Higher Education in Fond du Lac w/ Marian University President, Michelle Majewski

Introduction

Adam: This WiLL Cast was with
President Majeski of Marian University. Becca, what’d you think?

Becca: She is a very refreshing
personality. Such positive energy, really upbeat, just really fun to have at
the WiLL Cast table. She’s done a lot of stuff — she was a clinical
psychologist, now she’s running a university here in Fond du Lac. We were
honored to be part of an awards banquet they had a few months ago, and their
staff and their students — the overall vibe was really good.

Adam: I was thoroughly impressed. The
Business and Industry Awards dinner was a really well-done event, very
uplifting. Shined a really positive light on both the Fond du Lac and Wisconsin
business community. We got to meet a lot of people I didn’t know from the Fond
du Lac community.

Becca: Her perspective on four-year
universities is something we talk about a lot here — that versus the tech
education system. She seems to be moving Marian in the right direction with
different programs and initiatives. They’re holding to their core values as a
private university and also branching into things that are quite relevant in
our industry — construction management and project management as part of their
business program. They seem like they’re listening to area employers,
especially those of us in or close to construction.

Adam: Another thing that ties back to
Wisconsin Lighting Lab is Marian University has a very big sports program. They
have some really neat fields on campus, and hopefully someday we’ll get to
light up one of the fields.

Alaska, California & Wisconsin

Michelle: So you’ve been to Alaska
twice?

Adam: We did a project at the
University of Alaska Anchorage five or six years ago. We went there in January
for work. You get a lot of credibility when you go to Alaska in January — dark
20 hours a day and cold. The funny thing was it was about 50 degrees every
single day. In Wisconsin, it was negative 10.

Michelle: Did you grow up in the
Midwest?

Adam: I’m originally from California —
Santa Rosa. But I’ve lived here a long time, so I’m Wisconsin-hardy.

The Business & Industry Awards Dinner

Adam: You were through here a few
months ago, we gave you a tour, and then you were nice enough to have us as
part of your event. Becca and I were just talking — that was an exceptional
event. From the food to the overall vibe, the companies that were part of it,
your staff. A lot of compliments from people who were there.

Michelle: Thank you. We have a very
good team at Marian that puts that whole event into play. It’s one of my
favorites. I love going to commencement, I love the first day when students are
on campus, but the BNI dinner is really an opportunity for Marian to recognize
the contributions of so many companies and nonprofits in this area. That
event’s been going on for a few decades. The students were the wait staff —
student ambassadors. We actually have professional staff who do the food.

Adam: It was very quiet on our table,
which never happens, but it was because we were eating. The food was
phenomenal.

Construction Management Program

Adam: You’d mentioned that you guys
have a new program in construction management. Where is that need being driven
from?

Michelle: When I stepped into this
role about two and a half years ago, one of the things I did was talk to the
trustees and some of the business CEOs in the area and really consider the need
to do an assessment in the Fond du Lac region as to what kinds of current
educational needs employers have and what they see down the road. Some of the
feedback I got was specifically in regard to construction management. I found
that pretty exciting because my family was in construction. My father was a
cement contractor, my grandfather was a cement contractor. My brother just sold
his company in California, in Claremont.

Michelle: When I heard about the need
for construction management, I thought this is really an opportunity for
Marian. One of the things we have to do is identify new programs that have high
market demand and meet the needs of employers in the region. We put together an
advisory board with folks from the construction field, brought in the major
companies in this area, garnered their advice and input, and then created the
program.

Michelle: Right now we’re at the stage
of sending in the paperwork for accreditation by the Higher Learning
Commission. We have the courses developed. Last week we interviewed candidates
to take over the program, to be in charge of construction management. We already
have the minor going, but this would add a major. Sometimes construction
management is affiliated with an engineering program, like at Platteville. We
don’t have engineering, and engineering would be a very expensive, expansive
program to start. Marian made a decision some years ago not to go the
engineering route. This program is affiliated with our business offerings, so
it’s focused more on the business side — estimating, equipment, contracts —
rather than the engineering aspects.

Adam: I can tell you, just from our
own experience and knowing Keller and C.D. Smith and some of the other
contractors in the area, I think that’s going to be extremely well received.
One of the things we talk about as part of our mission at Wisconsin Lighting
Lab is to help inspire more people into building and manufacturing and
engineering. They’re all kind of related. For many decades, we kind of took for
granted how important that stuff was. There’s been such an exit from that in
recent decades. It’s awesome to see four-year institutions investing in it.

Applied Liberal Arts & Power Skills

Michelle: What Marian brings to the
table is we’re an applied liberal arts institution. All of our students go
through courses that are part of what we call our gen ed core, that teaches
problem solving, critical thinking, effective communication, how to work as part
of a team, how to lead a team. Those are sometimes referred to as soft skills.
I see them really as power skills. I think it’s a misnomer to call them soft
skills. They’re important skills, power skills. Students who go through a
program with the applied liberal arts — I think that sets students apart.

Michelle: The other piece — we’re a
Catholic institution, and we’re very focused and very proud of that. We are the
only Agnesian university in the world, sponsored by the Congregation of Sisters
of Saint Agnes. They founded us in 1936. The applied liberal arts education is
what sets us apart from a technical school education.

Michelle: We’re relatively small. I
don’t have any large classrooms at Marian. There’s no room with 200–300
students. The ratio of faculty to students is about one to twelve. We have
plenty of classes, especially upper-level courses, that are smaller. Students
get a lot of personalized attention. It is our responsibility to make sure the
students who come to us get the best academic experience possible and also the
best co-curricular experience — everything that happens outside the classroom.
That includes athletics, which is huge at Marian, but also all the leadership
things we do. We really do try to live our core values and make sure our
students embrace those as well.

Athletics: 26 Sports, 50% of Students

Adam: You mentioned athletics being
big at Marian. You guys have a lot of sports fields. Do any of them need new
lights?

Michelle: Over 50% of our students are
athletes. 26 teams right now, 26 sports. We bring in quite a large number of
Canadian males. Our newest team this year was women’s field hockey. We have
four young women from the Netherlands who came to Marian and play field hockey
— for their first year, they did very well. Last year we won the conference
championship for men’s basketball. Baseball’s pretty big as well. We have
phenomenal coaches. Our athletic director Tony Draves really does an astounding
job.

Michelle’s Background: Psychology to University President

Adam: Your background from an academic
standpoint was psychology?

Michelle: I went to UW–Oshkosh, then
Marquette University, and then I earned my doctoral degree at Adler University
in Chicago.

Adam: Why’d you want to get into
psychology?

Michelle: It’s just intriguing.
Understanding cognition, emotional development — people talk about various
areas being rocket science. It is human behavior and cognition which is
complicated. My first course in psych, I was pretty much hooked. I was in
private practice in West Bend for 15 years, doing clinical work. I kind of miss
that sometimes, but in higher education, there’s some counseling to be done.

Michelle: It is such a phenomenal area
right now. It’s a difficult time because of what’s happening in higher
education. The competition for recruiting students is — I would say guerrilla
warfare in some senses. But it is such a great privilege to lead an institution
at this time, and to have amazing colleagues. Marian is especially fortunate
because we have a Board of Trustees that really cares about the institution,
the students, and the employees. They’re very supportive. Not all schools have
that.

The Future of Higher Education

Adam: Where do you see things going
over the next decade — not necessarily just for Marian, but higher education in
general?

Michelle: Generally speaking, those
schools that can differentiate themselves and that have a strong value
proposition coupled with a strong endowment — that endowment piece is
important. Smaller institutions frequently don’t have a large endowment, and
Marian does not.

Adam: For those who may not know, what
exactly is an endowment?

Michelle: They are gifts to the
university. Sometimes they’re specified for particular areas — student
scholarships, for example. Sometimes they can be set aside for new buildings or
for operational things. Some schools have endowments of 100 million, 200
million, or in some cases in the billions. Small schools like Marian have much
more modest endowments, which means we’re able to draw down less in the way of
scholarships and operational backfilling than schools who have huge amounts of
money.

Leadership Lessons

Adam: As you think about being in a
leadership position, what are some of the most important leadership lessons
you’ve learned?

Michelle: Listening is number one.
There’s a reason we have two ears and one mouth. Sometimes that’s harder to do,
because it takes a lot of time to listen and evaluate information. I think it’s
also important to have a vision. You can’t just listen — you have to be able to
make decisions. You also have to be willing to acknowledge that we all make
mistakes. Being humble, being transparent — that transparency piece is huge.
Nobody wants to be surprised. And trust — building trust over a long period of
time. Sharing ideas. How do we stay true to our mission as a Catholic, private
liberal arts institution? Every decision at Marian needs to be based on how
does this best serve our students. We try to come back to that, whether it’s a
financial decision or some other decision.

Michelle: I wish I had all the answers
to effective leadership. It really is challenging yourself, reflecting on what
you’ve done, thinking about what you can do better, and recognizing that I’m
there to serve the faculty, the staff, the students, our alums, and the Fond du
Lac community. It’s all tied together. And it’s important to have a good team.
I have a very, very good team. The vice presidents are phenomenal.

Adam: And you have to have a sense of
humor.

Michelle: You really do. Especially
the past two and a half years with the pandemic — trying to find a sense of
humor in a pandemic is a little tricky.

Marian & the Fond du Lac Community

Becca: I’ve always been curious —
going to Marquette, a huge part of what they sold was the downtown Milwaukee
experience. How much of Marian is the fact it’s in Fond du Lac, and how are the
changes and revitalization of the community impacting or benefiting Marian?

Michelle: In multiple ways. Certainly
the addition of Thelma to our community was hugely important. We’ve had various
events there — poetry readings, musical things. Some of our faculty have
participated in art exhibits. With our Center for Health Professions located in
downtown Fond du Lac, we are part of the downtown community. As Fond du Lac
continues to make changes and there’s growth in the downtown area, I think it
benefits everybody, including Marian University, because our students go
downtown. Anytime there’s an improvement, it impacts our ability to attract and
retain students, but it’s also important for our employees. Sometimes when we
interview folks, they say, well, what does Fond du Lac have to offer? We really
try to talk about the Fond du Lac community, and it’s important for them to be
part of it — serving on a board, engaging in community service. We all have a
responsibility to support Fond du Lac and make sure it’s a thriving, robust
community.

What’s Ahead: Football, Nursing & New Programs

Adam: What’s exciting about 2023? What
are you looking forward to?

Michelle: I’m looking forward to
putting the pandemic behind us. We have some exciting things happening. We have
two ad hoc committees comprised of trustees, faculty, staff, and student
representation. One is looking at the possibility of bringing on a football team.
I want to make it clear, there’s no promises we’re going down that route — it’s
simply exploration. But we are looking at it. We’re also looking at our
gymnasium — the gym floor is in good shape, but the locker rooms are original
equipment and our concession stand consists of a card table on which we sell
snacks. I think they could use a little upgrade. And we’re looking at how we
can more fully incorporate wellness for our faculty, staff, and students.

Michelle: On the academic side,
nursing and health sciences is one of our focus areas. The demand continues to
be very strong. Also our business programs, and the third is teacher education,
because that’s what we were founded on. Another committee is looking at what we
need in the way of a facility for nursing. We moved downtown in 2015 — it’s a
great building, but some of our students are international and don’t have a
vehicle, so getting back and forth to the downtown campus is difficult.

Michelle: We’re looking at bringing on
three new health science programs next year and in 2024: medical lab scientist,
which is an undergraduate program; pathology assistant, which is a master’s
program — there are only 12 programs in North America; and histology. We’re
also adding construction management and insurance and risk management. Our
science building is phenomenal — state of the art, redone with an addition in
2018. But some of our other buildings are a little older, so it’s time to look
at what we need to improve.

How New Programs Get Built

Adam: When you start a new program,
where does that knowledge base come from?

Michelle: It involves multiple areas
coming together. First, what’s the market demand? The margin for error in terms
of adding programs, especially big, expensive programs — you want to use your
dollars wisely. We gather data first. Before we started construction management,
we had a company called Hanover Research gather data for this region, for the
Midwest, and for the United States, just to see what the demand is like. Then I
really like to form advisory boards, bring in individuals who are experts in the
field, and get their input. They know what’s needed in the way of curriculum,
what graduates should be able to do, and what they should know when they
graduate.

Michelle: We also work with
specialized accrediting bodies. Teacher education has the Wisconsin Department
of Public Instruction. Nursing has a national group. The same is true for
social work and for construction management. Our overall accrediting body is
the Higher Learning Commission. And we try to hire really competent program
directors, because they guide the program and help hire faculty. Faculty report
to the program directors.

Michelle: The beauty of a small,
private liberal arts institution is we have fewer layers than a state school or
the technical schools. We can be much more nimble, which is a good thing.

Adam: The more you talk about it, it’s
interesting how much it sounds like it runs like a business. We have different
departments here, different directors who manage LED production versus pole
production versus marketing. The principles are the same across the board.

Michelle: The difference is we are a
nonprofit organization, but we’re still a business. The cash flows and all of
that still apply.

Closing

Adam: Thank you so much for coming in.
This was very enjoyable. It’s been great getting to know you guys a little bit
more. If there’s anything we can do to help — a lot of the sports lighting
related stuff we do in the area usually comes from a spot of supporting and
helping. We’ve done a few fields in Lakeside Park, we did the Fondy Soccer
Complex and donated a bunch of materials for that. We try and support our
community locally and then take that knowledge and market it across the
country. If there’s anything we can do to help, we’re here.

Michelle: Thank you so much. I really
appreciate that. And if you’re going to have a sale anytime soon, let me know.

Adam: It is the end of the year. I
could put you in touch with a salesperson.

Michelle: Thank you so much.

Adam: We’ll talk soon.