Cleveland State Alumna Now Computer Instructor & Trainer

Andrea Byerly
Friday, September 1, 2023 12:00 AM
All, Academics, Press Releases

CLEVELAND, TN - Cleveland State alumna and former student athlete, Amy McIlvain, combines her years in education and her work experience in business and industry as an instructor and customized trainer for Cleveland State. Along with teaching computer application classes in the Business Department, McIlvain designs customized computer training for industry partners with Cleveland State Workforce Development.

McIlvain has provided training in Microsoft Excel for industry partners such as Storm Power Components in Decatur, Tennessee and JTEKT in Vonore, Tennessee. Working with Workforce Development, McIlvain designs specialized training to meet the needs of multiple departments within each business.

“I enjoy interacting with the employees and teaching skills that can immediately help them with their jobs,” said McIlvain.

Raised in Cleveland, McIlvain graduated from Bradley Central High School with no idea what she wanted to do. “I didn’t think I would go to college, so I got a job at a carpet mill in Dalton right after graduation,” said McIlvain. “I worked all summer and realized that was not for me. Working on the line was labor intensive for an 18-year old girl. My dad said that I needed to be a teacher and a coach, but I thought, no way.”

An athlete in high school, McIlvain was offered a spot on the Cleveland State softball team. The first year, she worked third shift while going to school. Her scholarship helped with books and supplies. The second year, she earned a full scholarship on the softball team and graduated with an associate degree.

After a few years living in Florida and even Japan, McIlvain returned to Cleveland and worked in the human resource office at Cleveland Community Hospital for six years. While working, she earned her bachelor of science in business administration from the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga.

McIlvain also worked in the human resource office at EMJ Construction in Chattanooga for two years and then decided to pursue her teaching license. She graduated from Lincoln Memorial University in December 2010 with a master’s degree in education and a teaching certificate.

Following her father’s advice from years before, McIlvain was a teacher at Bradley Central High School for 11 years teaching computer applications and marketing classes. She was the faculty sponsor of the school store and taught the Cleveland State dual credit entrepreneurship class at the high school. 

In the fall of 2022, McIlvain joined the Cleveland State faculty and teaches online computer applications, technology for teachers and spreadsheet applications. Her daughter is a student in the Tennessee Valley Early College (TVEC) program at Cleveland State. She will earn an associate degree in May just days before she graduates from Bradley Central High School.

McIlvain’s colleague and Cleveland State Healthcare Department Chair, Dr. Ann Cunningham, said, “Amy McIlvain has been an asset to Cleveland State by both teaching credit classes and providing industry training. She is always willing to learn new systems and programs to deliver the most up-to-date instruction.”

For more information about specialized computer training opportunities, contact Heather Brown, Director of Workforce Development, hbrown@clevelandstatecc.edu or (423) 614-8793.