EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was originally published in the August issue of GCU Magazine, available in the purple bins across campus or digitally.
The first phone call is what so many remember.
On one end is a prospective college student, on the other a university counselor such as Sinead Holmgren.
“Almost everyone starts out uncertain,” Holmgren said, “worried they will fail and wondering if they have what it takes to stick with it.”
Holmgren and hundreds of other university counselors will soothe their fears and try to help often older students leap into furthering their education online at Grand Canyon University.
“That’s the greatest part of the job, helping people overcome those obstacles and then staying with them throughout the process when they are toiling, going through their down times and their up times, and, in the end, seeing them accomplish it,” said Holmgren, in her 12th year as a UC. “You get to call them later and say, ‘I remember when you were starting and you were so nervous, and you didn’t have self-belief, and look at you now!’”
The UCs become touchstones for students and figuratively walk them to their online classrooms, said Dr. Britt Chandler, vice president of operations, who oversees university counselors.
UCs are the front line for students inquiring about GCU, calling them to uncover the purpose for furthering their education, while also telling them when it’s not a good fit.
“Obviously, a stranger is calling you and asking you a lot of personal questions. In this day and age, we are all trained to put up that roadblock and ask, ‘Are they trying to steal my identity?’ So they have to build a rapport with the student with questions and get them to relax,” Chandler said.
That initial rapport-building often opens a floodgate of life stories. Holmgren said many are old enough to remember their failures and disappointments.
She often shares her own story – how she went back to school as an older learner.
“You are not the same person you were 10 years ago. We all grow, we all change,” Holmgren said. “Then the concerns are also less about how they are going to pass, but how they will fit in the time with a job and three kids playing sports.”
That’s where GCU’s flexibility comes in, as students work with UCs, faculty and student services counselors to find a way over obstacles like finances, course struggles or family issues.
“Call me,” Holmgren tells them, “that’s what I’m here for.”
Often, coursework obstacles are overcome by working with faculty. Holmgren remembers a student who had a death in the family and couldn’t finish her assignments. She called the student and said, “Please do this, salvage your grade. She made it up and got a C and is moving on with the program. If she had failed, it would be ‘here is another failure.’ But that student is so grateful to GCU for letting her get on track.”
College of Education professor Kimber Underdown said Holmgren is always there for students but never dismisses faculty concerns. “We once chatted for 45 minutes on the phone about the best plan of action for a student,” she said.
Holmgren says, “At certain points in life, you feel like you missed the bus, and there is no way you will ever realize your goals or your dream job. We definitely, definitely help people with that. To see those students realize their goals, it’s very impactful for me.”
What it comes down to, added Chaz Smith, a 21-year UC veteran, is helping students by carefully listening about why they want, for example, to become a special education teacher.
“Then as we go through the steps and they get frustrated, we can go back to those original conversations about why they wanted to a be a teacher,” he said. Often, they seek out their UCs at commencement, or credit them at completion. Last spring, graduate Dennis Owusu described how he was homeless with two kids, filing his assignments from a car. He said his UC, Melanie Mozey, was there to pray with him and encourage him.
Others even travel far to campus to give them a hug, like Phiona Alinda Hall did a day before last spring’s commencement. After a life of struggle as an orphan in Uganda and an immigrant to the U.S., she wanted to thank Emily Wadsworth, her student services counselor.
“It was one of the sweetest student interactions, and I am so proud of her,” Wadsworth said. “Meeting students in person, for me, helps me remember why I do this job.”
It’s not always easy to hold students accountable.
“It can be uncomfortable and a tough conversation, but at the end of the day, if I am not relating this to the student, who is?” said UC Dominique Metoyer of discussions to get them back on track.
“The most special part is we get to be there from beginning to end with students. I’ve never heard of a college doing that. I certainly didn’t have that in my bachelor’s. … But that’s what makes us so unique.”
Many times, it just comes back to that first call.
“They tell you everything. They tell you what they are afraid of. They tell you what pains them,” said UC Lynne Guidos.
She remembers the day Michael Reed inquired about taking courses at GCU. Seven years ago, he lost his wife and two daughters to a Tennessee wildfire and had struggled mightily. She told him that when she lost her mom, her marriage and her job, starting a master’s degree was a respite.
“We both commented that it was fate how we met that morning. He felt it was needed to start climbing out of that hole,” said Guidos, who has stayed in touch with Reed, working toward a bachelor’s in behavioral health sciences.
“The student is the guiding force in everything I do,” Guidos said. “Listening is a huge part of that.”
Sometimes it’s in the voice, the trepidation that she tries to help them overcome to seek an education. She goes back to that first phone call and thinks about everything that’s happened since then in that student’s journey.
“I’ve had a long and varied career and used to make a lot more money, but I never, at the end of the day, could say I felt like I did something real valuable. Now each day I feel good about what I did.”
***
Related content:
GCU Magazine: GCU's greatest currency is how it builds an economy by building community
GCU Magazine: All the world's a stage for theatre grad at Epic Universe
GCU Magazine: Tech team keyed in to build a hackable network to train GCU cyber students
