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Leading Lady
LEADING LADY Nan Metzger
As a teacher, world traveler, trained counselor and director of international studies, Nan Metzger draws on a variety of experiences and skills to enrich students’ academic journeys through study abroad programs. About one in five Mount Mary students study abroad, a number that continues to grow thanks to her positive attitude, extensive knowledge and ongoing support. This number is significantly higher than the national rate of 8-9% of undergraduate students who study abroad, according to the Open Doors Report. Metzger returned from Costa Rica in January, where she led a group of 16 students over the winter break that focused on environmental topics and sustainable practices. During this study abroad program, she cotaught a literature course that prompted students to apply their firsthand experiences and knowledge of environmental issues to the study of literature and nature writing. Of the Mount Mary students who study abroad, the vast majority—85%— do so on short-term, faculty-led programs like this one. Mount Mary’s most recent study abroad programs included this Costa Rica trip and another to Rome, Italy. Other students commit to spend longer amounts of time or choose alternate destinations and may choose to study or intern abroad over the summer or for a semester-length program. Metzger assists them in identifying programs that meet their academic and professional goals and fit their budgets. As the world deals with the urgent crisis caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19), Metzger is focused on ensuring the safety of students and alumnae, and is eager to support initiatives that broaden multicultural understanding. Study abroad can be an investment that pays a variety of dividends, essential skills that employers are looking for such as cultural sensitivity and awareness, problem solving and working as a team. “While studying abroad, I enhanced skills such as adaptability, resilience, networking, and how to navigate new experiences,” Shantae Chapman ‘14 said. Chapman studied abroad in Rome and Costa Rica while at Mount Mary. As a student, she managed a Starbucks Cafe. During her Costa Rica experience, she visited one of the suppliers of Starbucks coffee. After graduation, she moved to Seattle to become a senior operations analyst at the Starbucks headquarters. “My study abroad experience contributed significantly in securing that position,” she said. Metzger frequently hosts workshops on scholarships and opportunities and works one-on-one with students to find and apply for funding and programs. Since finances often determine whether or not someone can study abroad, she does her best to help students find affordable options. Since 2012, a total of 22 Mount Mary students have been recipients of the prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, receiving $82,000 to date. The Gilman Scholarship helps students, particularly first-generation college students and students from underrepresented populations, to study abroad. “Students often come back and say to future participants, ‘find a way; don’t let anything hold you back,’” she said. And thanks to Metzger’s service for the past decade, students are able to overcome those barriers and find a way to make study abroad possible.
MAKING MILWAUKEE READY TO WORK
New campus initiatives align with regional efforts to increase college graduation rates
Part 1 of 2 Plugging the leaks in Milwaukee’s talent pipeline is an effort being waged across the region, and Mount Mary is engaging in community initiatives and developing strategies within the institution to support more students. In fall, Mount Mary and 17 other public and private universities, along with a network of private industries and foundations, announced a new Higher Education Regional Alliance (HERA). The group pledges to be responsive to the future needs of the region’s industries and create strategies that ensure success for all students. This story, the first of a two-part series, focuses upon Mount Mary’s Momentum Year, and other initiatives designed to support HERA’s first goal, to increase college completion.
Building Milwaukee’s talent The problem that begins with a low rate of college completion extends into the workplace. For example, 75% of the members of the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce reported being unable to attract and retain talented employees, particularly employers in the seven-county metro Milwaukee region known as M7. The HERA group has set about leveraging the resources and coordinating the efforts of all the two- and four-year institutions in the region. Together, these institutions hold 150,000 students who could funnel into Milwaukee’s talent pipeline. This regional initiative has generated national support. Complete College America, a group that advocates
HERA Higher Education Regional Alliance
educating students to become an innovative and nimble workforce that meets the needs of the region’s industries
Mount Mary’s Momentum Year
increase college completion
for institutional change to address barriers to college completion, has identified HERA as one of three most promising initiatives in the nation and is supporting HERA with training and other measures of support. As this issue is addressed regionally, Mount Mary administrators and faculty are launching new strategies within the institution for streamlining the pathways that support the student journey. “We have focused by creating a structure around practices that best support our students, and that connect to our region’s larger focus of building a workforce that is educationally equipped to meet the needs of the future,” said Mount Mary President Christine Pharr, Ph.D. Pharr is also an active member of the HERA regional leadership team.
Understanding the difference between full-time and on-time
Over the past 20 years, an estimated 31 million individuals in the U.S. have enrolled in college but have left without obtaining their degree. Part of the problem in degree attainment involves a misperception about the amount of time it can take to complete the degree, along with strategies to sequence it correctly. Initiatives such as the Momentum Year, which Mount Mary has adapted, aim to address this disconnect: • According to federal financial aid guidelines, a credit load of as few as 12 credits per semester is considered full-time. • At 12 credit hours per semester, a student would need 10 semesters, or five years, to graduate. • The cost of extra time for one year (including cost for attendance, lost wages benefits and lost time for compounding interest) equals $155,000. • If a student spends two extra years, the cost rises to $298,000. • Students need 30 credits per year to complete college on time. Studies show that if students take 30 credits or more, their likelihood of graduation increases 5 percent over those students taking fewer credits. • This spring, Mount Mary is reducing the number of elective credits necessary for a four-year degree from 128 to 120, making the goal of graduation even more attainable.
Increasing college completion Mount Mary has a goal of increasing the rate of college completion by assessing practices already in place and developing the Momentum Year initiative, a framework that connects strategies of support. Giving students a solid sense of academic direction helps them start strong, and the Momentum Year provides students with specific deliverables. These practices include proactive academic advising, electronic four-year academic planning, a courseload of 30 credits per year, the completion of gateway math and English classes, and early academic and social support. To successfully complete college, Mount Mary students have long benefitted from academic and social support from their first days on campus, particularly through programs such as Grace Scholars and the Promise Program, and the retention and completion figures for these programs reflect the success of these practices. Students who were not being served by the Promise and Grace programs who needed developmental education were not faring as well, said Vice President for Academic Affairs Karen Friedlen. But, as of October 2018, Mount Mary has received Title III funding, which has extending the same types of support services provided to Grace and Promise students to an additional 179 students, or 27 percent of the student population. Mount Mary has recently been recognized for this success. In U.S. News and World Report’s 2020 Best Colleges report, Mount Mary was the top-rated private institution in Wisconsin and #33 among colleges in the Midwest for social mobility. Social mobility, a new ranking for U.S. News and World Report, measures how well schools graduated students who received federal Pell Grants (those typically coming from households whose family incomes are less than $50,000 annually). Launching the Momentum Year Moving forward, the Momentum Year will extend these measures of support to all students. Building early momentum will enable students to meet key first-year benchmarks. While our Grace, Promise and Title III programs provide support to groups of students, the new Momentum Year connects with a host of new initiatives that support students campus-wide. An interesting facet of the Momentum Year will be encouraging undecided students to declare a “meta major,” a category of interest (see sidebar) so they can start taking classes that will count toward their major as early as possible. We have focused on creating a structure around practices that best support our students, and that connect to our region’s larger focus of building a workforce that is educationally equipped to meet the needs of the future. Mount Mary President Christine Pharr, Ph.D.
Bundling these strategies together will create a process for what Mount Mary does best, said Vice President for Student Affairs Sarah Olejniczak. “As an institution, Mount Mary excels at being responsive to a variety of student circumstances,” Olejniczak said. “This deep level of support from Complete College America allows us to implement strategies in the way we do best – through student-centered, equity-based design.” This fall, in a move designed to support efforts toward college completion, Mount Mary’s Faculty Assembly voted to reduce the number of credits needed to graduate from 128 to 120. This puts Mount Mary in greater alignment with institutions in the area, making it easier to transfer here. UW institutions require 120 credits to graduate, and tech colleges require 60 credits. Half of the 24 members of the WAICU college consortium require 120 credits as well. This does not represent a decrease in the quality of education since the general education core, the foundation of our majors, has not been changed. This credit reduction will not affect the price of college for students, as full-time tuition (which can be anywhere from 12 to 18 credits) is fixed per semester. “Our SSND mission calls us to build equity through education,” said Vice President for Mission and Identity S. Joan Penzenstadler. “Even in our efforts to channel students into our region’s talent pipeline, we are carrying forward their legacy, and ensuring a better future.” Coming in Part 2: HERA’s other two goals for the metro Milwaukee region involve aligning educational programs with the needs of a rapidly changing economy; and building a talent bridge between colleges, universities and regional employers. In the next issue, read how Mount Mary is ensuring that student skills meet employer needs.
The Momentum Year at a Glance
Mount Mary’s Momentum Year is a framework that brings together a network of student success strategies for a strong start, with the overall goal of timely college completion: ACADEMIC SUPPORT: • Establish learning communities with strong peer support, such as the Compass Program for undecided students. • Implement early alert intervention and proactive outreach to students. META MAJOR PATHWAYS: • Ask undecided students to identify a general field of study (natural and health sciences; education; humanities and social sciences; art and design; and business) to ensure their classes count toward their appropriate major MATH AND ENGLISH REQUIREMENTS: • Ensure students are taking math and English classes in their first year that are relevant to their major. • Structure co-requisite support, which enables students to take developmental classes alongside their college-level classes. All of these classes are credit-generating and count toward graduation. SOCIAL SUPPORT: • Increase community partnerships and access to resources. • Offer emergency aid to reduce the financial impact of unexpected barriers. ADVISING AND ACADEMIC MAPPING: • Counsel students to take 30 credits per year in the form of semester-long classes, summer classes and winter break classes in January known as “J-Term.” • Create four-year plans for every program of study to guide students through their four-year journey.
