Down from the Ivory Tower

One might think the president of an emerging institution would relish high-profile affairs such as fundraisers, meetings with

legislators and breakfast talks with business leaders. International College president Terry McMahan knows those duties come with the territory, but he prefers the nuts and bolts of higher education-working with professors and establishing new curricula.

"There is a lot of fundraising involved, but I'm really not a natural at that sort of thing," says the personable but unassuming McMahan, whose cramped office at the Fort Myers campus looks as though it should belong to an assistant professor. "I like the business side of things, and also get a great deal of satisfaction working with the faculty and seeing their presentations."

Since arriving at the school in 1991, McMahan has seen International College move from an abandoned strip mall to two technology-driven campuses in north Naples and Fort Myers. The college has also established learning centers in Charlotte, Manatee, Pasco and Hernando counties, and total enrollment is expected to top 2,000 this fall. More than 3,000 students-including 576 this past June-have earned degrees from the college.

A nonprofit, private school, International College has grown without the benefit of government support. McMahan leads capital campaigns only to establish new programs or facilities, such as the 60,000-square-foot office and classroom building that opened in Fort Myers in August 2005.

"We operate under a business model, and at the end of the day live on our own resources," says McMahan. "We do have fundraising, endowments and capital campaigns, but we never want to get into a position where we're using those resources to operate the college. We are a tuition-driven institution."

The new building is concrete evidence of that streamlined approach. Its soft brown exterior resembles the headquarters of a small corporation. Inside, carpeted corridors in calm earth tones lead to small classrooms that are fully integrated with computers and Smart Boards that allow instructors to access the Internet or run PowerPoint presentations.

The professional ambiance reflects the important niche International College has established as a leader in adult education. The average age of students at the school is 31. Many have families, and most seek degrees to further careers that are already under way. It's a demographic that's becoming more crucial to Southwest Florida's economic future.

"We're always looking at companies that are here or want to come here, and education is something that's very important to them," says Jennifer Dunn of the Lee County Economic Development Office. "There's definitely a need in areas like information technology and especially in professional business services. As high-level jobs become more available, we need those people who are already established in the workforce and want to advance."

The Advocate

If International College students break the mold when it comes to academic stereotypes, so does McMahan. A Florida native who was raised on a farm in Boca Raton, McMahan is a plain talker who, as founder of the Naples Fishing Club, is just as comfortable trolling Gulf Coast backwaters as addressing a room full of educators.

"He's genuine, down-to-earth and loyal," says Louis Traina, the college's vice president of institutional advancement. "He's not one to stand up there espousing the college and all its accomplishments; he's in the trenches where all the hard work is."

In addition to teaching him the value of hard work, McMahan's parents were politically active and engrained in him an interest in politics. McMahan majored in government at Florida State University before entering the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Alabama. After receiving his J.D. in 1974, McMahan landed a job at an Altamonte Springs law firm, where he served as a trial attorney, often dealing with corporate and business law.

In 1979, the Zimmer Corp. recruited McMahan as vice president of legal affairs, serving as legal adviser to the firm's CEO, board of directors and 15 subsidiary companies. The company, which manufactured motor homes, recreational vehicles and yachts, reorganized in 1988 and named McMahan president.

"I was brought in as captain of a sinking ship," says McMahan. "But we brought the company out of Chapter 11 and eventually sold off all the plants to other companies."

McMahan took his first job in academia three years later as president of International College. "Going through regional accreditation involves a lot of work in almost a legal format," explains McMahan. "In fact, someone who does appellate work would be pretty comfortable in that process. I found my background actually fit very well with administrative leadership at a college. Now I use my advocacy skills all the time because I'm constantly seeking support."

Nuts and bolts

In the past 15 years, McMahan has done more than raise money and facilitate accreditation; he has helped hone an institutional philosophy that is geared toward meeting the needs of working adults and a growing region.

The college currently offers 10 undergraduate and six master's programs, mostly in such high-demand areas as criminal justice, computer technology, health studies and business. Flexible scheduling is available for working adults, and the school integrates their work experience into individualized courses of study.

"International College has the most liberal policy as far as flexible offerings for working people who want to get that promotion," says Beth Barger, a business services manager for the Career and Service Centers of Southwest Florida. "This is truly the land of the underemployed, and what we are missing is experienced workers for a growing number of professional positions. It's definitely important to employers, who often subsidize their employees' education at the college."

International also places great importance on practical experience when it hires new faculty members. Along with advanced degrees, most professors have proven track records in their areas of expertise and can relate that experience to students.

"They're different from the traditional academic," says Traina. "They've been successful but have chosen to go back to school to earn their Ph.D.s. They understand the sacrifices our working students make because they've done the same thing."

"They've been in the business environment and bring the experience of what it's really like out there," says McMahan. "They bring a lot to the table, not just in their knowledge, but in the mentoring process."

Sometimes that mentoring process pays off for the business community even before students graduate. One example is a study that graduate students completed in 2004. Led by Don Forrer, the study outlined the ethical, environmental and economic consequences of a moratorium on dock building in Cape Coral, imposed by the federal government in response to lawsuits filed by manatee advocacy groups.

The study found that participating dock builders reported a net reduction in gross revenues of 23 percent. That projected to a $32 million annual loss for Lee County dock builders if the moratorium had remained in place. The study was presented at a lively public forum, attended by stakeholders from both sides of the debate. "You learn about these studies in textbooks, but this provided hands-on perspective," says Forrer, director of the college's M.B.A. and M.P.A. (master of public administration) programs.

Events like the public forum in Cape Coral are raising the profile of International College-and McMahan-locally and nationally. In April, the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education honored McMahan with its 2006 Leadership in Education Award. That same month, benefactor Lavern Norris Gaynor presented the school with an endowment to establish the school's new President's Chair. The gift was reported to be the largest in the college's history.

Not surprisingly, McMahan takes the awards in stride, spreading credit to his faculty and staff. Plus, he's too busy to bask in the accolades.

"The rewards come daily in this job, culminating with graduation," says McMahan. "You see a sense of accomplishment in the faces of our students when they get that degree. Because most of them are adult learners, you get to see it in the faces of their children sitting in the audience, too."