Montgomery

The MBA program let me sharpen my
business understanding, and will
continue to be an asset to my career
in the future.”

Mark Auernheimer, ’97
CEO of Sealpac USA LLC

BBA degree enhanced graduate's success

Rikki Montgomery,
'03, BBA

Thanks to her bachelor of business administration degree from Averett's Graduate and Professional Studies (GPS) Program, Margaurite "Rikki" Montgomery, '03, received a promotion. Montgomery now works as an Alcoa Business Systems (ABS) Quality Specialist with Alcoa Inc. in Richmond. Previously she was a lab technician.

Alcoa is one of the largest manufacturers of aluminum and aluminum products in the world. They produce such products as Reynolds Wrap, plastics, backing materials, telecommunications and aluminum siding.

As an ABS Quality Specialist Montgomery is responsible for Alcoa Flexible Packaging's certification program, quality systems documentation, customer claims and corrective actions. She has worked at Alcoa for 20 years.

Like most teenagers after high school Montgomery entered college but her "interests were elsewhere at the time." She took classes off and on over the years but never finished a degree.

"Now life was different, I had a full-time job, a husband and children," Montgomery said. "Needless to say there was not a lot of time available to attend school full time as most conventional programs would have you do.

"I have always had the desire and motivation to complete my bachelor's degree and with my children at a more settled stage in their development, this was the perfect opportunity for me to move ahead with my career. Averett offered a flexible schedule that allowed me to attend school full time without totally upsetting my home and work life."

Montgomery credits Averett with giving her the degree to go along with her experience, which greatly enhanced her chances of success. Now that she has her bachelor's degree, Montgomery plans to being pursuing her master's degree in business in the fall.

"I would recommend this program to others," Montgomery said. "The entire staff at Averett is committed to each student's success. There was never a time that I felt out there completely on my own. The total Averett experience far surpassed my expectations. It was totally invigorating to share in someone else's experience and perception of life and business."