Catawba College has hired Jose Manjarres as its Hispanic coordinator and adjunct faculty member for the baccalaureate degree programs it offers on Central Piedmont Community College’s campuses.

While Manjarres’ focus is business and students pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business administration, he will also be tapped to assist Spanish-speaking students pursuing birth-kindergarten majors and bachelor’s degrees in education. His teaching responsibilities in business also include courses taught on Catawba’s main campus in Salisbury.

The bilingual Manjarres was born in Santa Marta, Columbia, and moved to Venezuela at age 13. He came to the United States at age 22 on a full track scholarship at Long Island University where he earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing and his master’s degree in finance. He also excelled as a student athlete, becoming a national champion in the 5K in 1992.

Manjarres began his new responsibilities for Catawba in January.

A former Wall Street financial advisor and a former relationship banker at BB&T, Manjarres brings 10 years of experience in banking, sales and customer service to the position.

In addition to his real world business experience, Manjarres served between December of 2007 and December of 2010 as an adjunct business instructor at Garner-Webb University, teaching online and on-campus classes in business administration and related business courses. Between February of 2004 and December of 2007, he was an adjunct business and Spanish instructor at Cleveland Community College.

“We are delighted to add someone with Professor Manjarres’ skills to our team,” said Jeff Bowe, who serves as interim director for Catawba’s School of Evening and Graduate Studies. “There is a large population of Hispanic students on the Central Piedmont Community College campuses who will feel more comfortable conversing in Spanish about their unique needs and challenges as they begin to pursue a four-year degree.”

Catawba launched its unique partnership with Central Piedmont Community College, the state’s largest community college, in August of 2012. Thanks to it, Central Piedmont Community College graduates who have earned an associate of applied science degree in business or accounting are eligible to enroll into Catawba’s bachelor’s degree program and earn a degree in business administration from Catawba in just two years on the community college’s central campus. The first cohort of these graduates – four in all – received their degrees from this partnership during Catawba’s 2014 commencement exercise.

A representative from Central Piedmont Community College, Dr. Loretta Evivie, the division director for business and accounting on Central Piedmont Community College’s central campus, was on hand at the commencement exercise to see the Central Piedmont Community College graduates receive their four-year baccalaureate degrees from Catawba.

Vonda Hill of Charlotte, one of these Catawba graduates, was also a 2010 CPCC graduate who completed the courses required for her baccalaureate degree on Central Piedmont Community College’s campus. She noted that “completing your degree requires hard work and dedication, but it is totally worth the journey.”