising resources, community relationships, student recruitment, and academic program offerings.
Beatty-Quesenberry is the program coordinator for Junior Achievement for both Champaign and Logan counties, a position she has held since 2005. Within these two counties, she coordinates nearly 200 volunteers for an outreach to more than 4,000 students. Her responsibilities include fundraising, securing grants and coordinating special events to support the Junior Achievement programming. During her tenure, student outreach has almost tripled. Additionally she piloted the addition of Logan County to the Mad River Region of Junior Achievement, a previously unserved area. Prior to joining Junior Achievement, she worked for 12 years at CBS Companies as a recruiter and a human resource manager.
Within the community she has actively volunteered for the Champaign Family YMCA Activities Committee, the Champaign County Historical Society Tour of Homes and the American Heart Association. Within the school district, she served on the Working Committee for the passage of the bond issue to build new schools within the Urbana City School District and was an active parent while her daughter was in Urbana schools, volunteering for various athletic and non-athletic events, 4-H club projects and community improvement projects in Champaign County.
A strong advocate for the benefits of external learning avenues, she feels that bringing co-curricular experiences to Urbana University students will provide them with an advantage in being a global citizen.
She is a life-long resident of Urbana, where she graduated from Urbana High School in 1987, received an A.S. in Business Management from Clark State in 1990, and attended The Ohio State University for two years before transferring to Urbana University where she received her BS in Business in 1993. Her primary area of study is HR, Marketing and Business Management. She and her husband Ron Quesenberry have a daughter, Victoria “Tori,” who is a 2015 graduate of Urbana High School and is on track to graduate from University of Cincinnati in 2019.
The announcement expands the professional experience and knowledge essential to oversee Urbana University’s continued growth and success. Urbana University is committed to building strategic relationships within the community. The following local business leaders currently make up the distinguished Urbana Board of Advisors:
Marcia Bailey, director, Champaign Economic Partnership
Audra Bean, administrative director, Champaign Residential Services, Inc.
Ryan Berry, owner and entrepreneur, Berry Digital Solutions
The Rev. Elizabeth Coffman, Clinical Counselor, Positive Perspectives Counseling Center – Minister, Urbana Swedenborgian Church
Mary Duchi, vice president (retired), Battelle Memorial Institute
Angelo Frole, CSC, Columbus State Community College, dean of the Business and Engineering Technologies
John (J.C.) Wallace, president, Troy Development Council and Troy Area Chamber of Commerce
