Staff: Shannon McGinnis

Shannon McGinnis loves learning, talking to people about learning, and nurturing those connections as she works and learns at East Carolina University.

McGinnis is in her third year as an administrative support specialist for the School of Art and Design (SOAD), and also three classes into an English master’s degree, focused on multicultural and transnational literature. Her husband, Brandon Jones, also earned his master’s here and works for ECU as the academic advisor for nutrition science.

The two met during their undergraduate years at North Carolina Wesleyan University and still live near Rocky Mount. After working various jobs, they both wanted to pursue academic careers, and set their sights on ECU. Jones earned his master’s and found his position first.

“He came home with stories and said, ‘You would love it, too,’” she said. “I was seeing him so happy here; I wanted to work at ECU, too.”

Shannon McGinnis is the administrative support specialist for ECU’s School of Art and Design.

After applying for several positions on campus, she got a call from SOAD Director Kate Bukoski directly, inviting her to interview for her current role. McGinnis described the interview like a conversation.

“It felt like talking to friends,” she said. “I was just so happy to come here and it’s been great.”

After settling into her role on campus, McGinnis started her master’s, thinking about continuing her honors thesis from Wesleyan. Her mother, Lân McGinnis, is one of the “Vietnamese boat people” who escaped the country after the Vietnam War ended in 1975. She didn’t talk much about it during McGinnis’ childhood, and neither did many others who experienced it. McGinnis interviewed her mother and told that story.

“It was such a great project,” McGinnis said. “It was really emotional, I think, for both of us, but it was so good for both of us because that generation really didn’t talk a lot about what happened.

“Doing this project with her, I think, was really cathartic, and now she can talk about things so much more easily.”

Because McGinnis completed that project about 20 years ago, she thought about using her master’s work to pursue it further, expanding on her work and seeking additional stories like her mother’s. But she has taken classes in linguistics, and on a communication track, and might look at combining her interests and ideas in another way.

“I’m taking what I’m interested in,” she said. “I’m so appreciative of being able to do that because you don’t always get that opportunity. It’s exciting and it’s fun, and it’s just really great to explore all those things and have all those options.”

Working among artists and educators at the SOAD has expanded McGinnis’ options, too. She said she loves all of the art forms, but has a soft spot for pottery and ceramics, and she looks forward to the art sales throughout the year. One of her favorites was a vase she purchased from student artist Jinhua Yang ’25 that featured bleeding heart flowers.

“I was taking a creative writing class and wrote a short story called ‘Bleeding Heart,’” McGinnis said. “My mom always loved that, so I bought this vase and I gave it to my mom, and she really loves it.”

McGinnis also has made connections between her work faculty and master’s faculty. She took a zines class with Dr. Erin Clark in English, and introduced her to Lisa Beth Robinson, an SOAD professor and book artist, who is also interested in zines. Robinson showed McGinnis some zine folding techniques, which McGinnis then showed her classmates.

“I love talking to people about learning; a lot of the faculty love teaching and it’s just wonderful to be a part of that,” McGinnis said. “All of that is influencing my experience.

“I wish more people would see that in their college experience; all of it is important, all of it is an opportunity.”