Background

My name is Phillip Parker.  I am married to Ronda Parker.  We have two children, Austin and Ashley.  I grew up in Lancaster, South Carolina and attended the University of South Carolina Lancaster before transferring to the main Columbia campus to finish my undergraduate work.  I earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance in 1991.  After graduating, I started work at an insurance software solutions provider called Policy Management Systems Corporation (PMSC) in Blythewood, SC.  PMSC provided programming solutions and third part administration solutions for various insurance companies across the United States.  I began work in the underwriting area initially, before quickly transitioning to the accounting area.  I performed cost accounting and other duties before moving up to a financial analyst.  I was promoted to Lead Financial Analyst in December 1997.  I earned my Master of Accountancy degree from the University of South Carolina in 2001.  I was promoted to  manager in the Business Processing Outsourcing division around the same time.  I worked on budgeting, cost analysis, forecasting, and evaluation of acquisitions among other various duties.  I left PMSC in December 2002 and took a position with the South Carolina Retirement Systems as a Fiscal Manager performing various investment accounting duties for a couple of years.  While working at the Retirement System I was fortunate enough to take and pass all four parts of the Certified Public Accountant Exam (CPA) exam on my first try.  This was only accomplished by approximately 12% of the candidates taking the exam.  With this new credential I wanted to challenge myself more so I accepted a position with Blue Cross Blue Shield as Supervisor of Accounting and Finance.   Within three years I was promoted to Manager of Accounting and Financial Services for a division with over 200 million in annual revenues.  My team was responsible for the preparation of the annual financial reports, completing insurance premium tax returns for 40+ states, and for all other accounting functions related to the division I was assigned.  My duties also included establishing and maintaining strong internal control related to the accounting area.  While working at Blue Cross Blue Shield I began teaching part time at USC Lancaster around 2004.  I enjoyed it so much I left Blue Cross and began working full-time at the University of South Carolina Lancaster in August 2008 as a Business professor, teaching Accounting, Finance, and Insurance courses.  In January 2017 I earned the Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) credential after passing a strenuous exam and having the applicable background in fraud related work.  In July 2017 I accepted the Division Chair position for the BBCE division of USC Lancaster.  I am a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Fraud Examiner.