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peoria program

Facts at a Glance

• Program Focus: Offers Peoria area working adults the opportunity to earn a degree and enhance their career options
• Number of Graduates from the Program: 2,426
• Location: ICC Perley Building, Room 120, 115 S.W. Adams, Peoria
• Programs Offered:
  Accountancy B.A.
  Management B.A.
  M.B.A.
• Current Need:
  Additional funding for the UIS Peoria Alumni Memorial Scholarship
  Read more about the Scholarship
  Christine (Reynolds) Ashburn, first honoree
  Add your own memory of Christine

Meet Sanee and Brad Peterson

Sanee and Brad Stevenson of Peoria can trace the beginning of their lives together by recounting the courses they took as M.B.A. students at the UIS Peoria Center.

Some would call it fate ...

• that two young professionals, unbeknownst to each other, would formulate the same plan in 2003 to ramp up their careers by earning the M.B.A.;
• that they would both be looking for a program that allowed them to stay in Peoria and keep working;
• that they would both choose UIS and need to enroll in prerequisite classes first. Regardless, it might have all ended there.

Time In--and Out--of Class

“I actually thought he was kind of a spaz,” said Sanee, with a laugh. “When I saw him in my first class, I wondered how I was going to get through the program with him in every course. But instead, I found out he was funny and fun and things changed as we spent more class time together.”

Clearly.

Rigorous Coursework Helped

The two not only bonded over the pursuit of career advancement, they got engaged, then married, and became pregnant, all while in the M.B.A. program. In fact, Sanee said the rigorous coursework might have helped their relationship.

“We knew if we were able to survive (UIS associate professor) Dr. (Nancy) Scannell’s Finance class, that we had the fortitude to make a marriage work,” said Sanee.

Their Careers Took Off

Sanee and Brad graduated with 4.0 GPAs in May 2007. Three months later, their son, Emitt Martin Stevenson, was born, and their post-M.B.A. careers took off.

• Sanee was promoted first to Director of Operations, then to Executive Assistant to the Medical Director for Soderstrom Dermatology Center, S.C in Peoria.
• Brad was promoted to Global Purchasing Manager, and eventually, to Six Sigma Black Belt, a Project Lead position at Caterpillar, Inc.

“We have both doubled our salaries since we began the MBA program in 2004,” said Sanee.“Actually just a little bit more than doubled. We hope to double them again in the next 5 years.”

The World Has Opened Up For Them

The real benefit, though, according to Sanee, is the world that has opened for her family. “We have considered everything from opening our own business to furthering our education with another Master’s Program or Ph.D. track,” said Sanee.The MBA program at UIS took away all of those objections, that we ‘can’t go to school and do, whatever, at the same time’. We did do it all, at the same time as pursuing our degrees.”

Are you a graduate of UIS’ Peoria Program?

We'd love to hear your story.

• What would you say to someone contemplating the program?
• How would you encourage donors to give?
• What have you appreciated most about the program?

Please send your comments to our web writer, Marilyn Kok, mkok2@uis.edu. We would love to add more graduates' comments to this site. We look forward to hearing from you.