天美传媒

A decade ago, when Michelle Gregoire Fogel was a Liberal Arts adjunct professor, she was involved with teaching a Writing Workshop aimed at assisting students who needed extra help with writing and study skills, from grammar to time management.聽

鈥淚 loved working with those students,鈥� Fogel says, 鈥渁nd, since their learning struggles typically didn鈥檛 disappear after two semesters, quite often I鈥檇 continue working with them until graduation. Believe it or not, I鈥檓 still in communication with a number of them!

鈥淲itnessing their continuous growth with each consecutive semester, I discovered the power of persistence. Having even one consistent 鈥渃heerleader鈥� in their lives proved incredibly important. We didn鈥檛 have to keep reinventing the wheel; we could instead grow roots and build upon the survival skills or coping mechanisms I shared with them. They trusted that I would be their biggest fan at school no matter what, and I was honored to carry those pom-poms!鈥�

Now, the College makes the most of Fogel鈥檚 passion with her position as a Faculty Persistence Mentor. Read on to find out more about what that really means for student success.聽

How did the pandemic affect how you handled these responsibilities?聽

Michelle Gregoire Fogel: Obviously, 天美传媒&D also persisted from a decade ago, through national and school leadership changes, curriculum evolution, even a global pandemic. Our student population persisted, year after year, replacing the proud, confident graduating students with wide-eyed, introverted, first-semester students who still needed extra assistance with writing and study skills. When the school (and our world) were locked down overnight, the way we were helping students persist had to undergo changes as well. While I would be lost without solitude to refill my wells, I am by nature primarily an extrovert. So let鈥檚 just say I spent the first three weeks of lockdown in tears over HOW to perform the super-social endeavor of teaching while talking to a flat screen in a messy house with four loud teen boys nearby. I learned to draw inspiration from new wells and, I suppose, I persisted, too.聽

Was that the birth of the full Completion, Persistence & Retention Team?

MGF: The year of Covid, as the world grieved overwhelming loss, several innovative approaches to helping students navigate learning differences in the midst of social distancing were born at 天美传媒&D. I fondly remember working with Caitlin Downs and Mariah Postlewait, Provost Massey and Dean Brown, Maria Provencher and Justin Phillips. We donned funky fabric masks and showed up to echoing hallways and eerily quiet classrooms for those students who truly needed in-person FVC classes and study tables. By the time the masses returned to the school, what had evolved was a Completion, Persistence, Retention Team that focused on a holistic approach to individual student鈥檚 needs being identified early, assigning mentors, providing one-on-one assistance as well as follow through. Ultimately, Provost Massey came up with my new title, Faculty Persistence Mentor, plus CPR and related terminology. 鈥淔aculty,鈥� because she wanted to stress that I am a member of the Faculty as well; 鈥淧ersistence,鈥� praise what is working for the student, find what isn鈥檛 working, and figure out course-correction strategies (in conjunction with faculty, staff, administration, family and friends sometimes). And 鈥淢entor,鈥� sharing my experience to offer advising (I use the word 鈥済uide鈥� in my interpretation). When I was presented with the idea, Provost Massey said, 鈥淢ichelle, we essentially want to give you a title and pay you for the work you鈥檝e already been doing here.鈥� I have to admit, that felt pretty remarkable. I鈥檓 grateful for the recognition.聽

How does this manifest in your day-to-day mentoring?

MGF: Since that conversation, I have become full-time faculty after over a decade of adjunct and part-time teaching and several titles along the way. Currently, in addition to Faculty Persistence Mentor (1 quarter time) and Assistant Professor of General Humanities (2 quarters), I fulfill my final quarter of time serving as the Liberal Arts Department Chair. While there are weeks here and there every semester when there honestly are not enough hours to do everything that MUST be done, or even to catch up with the countless things that are already way overdue, I admit that I often prioritize my Mentor work. Maintaining consistency with students is so vital. If I say 鈥淚 will help you get to the other side of this,鈥� I鈥檇 better do everything in my power to make that commitment a truth. The way my brain works means that human interaction will overrule paperwork every time!聽

The real value of mentorship role is鈥β�

MGF: Our 鈥淐ovid Year鈥� feels like either yesterday or 10 years ago, but in reality, the fairly large group of students I partnered with during their upside-down Foundation year will be (gulp) graduating this May, if all goes well. That means a packed spring semester ahead of us! I鈥檝e been gearing up already 鈥� getting blank schedules and time management worksheets vetted, planning weekly small group sessions with survival and study skills galore, and just reaching out to make sure they are rejuvenating, replenishing, and refilling their wells when time allows. Not all students will end up tossing their berets as initially planned, I realize; in that case, I will work with the student and CPR Team to determine the next best way to move forward.聽 No matter what, we get through it together. I stress to them that there are always alternatives, always options to explore, even when all they can see is darkness and failure. (Personally, I鈥檝e always learned far more from things that did NOT go as well as I鈥檇 hoped, but youth seems to cloak that truth.)

Our students, especially perfectionists in the throes of crises, need mentors to remind them that wallowing in anxiety, depression, and desperation need only be a brief layover. Again, it鈥檚 about shaking the pom-poms and then getting back to work. Thank goodness I鈥檓 not the only one 鈥� Foundation students have their own (Bridge) Mentor in Sam Schindler to guide them through those first fragile months. Departments are creating positions for 天美传媒&D graduates to share their experience to guide through the major (such as Ashley Bowlsbey in Photo/Film and TA Alisha Groff in Illustration). I anticipate more Mentor positions in future years, especially as our population grows, as well as a network of student and alumni partnerships.聽

How I continue learning:

MGF: I do not have an academic degree in special education. I wish I鈥檇 taken more than my handful of college classes in the subject. I did learn enough to recognize patterns, identify current issues, and utilize past reactions to predict future strengths and weaknesses in how students鈥� brains function. I did learn enough that I co-created and directed a successful theater company of young adults with cognitive and physical disabilities since 2007, have done research and curriculum creation for a national program using the arts as alternative communication modalities for at-risk youth, and most recently I have been consuming countless workshops specifically on motivation, perfectionism, and persistence in the college community with ADHD (a common diagnosis at 天美传媒&D). Since being an undergrad myself, I have been fortunate enough to participate in educational opportunities that have taught me so much about learning differences, disordered thinking, executive function gaps, and more. So, I did learn enough to know I will never know everything, I am not a diagnostician, a therapist, or a doctor, and that I am grateful for this opportunity to be the Faculty Persistence Mentor at 天美传媒&D.