Sue Smilie Montgomery has Built a Successful 30+ Year Career at SJVC While Helping Students and Supporting the Local Fresno Community

Sue Montgomery has built a successful 30+ year career at San Joaquin Valley College while helping students and supporting the local Fresno community. She has served in a variety of roles including Career Services Advisor, Corporate Director of Career Services, and Director of Research and Development.

To this day, Sue continues using her expertise to build partnerships with brands such as SkyWest Airlines, and was an integral part in helping to develop their AMT Pathway Program for students who are part of SJVC’s Aviation Maintenance Technology (AMT) program.

In addition, she worked with the City of Fresno to officially declare May 18^th “SJVC/SkyWest Airlines Day” while the SJVC Fresno – Trades Education Center (SJVC Fresno TEC) received a donated CRJ200 aircraft from SkyWest for students to work on as part of their curriculum.

In honor of Sue receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award, we would like to take a look back at her career and share some thoughts on how she was able to find success as part of the SJVC community.

What are your thoughts on reaching this incredible milestone?

It has been a really interesting journey. It truly has gone by incredibly fast. I have worked here for over half of my life. I have enjoyed making an impact on SJVC and also the lives of the many people that we have served both as students, graduates, and employers in many different communities.

What is your current position and responsibilities at SJVC? 

In my role as the Director of Institutional Partnerships I have had the pleasure of representing the college and attending numerous meetings with our local, state and national legislators.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, I was regularly setting up visits to many of our SJVC campuses for our elected officials. I also invited our elected officials and scheduled them to be campus graduation speakers for many of our SJVC campuses. I currently support and manage our major employer partnerships for the Aviation Maintenance Technology program. I have also served as the Articulation Officer for the college, in establishing partnerships and transfer/articulation agreements between SJVC and other colleges and universities.

What are some of the different roles and positions you’ve held at SJVC?

I initially served as a Career Services Advisor for six years in Fresno, then I became a corporate SJVC employee for the last 29 years.  First role was the Corporate Director of Career Services for all SJVC campuses, and then the Director of Research and Development. I am currently the Director of Institutional Partnerships.

What motivates you to do your job well?

It is an honor for me to represent the college to each of our communities. I do my best as my work reflects on what people think of the College.

What do you enjoy most in your current position?

Being able to accomplish big projects that benefit the College.

What is one of your favorite experiences, looking back?

There are many, but the top two are: I remember being at the Board of Registered Nursing Meeting in Sacramento and being told that they just approved us to start our Registered Nursing program at the SJVC Visalia campus. The 2nd was seeing the CRJ200 jet airplane donated to SJVC by SkyWest Airlines arriving at our Fresno Trades Education Center last year.

Any advice for others who are thinking about joining the SJVC community?

There are so many opportunities for different types of jobs as well as the potential to grow at SJVC. I highly recommend us!