May 6, 1998
Contact: Jane Ford
	  (804) 924-4298


DETERMINATION AND A CHANCELLOR'S FELLOWSHIP AID PVCC EMPLOYEE TO
GRADUATE FROM U.VA.

	Non-traditional is one word that describes Paty Saternye.  Two
others are successful and passionate.  After completing only one year as
a full-time student, at the age of 35 Saternye will receive her
bachelor's degree in urban and environmental planning from the
University of Virginia's School of Architecture on May 17 and she has
high hopes for a career in that field. 	
	 A full-time employee at Piedmont Virginia Community College
(PVCC), Saternye was able to attend U.Va. as a full-time student as the
recipient of a Chancellor's Fellowship for Classified Employees from the
Virginia Community College System.  Only two fellowships are awarded
each year statewide in the program, which began in 1995.
	"Paty's study at the University of Virginia this past year is a
marvelous example of PVCC's fundamental commitment to employee renewal
and development.  The college community shares in the great joy of
Paty's accomplishment, and all of us are the richer for it," said
Deborah M. DiCroce, president of PVCC.
	Saternye currently has a 3.84 GPA and although she says "my goal
in life is simply to learn," that was not always the way she saw things.
At Charlottesville High School Saternye says she was not a good student.
She rarely did the reading required and almost never did her homework.
Drafting was the one course she truly enjoyed.  After graduation she
attended PVCC but dropped out after a year and a half.  (It was not
until attending U.Va. that she was diagnosed with a learning
disability.)  A number of jobs around town, the last of which was as a
warehouse worker, left her with the realization that this was not the
life she wanted for herself.
	In the fall of 1985 she developed an interest in computers.
This was coupled with her interest in drafting when she discovered CAD
(Computer Aided Drafting) during the summer of 1986 in a class at
Piedmont.  Her love of CAD and enthusiasm with helping other students in
the class led to a job as instructional assistant in CAD and an
agreement with her supervisor to work towards an associate's degree.  As
she was nearing completion of her associate's degree in applied science
in mechanical technology with specialization in CAD at PVCC in 1990,
Saternye began 
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exploring ways to attend U.Va. as a part-time student.									
	Since the fall of 1992 she has taken one course each semester
toward her degree at U.Va. while working full-time at PVCC.  Without the
Chancellor's Fellowship she would still be working toward her degree one
course at a time.  The fellowship provides financial support for
tuition, books and mandatory fees as well as a nine-month leave of
absence with one-half pay and continuation of benefits to attend a
Virginia state-supported institution of higher learning.
	After graduation Saternye has plans: to return to work at PVCC,
prepare for the GRE's and apply to U.Va. for graduate school in planning
once again as a part-time student.  In addition, she says she can be
found learning to play the guitar, learning ballroom dancing with her
husband, pursuing her love of karate, catching up with her family and
friends and spending time in her partially passive-solar house, which
she designed after taking a course in solar energy at PVCC.
	Saternye's dream is to become a full-time professor at PVCC.
She would also like to create an Introduction to Planning program there
that would channel students into the U.Va. program. 

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	Saternye may be reached at (804) 589-9258. Television reporters
please call our TV News Office at (804) 924-7550.
























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