VGCC Office Administration Club Guest Speakers give career advice


Marianne Durling

Marianne Durling

The Office Administration Club at Vance-Granville Community College hosted two guest speakers as the spring 2014 semester drew to a close.

A “lunch and learn” exclusively for club members on April 30 featured Marianne Durling, Director of Health Information Management for Granville Health System. Students learned about the field of Health Information Management, billing and coding, and gained a first-hand look at a career in the field. Durling, a Registered Health Information Administrator, Certified Professional Coder and Medical Audit Specialist, has spent the last 27 years in the health-care field. She is the owner of Durling Consultants, where she serves as an expert on medical coding and billing for legal cases. She was one of the first Certified Medical Audit Specialists in the U.S. and has served as the director for Granville Health System in Oxford for the past year. She is a member of the American Association of Professional Coders and teaches in medical coding programs at VGCC.

On May 6, the club sponsored a free seminar, “Mastering the Interview” with Cindy Hammond, Wake Forest Branch Manager for Qualified Staffing, which was open to all students and held at VGCC’s Franklin County Campus. Approximately 60 students attended. Hammond discussed resume writing, etiquette with e-mail addresses, voice mail messages, thank-you notes, cover letters and interviewing. Hammond has been placing qualified applicants in positions in the region for over 20 years. She serves as a member of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, Women in Networking, and the Society for Human Resource Management.

The purpose of the Office Administration club is to represent students in any curriculum program at the college with a strong interest in a career as an Administrative Professional. Most members are students in the Office Administration, Office Administration/Legal and Medical Office Administration programs. Advisors for the club are Tammy Ball, Sharon O’Geary and Christal Swilley.