WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:02.502  (female announcer)    Production funding for    Behind the Headlines 00:02.502 --> 00:04.571  is made possible in part by.. 00:04.571 --> 00:10.110  (male narrator)   A2H: Engineers, architects,   and planners creating 00:10.110 --> 00:13.981  an enhanced quality of life for   their clients and our community. 00:13.981 --> 00:17.985  More about A2H's services and   markets is at A2H.com 00:27.561 --> 00:30.597 - The new president of LeMoyne-Owen College tonight 00:30.597 --> 00:31.965 on Behind the Headlines. 00:31.965 --> 00:48.181 [theme music] 00:48.181 --> 00:50.250 I'm Eric Barnes, publisher of the Memphis Daily News. 00:50.250 --> 00:51.485 Thanks for joining us. 00:51.485 --> 00:53.954 I am joined tonight by Dr. Andrea Lewis Miller, 00:53.954 --> 00:55.956  new president of   LeMoyne-Owen College. 00:55.956 --> 00:56.957  Thanks for being here. 00:56.957 --> 00:57.958 - Thank you for having me. 00:57.958 --> 00:58.959 It's a pleasure. 00:58.959 --> 00:59.960  (Eric)    Absolutely. 00:59.960 --> 01:02.362  And Bill Dries, senior reporter   with the Memphis Daily News. 01:02.362 --> 01:05.232 So, you've been in the job two months. 01:05.232 --> 01:06.233 You are a Memphian. 01:06.233 --> 01:07.234 We'll get to your background. 01:07.234 --> 01:09.269 But returning now to the school. 01:09.269 --> 01:11.271 I should note great significance. 01:11.271 --> 01:12.639 The first female president. 01:12.639 --> 01:16.577 Tell me something I don't know or the people of Memphis don't 01:16.577 --> 01:20.914 know about LeMoyne-Owen College that they should know. 01:20.914 --> 01:26.453 - What they probably don't know is that the college has a long 01:26.453 --> 01:31.091 history of really working with students who probably would not 01:31.091 --> 01:34.995 otherwise do well at some of the other colleges that are here. 01:34.995 --> 01:38.899 And we do a lot of nurturing and we bring students. 01:38.899 --> 01:41.568 We take them from where they are and produce really great 01:41.568 --> 01:43.236 graduates to do well. 01:43.236 --> 01:47.307 - And has that always been the mission or is that a mission 01:47.307 --> 01:48.976 that's evolved over time? 01:48.976 --> 01:52.546 - No, that's a mission that has evolved over time. 01:52.546 --> 01:59.920 The college started out really providing teachers 01:59.920 --> 02:01.722 for Memphis City Schools. 02:01.722 --> 02:08.228 It was long standing history of providing teachers. 02:08.228 --> 02:10.230 - About a thousand students give or take. 02:10.230 --> 02:11.431 - About a thousand, mhm. 02:11.431 --> 02:13.433 - And historically black college. 02:13.433 --> 02:16.470 How many historically black colleges are there 02:16.470 --> 02:17.771 in the United States right now? 02:17.771 --> 02:23.010 - Oh, maybe about 119 or 120, private and state. 02:23.010 --> 02:24.011 - Private and state. 02:24.011 --> 02:25.779 What's the importance of that? 02:25.779 --> 02:30.050 - I think that we still have students who come to us who are 02:30.050 --> 02:35.789 coming from homes where they don't have parents to give them 02:35.789 --> 02:41.028 the kind of experiences that makes them very comfortable 02:41.028 --> 02:42.062 being somewhere else. 02:42.062 --> 02:44.464 And because we are a small environment, 02:44.464 --> 02:47.634 very nurturing, they feel more comfortable coming to us, 02:47.634 --> 02:48.635 many of them. 02:48.635 --> 02:50.637 Now many of them can go anywhere. 02:50.637 --> 02:53.874 But I think one of the reasons why many choose to come to us is 02:53.874 --> 02:56.076 that we're small and we nurture. 02:56.076 --> 02:58.111 And that's very important sometimes. 02:58.111 --> 03:00.113 - What percentage of kids live on campus? 03:00.113 --> 03:02.649 - Oh, probably about, hmm, about.. 03:02.649 --> 03:04.484 Not quite a third but maybe. 03:04.484 --> 03:07.788 - Most from Memphis or the greater Memphis area? 03:07.788 --> 03:10.390 - No, we recruit from all over the country, yes. 03:10.390 --> 03:12.392 - And is that a higher and higher priority? 03:12.392 --> 03:13.393 I'll get Bill here in a second. 03:13.393 --> 03:15.729 But has that been a higher priority in recent years or has 03:15.729 --> 03:16.730 it always been the case? 03:16.730 --> 03:19.266  (Miller)    Dormitories? 03:19.266 --> 03:20.267 - Well, that. 03:20.267 --> 03:21.268 Let's start with that. 03:21.268 --> 03:22.269 How has that changed? 03:22.269 --> 03:25.372 - Well, when I was a student at LeMoyne-Owen, 03:25.372 --> 03:27.040 we didn't have dormitories. 03:27.040 --> 03:30.444 And so, we have a very nice dormitory now, 03:30.444 --> 03:33.346 state of the art, that we didn't have even when I was there 03:33.346 --> 03:34.347 as a professor. 03:34.347 --> 03:37.184 But that has evolved over time. 03:37.184 --> 03:39.186 - And the recruitment nationally? 03:39.186 --> 03:40.187 That was the other thing. 03:40.187 --> 03:42.189 - Yeah, because we do have dormitories. 03:42.189 --> 03:44.191 Prior to the dormitories, most of our students were local, 03:44.191 --> 03:45.559 except our athletes. 03:45.559 --> 03:48.195 And so, now that we have dormitories, 03:48.195 --> 03:51.231 there's a nationwide recruitment effort. 03:53.233 --> 03:57.104 - Dr. Miller, the phrase that I keep on hearing from educators 03:57.104 --> 04:01.808 in higher education is that institutions have to be able to 04:01.808 --> 04:03.376 meet students where they are. 04:03.376 --> 04:07.848 And it seems as if students are in so many places. 04:07.848 --> 04:11.485 You have students who are not necessarily there 04:11.485 --> 04:12.619 for a four year degree. 04:12.619 --> 04:14.754 They may be there for job training, 04:14.754 --> 04:16.456 for job certification. 04:16.456 --> 04:23.096 How much is higher education changing as we speak in general? 04:23.096 --> 04:26.333 - I think in a lot of ways it's changing. 04:26.333 --> 04:31.605 There is a focus now and there has to be a focus on aligning 04:31.605 --> 04:35.308 programs, academic programs and training programs with the needs 04:35.308 --> 04:36.476 of business and industry. 04:36.476 --> 04:39.913 Typically, community colleges have been very good 04:39.913 --> 04:40.914 at doing that. 04:40.914 --> 04:44.317 But I think more four year colleges and universities are 04:44.317 --> 04:45.318 beginning to do that. 04:45.318 --> 04:46.720 So, that's a change. 04:46.720 --> 04:49.289 LeMoyne-Owen has traditionally been liberal arts. 04:49.289 --> 04:53.627 But we now are looking at how do we begin to align our 04:53.627 --> 04:57.264 programming with the needs of business and industry because 04:57.264 --> 04:58.265 that's important. 04:58.265 --> 05:02.869 And we value our liberal arts tradition but we also recognize 05:02.869 --> 05:05.038 that we have students who sometimes, 05:05.038 --> 05:08.041 the liberal arts curriculum may not be what they need. 05:08.041 --> 05:11.211 And so, we need to give them options. 05:11.211 --> 05:15.215 - Are the numbers as high as they once were for the number of 05:15.215 --> 05:18.451 teachers that come out of LeMoyne-Owen College? 05:18.451 --> 05:20.453 - Not as high as they once were, no. 05:20.453 --> 05:24.324 But we need to reclaim that tradition I think. 05:24.324 --> 05:26.493 I think it's very important that we do. 05:26.493 --> 05:28.495 Because I think that K through 12, 05:28.495 --> 05:32.299 that's a very important population of students that need 05:32.299 --> 05:34.834 so very much these days. 05:34.834 --> 05:37.304 And I'd like to have teacher education, 05:37.304 --> 05:39.873 especially alternative teacher training to be a center of 05:39.873 --> 05:44.144 excellence at LeMoyne-Owen. 05:44.144 --> 05:46.513 I think we need to go back there and really reconnect with Shelby 05:46.513 --> 05:50.217 County Schools and the alternative school district and 05:50.217 --> 05:55.021 provide the kind of individuals they need to be teachers, 05:55.021 --> 05:58.892 and principals, and counselors, and the like. 05:58.892 --> 06:01.928 - You are the second alum to be president of the college 06:01.928 --> 06:04.831 following Johnny Watson who was also an alum. 06:04.831 --> 06:10.704 And you came here from community colleges in Baton Rouge most 06:10.704 --> 06:12.439 recently and before that.. 06:12.439 --> 06:13.440 - Lake Charles. 06:13.440 --> 06:15.909 Solwela Technical Community College. 06:15.909 --> 06:21.348 - So, when this job came open, what drew you to it? 06:21.348 --> 06:23.283 Obviously it's home. 06:23.283 --> 06:26.886 - Well, I think when you think about the times that you 06:26.886 --> 06:29.322 mentioned and how education is very different. 06:29.322 --> 06:33.059 I think that LeMoyne-Owen as it is today has to be very 06:33.059 --> 06:35.862 different if it's going to be extremely viable and if we're 06:35.862 --> 06:39.466 going to be able to compete with the rest of the colleges and 06:39.466 --> 06:40.934 universities in the area. 06:40.934 --> 06:45.805 So, what really excited me about coming back was the opportunity 06:45.805 --> 06:50.210 to transform the school into something very different but 06:50.210 --> 06:53.113 something that also would meet the needs of the students that 06:53.113 --> 06:55.949 we serve and the communities that we serve. 06:55.949 --> 06:57.017 So, that's.. 06:57.017 --> 07:01.588 I like being a part of making things very different. 07:01.588 --> 07:04.924 - Two months into the job, do you know specifically what 07:04.924 --> 07:09.796 different looks like or is this a process to move toward? 07:09.796 --> 07:13.833 - I'm having some idea of what that difference looks like. 07:13.833 --> 07:15.835 Again, the academic programming.. 07:15.835 --> 07:18.705 I don't think that we can just stay 07:18.705 --> 07:20.907 with the liberal arts tradition. 07:20.907 --> 07:23.810 We have got to branch out and look at something different, 07:23.810 --> 07:25.912 something different other than liberal arts. 07:25.912 --> 07:26.913 So, that. 07:26.913 --> 07:28.748 We need to develop a niche. 07:28.748 --> 07:32.619 I don't know that since teacher education that the college has 07:32.619 --> 07:33.753 had a niche. 07:33.753 --> 07:36.756 And so, we're looking at information technology, 07:36.756 --> 07:38.058 information systems. 07:38.058 --> 07:39.459 We're looking at that. 07:39.459 --> 07:42.562 We're looking at engineering and some other things that we're 07:42.562 --> 07:43.563 looking at. 07:43.563 --> 07:47.334 So, we have got to be able to say to individuals in the 07:47.334 --> 07:51.571 community if you want a degree that's going to guarantee you 07:51.571 --> 07:54.874 going to graduate school or getting into the job market in 07:54.874 --> 07:57.444 this area or that area, you might want to think about 07:57.444 --> 07:58.678 LeMoyne-Owen. 07:58.678 --> 08:02.949 - The residence hall is I think about a year or two old 08:02.949 --> 08:04.517 at this point. 08:04.517 --> 08:08.488 Is LeMoyne-Owen College at the right size? 08:08.488 --> 08:09.923 Does it need to be.. 08:09.923 --> 08:11.925 Does it need to have a larger student body? 08:11.925 --> 08:13.927 Does it need to have a smaller student body? 08:13.927 --> 08:15.929 - I think it needs to be a little larger, I do. 08:15.929 --> 08:19.599 I think that one of the things that we are trying to move away 08:19.599 --> 08:22.836 from is that we are very tuition dependent. 08:22.836 --> 08:26.172 And so, I think that we do need to have.. 08:26.172 --> 08:28.241 I would like to see maybe five years from now, 08:28.241 --> 08:30.443 five to seven years from now that the college has 08:30.443 --> 08:32.412 about 2500 students. 08:32.412 --> 08:34.948 But within the next three years, I'd like to see us 08:34.948 --> 08:37.817 at about 1500. 08:37.817 --> 08:43.289 - To do that is expensive or is it just a matter of hard work 08:43.289 --> 08:44.491 and recruitment? 08:44.491 --> 08:48.528 - I think it's not as expensive as one would think. 08:48.528 --> 08:51.331 We need to do more online programming. 08:51.331 --> 08:55.535 We need to get into not just the bachelor's degree but maybe 08:55.535 --> 08:58.905 offer some licensures and certificates. 08:58.905 --> 09:03.042 And we need to think about alternative campuses or places 09:03.042 --> 09:07.313 where students might can go and take a particular program that's 09:07.313 --> 09:09.182 not at 807 Walker. 09:09.182 --> 09:12.719 So, I don't think we could have 2500 where we are anyway. 09:12.719 --> 09:15.755 So, we will have to have some branch campuses. 09:15.755 --> 09:17.757 - Does some of that involve, you know, 09:17.757 --> 09:19.759 partnerships with other community organizations, 09:19.759 --> 09:20.760 with businesses? 09:20.760 --> 09:21.761 - Absolutely. 09:21.761 --> 09:23.763 We have to be very strategic about that growth. 09:23.763 --> 09:26.666 And so, that growth can't be in everything. 09:26.666 --> 09:28.001 The growth will be in.. 09:28.001 --> 09:30.703 I think we ought to offer some programs in allied health for 09:30.703 --> 09:32.172 example, which we don't offer. 09:32.172 --> 09:36.509 And so, we have to really get with the chamber and business 09:36.509 --> 09:39.779 and industry and be very strategic about what new program 09:39.779 --> 09:40.780 we will provide. 09:40.780 --> 09:44.684 Because we want to make sure that when a student finishes 09:44.684 --> 09:48.088 with that program that he or she can really go onto graduate 09:48.088 --> 09:50.089 school or go into the world of work. 09:50.089 --> 09:52.992 And like a lot of, I mean, schools just generally, 09:52.992 --> 09:55.228 it's been a rough.. 09:55.228 --> 09:57.263 Everybody was hit hard in the Great Recession. 09:57.263 --> 09:59.999 Schools were hit hard because alumni didn't have as much money 09:59.999 --> 10:02.001 because states have cut back their budgets. 10:02.001 --> 10:03.303 All these reasons. 10:03.303 --> 10:06.339 LeMoyne has had a couple of rough years in terms of drawing 10:06.339 --> 10:10.009 down money from its endowment to -- at a rate that I think 10:10.009 --> 10:12.645 everyone would say you would not like to do. 10:12.645 --> 10:13.980 A million and then a million. 10:13.980 --> 10:15.982 Maybe roughly two million over a two year period. 10:15.982 --> 10:20.487 Do you feel like you are in financially strong shape? 10:20.487 --> 10:21.754 - Yes, we are now. 10:21.754 --> 10:27.594 And I think most schools are not as tuition dependent as we are. 10:27.594 --> 10:29.596 And that's why those things happen. 10:29.596 --> 10:31.965 And so, what we have to concentrate on is increasing 10:31.965 --> 10:32.966 the endowment. 10:32.966 --> 10:34.133 - Okay, yeah. 10:34.133 --> 10:36.135 So, when you say tuition dependent, 10:36.135 --> 10:38.338 you mean you want to supplement with the endowment money and 10:38.338 --> 10:39.439 grants and other things? 10:39.439 --> 10:44.444 - Right now probably 75% of the budget is dependent on tuition. 10:46.646 --> 10:50.183 And so, if we have even a slight decrease in the number of 10:50.183 --> 10:53.520 students from fall to fall or from fall to spring, 10:53.520 --> 10:54.721 it impacts us. 10:54.721 --> 10:56.723 And we need to move away from that. 10:56.723 --> 10:59.726 But the way to get away from being so dependent on tuition is 10:59.726 --> 11:02.462 to make sure you increase your endowment. 11:02.462 --> 11:03.830 - What does it cost a year? 11:03.830 --> 11:06.766 - About 10,000 in tuition and fees. 11:06.766 --> 11:09.135 And then the dormitories, depending on single, 11:09.135 --> 11:13.006 double, could be anywhere from about 3,000 to 5,000. 11:13.006 --> 11:15.241 So, I'd say on the average, if you're living in the 11:15.241 --> 11:17.710 dormitories, 14,000 to 15,000. 11:17.710 --> 11:19.312 - Which is a lot of money. 11:19.312 --> 11:22.315 But it's a lot less than a lot of other places. 11:22.315 --> 11:25.585 I mean, and this whole kind of in the national trend, 11:25.585 --> 11:29.422 this look at, you know, people focus a lot on sky rocketing 11:29.422 --> 11:31.958 inflation in healthcare and they have big fights 11:31.958 --> 11:32.959 about Obama Care. 11:32.959 --> 11:37.597 But the inflation at colleges is really amazing 11:37.597 --> 11:40.967 across the country. 11:40.967 --> 11:42.101 Does this put you.. 11:42.101 --> 11:44.604 So, you've got schools that are 67.. 11:44.604 --> 11:47.473 I mean, just the numbers are, you know, astronomical. 11:47.473 --> 11:49.475 Is that an advantage for you in some ways? 11:49.475 --> 11:51.811 I mean, it's expensive but a whole lot less expensive than 11:51.811 --> 11:53.880 some of these other schools that kids might look at. 11:53.880 --> 11:55.515 - Yeah, in some ways. 11:55.515 --> 11:58.718 But what we look at is what's the tuition of the students 11:58.718 --> 11:59.719 in the area. 11:59.719 --> 12:04.591 That's who I think in some ways we are competing with the most 12:04.591 --> 12:05.658 I think. 12:05.658 --> 12:09.095 And so, as a private institution we are a little bit more than 12:09.095 --> 12:12.198 the state schools, like the University of Memphis or.. 12:12.198 --> 12:14.200 Well, maybe not so much for the University of Memphis. 12:14.200 --> 12:16.202 Certainly the community college. 12:16.202 --> 12:22.141 But, you know, 91 or 94% of our students are on financial aid 12:22.141 --> 12:25.144 and probably almost as many on Pell Grants. 12:25.144 --> 12:27.046 - Was there a change? 12:27.046 --> 12:29.048 I should have researched this before. 12:29.048 --> 12:31.584 Pell grants were mentioned in the recent budget deal. 12:31.584 --> 12:34.354 Was there a change to that or did I make that up? 12:34.354 --> 12:36.356 - No but they're looking at change. 12:36.356 --> 12:38.358 But I don't know that absolutely. 12:38.358 --> 12:39.359 Yeah. 12:39.359 --> 12:41.027 - How much is a Pell Grant now? 12:41.027 --> 12:43.496 - The average award is per year. 12:43.496 --> 12:47.467 It's about 4800 or 4600. 12:47.467 --> 12:49.469 - We've talked a bunch about community college. 12:49.469 --> 12:51.337 The Drive to 55 program. 12:51.337 --> 12:53.339 Again, you're two months into this and just back to Memphis. 12:53.339 --> 12:55.842 But Governor Haslam rolls that out last year. 12:55.842 --> 12:56.843 Correct, Bill? 12:56.843 --> 13:00.380 Which is to guarantee at least a community college education to 13:00.380 --> 13:01.781 every high school student. 13:01.781 --> 13:04.083 Is that a good thing for LeMoyne-Owen or is that a 13:04.083 --> 13:05.551 competition with LeMoyne-Owen? 13:05.551 --> 13:06.586 - I think it's a great thing. 13:06.586 --> 13:08.588 I applaud the governor for that. 13:08.588 --> 13:09.689 I think that's awesome. 13:09.689 --> 13:12.425 And the college, LeMoyne-Owen now is 13:12.425 --> 13:14.427 a Tennessee Promise Institution. 13:14.427 --> 13:15.428  (Eric)    It is? 13:15.428 --> 13:16.429 - Yes. 13:16.429 --> 13:18.831 And we're looking at some associate degrees, 13:18.831 --> 13:20.099 that's why. 13:20.099 --> 13:23.403 And so, we've had to request and document that. 13:23.403 --> 13:26.172 And so, we are now a Tennessee Promise institution. 13:26.172 --> 13:28.174 - So you'll be able to issue associates degrees. 13:28.174 --> 13:30.209 Will you also potentially get kids -- and maybe you do now, 13:30.209 --> 13:32.845 I don't know -- who have gone to community college and then want 13:32.845 --> 13:34.847 to kind of finish out the bachelor's. 13:34.847 --> 13:35.848 - We do have some transfer. 13:35.848 --> 13:38.551 Not as many as we would like but we do. 13:38.551 --> 13:40.553 - Theoretically, there's a bigger pool of those kids over 13:40.553 --> 13:41.554 the next few years. 13:41.554 --> 13:45.058 - And I think that in this area, there are enough students that 13:45.058 --> 13:49.562 are not going to any college that we don't have to compete. 13:49.562 --> 13:52.932 There's enough out there for all of us to serve. 13:52.932 --> 13:59.172 - And, of course, so much of the state funding that is involved 13:59.172 --> 14:01.974 in higher education is now not tied to enrollment. 14:01.974 --> 14:06.345 It's tied to completions, yeah, and performance as well. 14:06.345 --> 14:10.016 And LeMoyne-Owen College is a private institution. 14:10.016 --> 14:13.820 But how does a private institution feel 14:13.820 --> 14:16.522 those kind of pressures? 14:16.522 --> 14:22.795 - I think that any perspective student or parents want to know 14:22.795 --> 14:27.100 those kinds of data that will tell them what our retention 14:27.100 --> 14:32.238 rates are, graduation rates, whether we get students to 14:32.238 --> 14:34.741 graduate school, how well we place students into the 14:34.741 --> 14:36.042 competitive job market. 14:36.042 --> 14:39.746 So, it's something that we should do. 14:39.746 --> 14:42.548 We haven't done as well as I would like for us to have done 14:42.548 --> 14:44.884 in terms of getting the data out there. 14:44.884 --> 14:47.653 But it's critical. 14:47.653 --> 14:52.158 And private or not, the numbers tell the story. 14:52.158 --> 14:54.427 And one of the things that we have to do being a private 14:54.427 --> 14:57.029 institution is that we have to raise money. 14:57.029 --> 14:59.398 And people want to give to successes. 14:59.398 --> 15:02.101 And so, we've got to be able to tell our story and we've got to 15:02.101 --> 15:05.705 be able to show the data whether the state is holding us 15:05.705 --> 15:07.039 responsible for it or not. 15:07.039 --> 15:09.008 And if you.. 15:09.008 --> 15:15.348 The Federal Government Title 4 will produce score cards on 15:15.348 --> 15:19.418 anyone that's receiving Title 4 Aid Pell Grants 15:19.418 --> 15:22.789 and some of the loans. 15:22.789 --> 15:25.158 So, the data is still out there for even private institutions. 15:25.158 --> 15:30.329 - And the job is more of a challenge in that regard because 15:30.329 --> 15:32.398 of some factors that are beyond the control 15:32.398 --> 15:34.133 of any college administrator. 15:34.133 --> 15:36.369 Students now.. 15:36.369 --> 15:39.672 I think back in my day it was four years 15:39.672 --> 15:40.873 and that was accepted. 15:40.873 --> 15:46.245 Now I think the average is five to six years to complete and get 15:46.245 --> 15:47.246 your degree. 15:47.246 --> 15:49.549 - And we've done a survey. 15:49.549 --> 15:54.587 And at least 80 to 90% of our students are working full time. 15:54.587 --> 15:57.590 Not part time but full time as they're going to school. 15:57.590 --> 16:00.993 And that impacts their ability to persist. 16:00.993 --> 16:05.865 Often times we think students don't persist because they're 16:05.865 --> 16:07.600 not doing well. 16:07.600 --> 16:10.036 Students are not persisting, what we're finding, 16:10.036 --> 16:13.239 is because they don't manage their time well. 16:13.239 --> 16:16.342 And if they have to give up something because it gets to be 16:16.342 --> 16:18.344 too much, it's going to be school. 16:18.344 --> 16:22.081 - But as I understand it, if you work with an employer, 16:22.081 --> 16:25.117 if an employer is involved at some higher education 16:25.117 --> 16:28.754 institutions, they are able to make accommodations in the 16:28.754 --> 16:33.593 schedule for working students if they're a part of an agreement. 16:33.593 --> 16:34.927 - Absolutely. 16:34.927 --> 16:36.162 And that is always very good. 16:36.162 --> 16:38.664 That's always a very good thing. 16:38.664 --> 16:41.267 - We talked about funding. 16:41.267 --> 16:45.371 Obviously student loans are a big part of financial aid. 16:45.371 --> 16:47.106 I had many, many student loans. 16:47.106 --> 16:49.108 I still have some coupon books somewhere. 16:49.108 --> 16:52.445 But there's a lot of conversation in the country and 16:52.445 --> 16:54.780 the higher-ed community about too much loan debt. 16:54.780 --> 16:56.382 What is your take on that? 16:56.382 --> 16:59.318 Are kids taking on too much student loan debt? 16:59.318 --> 17:01.721 Is that not a good investment? 17:01.721 --> 17:05.358 - I think to some extent they are. 17:05.358 --> 17:09.428 Only to the extent that they are not informed about how the debt 17:09.428 --> 17:11.030 can impact them later on. 17:11.030 --> 17:13.633 I think it is a great investment. 17:13.633 --> 17:16.435 But I think what has traditionally happened.. 17:16.435 --> 17:21.674 Not enough training and information has been given to 17:21.674 --> 17:26.712 students about their responsibility and making sure 17:26.712 --> 17:28.714 that they follow up in repayment. 17:28.714 --> 17:30.316 - A lot of it.. 17:30.316 --> 17:32.351 I mean, when you boil it down, it seems that 17:32.351 --> 17:33.352 when you boil it down.. 17:33.352 --> 17:36.289 And this is very close to my heart because I borrowed my way 17:36.289 --> 17:38.291 through college and graduate school 17:38.291 --> 17:39.292 and it was a great investment. 17:39.292 --> 17:42.028 And so, I bristle sometimes at these articles that seem to say 17:42.028 --> 17:44.030 that all student loan debt is bad. 17:44.030 --> 17:46.332 For me and my situation, it was incredible. 17:46.332 --> 17:50.703 But when you boil down some of the better articles you find, 17:50.703 --> 17:53.039 where the real abuses about debt are coming in, 17:53.039 --> 17:55.041 some of the for-profit colleges. 17:55.041 --> 17:59.111 Does that just make you angry as an educator and somebody who's 17:59.111 --> 18:02.048 working with kids at community colleges and people working full 18:02.048 --> 18:04.050 time jobs, not just part time jobs. 18:04.050 --> 18:06.085 And you see some of these for-profit schools really 18:06.085 --> 18:07.620 scamming kids. 18:07.620 --> 18:09.488 - Yeah, it's very unfortunate. 18:09.488 --> 18:10.623 It's unfortunate. 18:10.623 --> 18:14.126 And again, I think the most unfortunate thing is that 18:14.126 --> 18:17.263 students don't have the information that they need. 18:17.263 --> 18:21.400 One of the things that people also talk about is that you've 18:21.400 --> 18:25.638 got to be able to pay those debts back. 18:25.638 --> 18:29.875 Sometimes students don't know when the loans are due. 18:29.875 --> 18:34.113 But the federal government holds the institution responsible for 18:34.113 --> 18:37.416 making sure that the students are paying their loans in a 18:37.416 --> 18:38.417 timely manner. 18:38.417 --> 18:41.587 And we get something called a default rate. 18:41.587 --> 18:43.923 Each institution that provides loans, 18:43.923 --> 18:47.860 the federal government will calculate a default rate. 18:47.860 --> 18:51.263 And if the default rate gets to be too high, 18:51.263 --> 18:55.735 then you jeopardize not only your ability to provide loans 18:55.735 --> 18:59.305 but you jeopardize your ability also for Pell. 18:59.305 --> 19:02.742 So, the colleges have to take responsibility for educating 19:02.742 --> 19:07.079 students on when loans become due. 19:07.079 --> 19:10.282 Because if they miss a semester or two and they plan to come 19:10.282 --> 19:13.019 back, well the loan is due unless they do something. 19:13.019 --> 19:15.021 There are things that they can do. 19:15.021 --> 19:18.891 So, I think in the past, I don't think colleges have done a great 19:18.891 --> 19:25.097 job of educating students about loans and how it all works. 19:25.097 --> 19:29.201 - You must have a staff of just people who need counseling 19:29.201 --> 19:30.202 and so on. 19:30.202 --> 19:32.772 - That falls on financial aid, yes. 19:32.772 --> 19:37.043 We have a financial aid office and counselors who do that and a 19:37.043 --> 19:38.044 lot of other things. 19:38.044 --> 19:39.045 But, yeah. 19:39.045 --> 19:41.047 - Just about five minutes left, Bill. 19:41.047 --> 19:46.786 - And parents and students have to more consumer like than they 19:46.786 --> 19:48.054 once were. 19:48.054 --> 19:53.059 I mean, and of course you're dealing with someone who is 18, 19:53.059 --> 19:56.295 19 years old at the outset in many cases. 19:56.295 --> 19:59.565 But there is more information available about these things 19:59.565 --> 20:03.302 like retention rates as you mentioned for students. 20:03.302 --> 20:09.375 So, are students always as well adjusted as they should be to 20:09.375 --> 20:13.512 understanding that system on top of the academic system here. 20:13.512 --> 20:15.614 - You mean the financial system? 20:15.614 --> 20:17.883 No, not in many cases. 20:17.883 --> 20:20.953 Especially the students that we serve. 20:20.953 --> 20:24.957 No, they're not always well versed or educated on that. 20:24.957 --> 20:28.094 And it's our responsibility to help them with that. 20:28.094 --> 20:31.964 - A couple of other things, kind of national issues. 20:31.964 --> 20:34.967 There have been, you know, these horrific.. 20:34.967 --> 20:37.970 Horrific mass shootings in lots of circumstances. 20:37.970 --> 20:43.109 But there have been some -- a notable number I guess on 20:43.109 --> 20:44.110 college campuses. 20:44.110 --> 20:46.579 What do you do about that? 20:46.579 --> 20:48.714 What can you do? 20:48.714 --> 20:51.717 - You make sure that everybody -- students, 20:51.717 --> 20:56.956 staff, faculty, and our security department and everybody -- are 20:56.956 --> 21:00.326 very aware of the possibilities and that they are looking around 21:00.326 --> 21:04.964 them and that they report things that may not seem like it's 21:04.964 --> 21:07.767 anything but they need to be able to report anything that's 21:07.767 --> 21:08.801 very suspicious. 21:08.801 --> 21:11.937 And the training, of course. 21:11.937 --> 21:12.938 Lots of training. 21:12.938 --> 21:16.308 Lots or practice in case something should happen. 21:16.308 --> 21:19.512 But you can never be too careful ever. 21:19.512 --> 21:23.849 - I know that Texas has passed, and maybe other states have 21:23.849 --> 21:25.851 passed, these campus carry laws. 21:25.851 --> 21:27.586 Texas is allowing students to. 21:27.586 --> 21:28.821 Do you see more of that coming? 21:28.821 --> 21:30.156 - I hope not. 21:30.156 --> 21:33.893 I think that's potentially very dangerous. 21:33.893 --> 21:36.228 - I know people who've thought real hard about that, 21:36.228 --> 21:38.864 that their son is going to be in a physics class with somebody. 21:38.864 --> 21:41.167 It's just a strange, strange time. 21:41.167 --> 21:44.003 - I hope that we don't get very far on that. 21:44.003 --> 21:48.774 I understand why one would want to. 21:48.774 --> 21:49.842 But I think it's.. 21:49.842 --> 21:53.345 - Everyone wants to do anything possible to protect them. 21:53.345 --> 21:54.346 So, okay. 21:54.346 --> 21:56.348 The neighborhood that you're in. 21:56.348 --> 21:58.684 The school has been there for how long? 21:58.684 --> 22:03.322 It's moved a little bit but it's been in that location forever. 22:03.322 --> 22:04.323 - Oh, yeah. 22:04.323 --> 22:08.360 I don't remember how long it's been there but for a long time. 22:08.360 --> 22:10.362 - There's a lot going on in that neighborhood. 22:10.362 --> 22:14.066 Soulsville and the STAX Academy and some great things. 22:14.066 --> 22:17.837 But there's, you know, the building, 22:17.837 --> 22:19.338 the shopping center recently. 22:19.338 --> 22:20.906 The town center. 22:20.906 --> 22:22.908 Again, you're only two months in. 22:22.908 --> 22:23.909 But talk about.. 22:23.909 --> 22:25.911 Are you a school and is it important to you 22:25.911 --> 22:26.912 that you connect? 22:26.912 --> 22:29.582 - Absolutely, absolutely. 22:29.582 --> 22:31.884 The potential is just tremendous. 22:31.884 --> 22:35.921 And we've been in conversations with individuals there and the 22:35.921 --> 22:39.825 gentleman that just purchased the property. 22:39.825 --> 22:40.826 Shadyac, yeah. 22:40.826 --> 22:44.597 I've had a couple of meetings with him and he's met with some 22:44.597 --> 22:45.831 of our students. 22:45.831 --> 22:49.535 He's very interested in making sure that we connect. 22:49.535 --> 22:52.071 It's an awesome opportunity, awesome opportunity. 22:52.071 --> 22:53.072 - You lost.. 22:53.072 --> 22:55.074 And I won't go into the details because there's all kinds of 22:55.074 --> 22:56.408 ugliness and uncertainty. 22:56.408 --> 22:59.845 But Robert Lipscomb was a powerful figure and a really 22:59.845 --> 23:02.181 important figure in the history of LeMoyne-Owen. 23:02.181 --> 23:07.419 His loss, just in terms of his leadership on the board, 23:07.419 --> 23:08.954 means what? 23:08.954 --> 23:13.559 - It simply means that his leadership is not there pending 23:13.559 --> 23:15.894 the outcomes of the investigation. 23:15.894 --> 23:16.895 Yeah. 23:16.895 --> 23:20.866 - We've got just a couple of minutes left, Bill. 23:20.866 --> 23:25.004 - In talking about what you have ahead of you in terms of what 23:25.004 --> 23:28.707 you want to do, it sounds as if the first priority here is to 23:28.707 --> 23:31.810 get things the way you want them on campus and then work from 23:31.810 --> 23:34.046 there out into the community. 23:34.046 --> 23:36.849 - The first thing that I need to do is to listen. 23:36.849 --> 23:38.984 Listen to our internal and external stakeholders. 23:38.984 --> 23:42.688 So, my first 100 days, I've been involved with listening to 23:42.688 --> 23:46.792 students, faculty, staff, the faith community that supports 23:46.792 --> 23:48.494 us, and business and industry. 23:48.494 --> 23:52.698 Because I need to understand what people think and feel. 23:52.698 --> 23:54.700 And what are their thoughts about where they think 23:54.700 --> 23:55.701 we should be. 23:55.701 --> 23:59.171 And then based on that, I have a few thoughts of my own. 23:59.171 --> 24:01.573 But, you know, I want to hear what people are saying. 24:01.573 --> 24:04.543 And these have been very, very good conversations for me to 24:04.543 --> 24:07.579 hear people's thoughts about LeMoyne-Owen. 24:07.579 --> 24:11.517 And then from there, we'll develop strategies to position 24:11.517 --> 24:13.585 the college and a vision, of course. 24:13.585 --> 24:19.725 And that we'll go out and share with people and begin to try to 24:19.725 --> 24:20.859 bring in resources. 24:20.859 --> 24:24.463 - You have a PhD in cell and developmental biology. 24:24.463 --> 24:27.800 How did you go from the lab to running.. 24:27.800 --> 24:30.769 Are you still in the lab? 24:30.769 --> 24:32.871 - No, not in a while. 24:32.871 --> 24:37.242 No, I haven't been in a lab in a while. 24:37.242 --> 24:38.243 Well, I thought that I.. 24:38.243 --> 24:42.448 I never thought that I wanted to teach or be in higher ed. 24:42.448 --> 24:45.684 I always thought that I wanted to work at a national laboratory 24:45.684 --> 24:47.686 or government national laboratory. 24:47.686 --> 24:50.956 But as it turned out, I began to work at LeMoyne-Owen as a 24:50.956 --> 24:53.092 faculty member and began to do some research. 24:53.092 --> 24:56.228 Had a grant from National Science Foundation and really 24:56.228 --> 24:58.230 began to love working with students. 24:58.230 --> 24:59.598 And then from the students, 24:59.598 --> 25:01.600 I began to love academic administration. 25:01.600 --> 25:03.268 And it just kind of.. 25:03.268 --> 25:05.270 - And you're a LeMoyne graduate. 25:05.270 --> 25:06.271 But did you grow up here also. 25:06.271 --> 25:07.272 - I grew up in Memphis. 25:07.272 --> 25:09.208  (Eric)    And then were gone for? 25:09.208 --> 25:10.209 - Graduate school. 25:10.209 --> 25:11.210 Maybe.. 25:11.210 --> 25:13.212  (Eric)    And these other jobs and so on. 25:13.212 --> 25:15.214 - Yeah, I've lived in other places. 25:15.214 --> 25:17.216 - What's Memphis like to return to? 25:17.216 --> 25:18.217 - It's great. 25:18.217 --> 25:19.218 It's good to be back. 25:19.218 --> 25:20.219  (Eric)    Has it changed? 25:20.219 --> 25:22.221 - Yeah, I think it's even better. 25:22.221 --> 25:24.223 I'm very impressed with progress that has been made. 25:24.223 --> 25:25.524 I'm loving it. 25:25.524 --> 25:28.160 And then I have a daughter and two little grandboys here. 25:28.160 --> 25:32.297 That's a great deal. 25:32.297 --> 25:33.298 - Alright. 25:33.298 --> 25:34.299 Well, it is great to meet you. 25:34.299 --> 25:36.301 Thank you very much for being on the show. 25:36.301 --> 25:37.302 - Absolutely. 25:37.302 --> 25:38.303 Thank you for having me. 25:38.303 --> 25:40.305  (Eric)   You get maybe more    than two months in 25:40.305 --> 25:41.306  and we'll have you back. 25:41.306 --> 25:42.307 Thank you. 25:42.307 --> 25:43.308 Thank you, Bill. 25:43.308 --> 25:44.309 Thank you for joining us. 25:44.309 --> 25:50.916 Join us again next week. 25:50.916 --> 26:12.337 [theme music] 26:12.337 --> 26:17.810  (male narrator)   A2H: Engineers, architects, and   planners creating an enhanced 26:17.810 --> 26:21.346  quality of life for their   clients and our community. 26:21.346 --> 26:25.346  More about A2H's services   and markets is at A2H.com