Profile -- Videria Tarver
By BILL BENGTSON
Education is truly a family affair for Videria Tarver, with the past few months having been stuffed with major forward steps for her and her children alike.
She's normally hip-deep in local school business, as a member of the Aiken County Area 2 Advisory Council, but her involvement went deeper over the past couple of years, as she has earned an Internet-based degree and begun the steps to earn another. Her first degree, by the traditional route, was from USC Aiken. She earned an associate degree in nursing, and then successfully pursued a long-distance bachelor's degree in the same field, by way of Excelsior College, in Albany, N.Y. Her master's degree, also in nursing, is to be from Grand Canyon University, in Phoenix. Her target is for completion in 2010.
"It's a lot of work, but I feel like it will pay off in the end," she said, confirming that her family, church, school and advisory-board roles tend to keep her on the run.
A North Augusta native, she works as a nurse auditor for University Hospital. "What we actually do is work with hospital reimbursement, addressing concerns with customers about their claims," she explained. "If they have a question -- 'My bill's too high," or 'My bill's too low' -- then we generally answer those questions. The majority of my time is spent filing appeals to insurance companies for denied payments."
She added, "My favorite aspect of the job is research. I love research, and often we have to research disease or ... why the claim was denied. For me, it's the challenge of trying to find a simple answer to ... why we should be paid."
She and her husband, Freddie, had their family pass several milestones in May. The mother of the house completed her work toward her bachelor's degree. Their daughter, Charity, crossed the finish line at North Augusta High School, with the last few weeks of her senior year having included at least one exceptionally busy stretch, with the senior prom and her cotillion ball having been held on the same evening. She attended both, stayed in gear and is now moving ahead at USC Aiken, majoring in biology.
Also during May, their son, Stephen, completed his classes at USC Aiken, nailing down a bachelor's degree in sociology, with a concentration in science. He is currently assessing his options for graduate school.
Education is probably on the long-term horizon for the mother of the house, according to her own assessment. "I want to be able to teach some day. It could be at the high-school level, the collegiate level or it could be in a hospital setting. I'd love to teach reimbursement methodology -- that's what it's called -- or research ...
"I'd love to teach people how to take better care of themselves. Wellness -- just how to sustain your health. Even if you're ill, you can always do something to better your health. I'm not a physician, but I do love researching an answer."
Her husband is also engaged in helping others to assess their options. His volunteer roles include service as a minister at Old Storm Branch Baptist Church, and specifically as a volunteer at the Lower Savannah Pre-Release Center, a minimum-security prison in Aiken. Professionally, he is a water operator for Beech Island, with duties ranging from reading meters to handling water treatment ("We just do everything"). On the family level, he is "a rock of support," in his wife's words.
When asked about her role on the local advisory council, she estimated her service as dating back 12 years. "I feel ancient because I think I'm the only one on the board who doesn't have children in the Aiken County system," she said, noting that she does, however, have nieces and nephews currently in the local K-12 arena.
Tarver visits schools and stays in touch with teachers and other contacts, in an effort to help out and help provide "the right community to raise children," she said.
"I do have a passion for education. I love education. I love learning, and hopefully I can instill some of the passion in younger people, because a lot of them ... just don't have the desire and the drive to study ... and get through school. Otherwise, they're going to be stuck at the bottom of the job ladder or have no job at all."
