Professor

“You get your Microsoft Mouse Certification and you’re going to be a lot more valuable at work. You don’t get little ears, but you will get more money.”

If you want to catch Brenda Rothaupt outside the classroom or office hours, you’d better strap on your track shoes. “I’m running 10 miles a day, and my girlfriend tells me I’ve got the legs of a rugby player,” she says with a hoot. “But at least they’re strong; so if we have an earthquake, I’m ready to move out!” But just at the moment, Brenda is planning on staying still at SMC for a while.

“I’ve got my MBA, and I was an information systems consultant for one of the Big Five public accounting firms. But I hated life on the road,” says the future marathon runner with a touch of irony. “So I started teaching part time at SMC, and now I’m teaching 21 units and having a blast doing it. Plus I have these great three-day weekends to run!” she says with a laugh.

But getting ahead in life—like running—means serious training, according to Brenda. “What we teach, pretty much, is how to use various Microsoft Office products, and the classes generally earn transferable credits to the Cal State system and to UCLA. And honestly, this ‘Mouse Certification’—which says you are an expert in Excel and Access—really makes employers sit up and notice.” So if you want to get on the fast track to the big bucks in business and information systems, give Brenda a call. Or get out your sneakers and try to keep up with her. Brenda—in the classroom or during those early morning 10-milers—is one of SMC’s front runners.

SMC Computer Applications Professor Brenda Rothaupt began full-time at SMC in Fall ’99. Welcome!

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