Alumni Magazine 2001-2002 UNIVERSITYOFMICHIGAN - Rackham ...

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S T U D E N T P R O F I L E S 10 Advocating “Education means a tremendous amount to me in terms of who gets access to it, who’s able to stay in the academy, and what they have to do to stay.” Heather Wathington is one of those rare individuals in whom the practical and the idealistic coexist comfortably, even complementarily. Her idealism undergirds her work as a doctoral student in the School of Education and a graduate research assistant for the Kellogg Forum on Higher Education for the Public Good, an initiative of the Kellogg Foundation that promotes the non-monetary benefits of higher education. Her pragmatism recognizes that even an initiative such as this one depends on, well, money. After graduating from Wellesley College, Wathington earned a master’s in higher education policy and administration from the University of Pennsylvania. To finance her studies at Penn, she spent two years as a legal assistant in a law firm and three as a legal analyst for Prudential Insurance. She had, in fact, long planned to go to law school, but “after three days as a paralegal, I hated it,” she says. “All the talk was about dollars.” While juggling both her course work and her corporate work, Wathington embarked on some enlightening volunteer work. She helped direct, and developed the curriculum for a program called College for Kids that introduced underserved Photo by Bill Wood second through sixth graders in Philadelphia to the college experience. “I was really introduced to the idea of what philanthropy could do,” she says. “It’s a lot of work for the people who are trying to get the money.” Wathington’s research interests are access and equity, and diversity and student learning outcomes. “Education means a tremendous amount to me in terms of who gets access to it, who’s able to stay in the academy, and what they have to do to stay.” Michigan’s doctoral program in higher education administration has afforded Wathington the opportunity to pursue her interests in both research and philanthropy. “When I applied here, I said my primary concern was looking at students’ access to higher education,” she says. “Then I worked on research projects and they’re dependent, of course, on grants, and I became interested in the dance between the faculty member and the funding agency.” She and one of her professors, also a novice fund-raiser, learned how to write grants together, and then Wathington joined the Kellogg Forum. The fit has been a comfortable one. “They really, really believe in higher education for the public good,” she says. for Access Wathington has found her life’s work in using her unique range of skills to keep the public good within academe’s field of vision. “It’s been a real passion of mine to get a job in a foundation and see what it’s all about,” Wathington says. “I hope some of the things the foundation thinks are important will be what I think are important, too.” Her sense of what’s important, of what the public good encompasses, is as broad as her background: “How do we change institutions to be caring places that are really committed to these missions that they proclaim How do we get people to be concerned about their neighbors How do we develop leaders with moral compasses How do we teach a love and appreciation for the arts What do these institutions owe — because they do — to the communities they abide in and the people who live there And how do they meet the needs of those communities That’s what higher education is supposed to be about; we’re supposed to be about making it better.” ■
Workforce Wizard Photo by Peter Pagnotta “M y interest in community involvement really began in the management training program I attended when I first joined Western Electric (now Lucent Technologies),” says Ted Tyler, who earned his master’s degree in Public Administration from <strong>Rackham</strong> in 1958. “The company introduced us to things outside of business, and encouraged us to get involved in social issues. It was 1967. We worked with John Lindsay, the Mayor of New York City at that time and others to establish a successful program in the community that became known as the Workshop in Business Opportunities. Out of that experience, I developed a real interest in educational equality and economic opportunity for all.” As Tyler’s career led him to different cities across the country he continued to volunteer as Vice Chair of the United Fund Drive in San Francisco, Board of Directors of the Columbus Symphony, and Chair of the United Negro College Fund Drive in Allentown, Pennsylvania. By the time he and his wife Mary moved to Scottsdale, Arizona in 1998, he had retired, but had not lost his passion for volunteerism. He knew in his heart that a laid-back lifestyle just wasn’t for him. A chance meeting with former Mayor Sam Campana eventually led to Tyler taking charge of a local workforce development effort. Mayor Campana arranged for him to meet Phil Carlson, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Scottsdale Area Chamber. The Chamber had just completed a survey indicating major concern about employers’ ability to attract and retain a capable workforce. Carlson recruited Tyler to head up the workforce development initiatives in Scottsdale. Tyler recruited a Task Force team to help define the scope of the issues, and develop a plan to help. The three components of their plan include: an internship program that brings educators and employers together to strategize improvement in workplace skills, a program to improve the customer service skills of entry level workers, and an effort to connect older workers interested in re-entering the workplace with suitable employers. “I have a responsibility of making sure our members, especially those in the private sector, are familiar with all available career programs in our community. We have a One-Stop Career Center, and the Employer Incentive Program that provides training dollars to private sector employers to hire low income people over age 55. At our next meeting we are including a presentation from Scottsdale Youth Services to discuss programs already in place to assist youths, including those at high risk, to establish career paths and find jobs. I am also inviting the Director of Workforce Development from our community college to discuss how we can help qualified people who are interested in changing careers become certified as K-12 teachers. We have a critical teacher shortage here in Arizona.” “This is a labor of love,” Tyler said. “I’ve gotten so immersed in this project, and each day I more fully realize the huge potential of what we are working on, and how important it will be to the community.” ■ “This is a labor of love … I’ve gotten so immersed in this project, and each day I more fully realize the huge potential of what we are working on, and how important it will be to the community.” A L U M N I P R O F I L E S 11
Page 1 and 2: Alumni Magazine 2001-2002 U n i v e
Page 3 and 4: From the Dean Welcome to the third
Page 5 and 6: always been interested in numbers t
Page 7 and 8: linguistics” sounds like some arc
Page 9 and 10: Photo by Sheila Ryan One of Milton
Page 11: Service with a SmilePhoto “The co
Page 15 and 16: Remember Michigan. Live Forever. In

Alumni Magazine 2001-2002 UNIVERSITYOFMICHIGAN - Rackham ...

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