As national leaders, family members, friends and fellow citizens gather in New York City, at the Pentagon, in Pennsylvania—and around the world—commemorate those who perished in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, UMGC President Gregory Fowler’s message to the university community resonates with reflections of courage and sacrifice, and hope for a more peaceful future.
To the UMGC Community:
Today—on the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001—we honor the memories of those who lost their lives in the attacks, mourn with all who lost loved ones and friends, and reflect on the courage and sacrifice of countless first responders, servicemembers, and civilians who were injured or died in rescue and recovery operations or in the international conflict that followed.
While September 11 represents a dark day in our nation’s history, it also stands as a reminder of who we are at our very best, when we reach out with open hearts to those who are suffering and in need.
Today and always, let us seek to be that source of comfort and support and, together, make our world a better, more peaceful place for all.
Sincerely, Gregory Fowler, PhD President University of Maryland Global Campus
A University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) writing teacher hated reading when she was a child. An academic program director and author didn’t become interested in books until he was in college. The university’s senior vice president of global military operations turned to books because his family didn’t have the means to travel.
Today—Sept. 8—is celebrated around the world as International Literacy Day. A UNESCO resolution launched the day in 1967 to advance literacy as a human right and as essential in lifelong learning. In recognition of the day, UMGC leadership and faculty members looked back on their relationship with books and reading.
“There are so many moments in history that involve wisdom that came from reading. I think of Abraham Lincoln, of Martin Luther King Jr. I think of Malcolm X learning to read in prison, of Richard Wright talking about reading and writing,” said UMGC President Gregory Fowler. “History is filled with the power of reading. Literacy broadens our horizons and helps us really grow as human beings.
“In its own way, it allows us to explore the world.”
Fowler’s drive to read was fueled by impatience. He couldn’t wait for the moments when his mother or sister had time to read to him, so he learned to do it himself. By the time he started school as a 5-year-old, he was reading at a Grade 3 level—and was able to consolidate two years of elementary school, entering third grade at the age of six.
Books were also a childhood fixture for Damon Freeman, collegiate professor and director of the History and African American Studies Program. His father read to him as an infant and toddler.
“I vaguely remember getting a book around the age of 4. One day I walked up to my mother and began talking to her about ‘diplodocus,’” he said. “We have a photo somewhere of me trying to read my dinosaur book to my little sister.” Decades later, Freeman still owns that copy of “The True Book of Dinosaurs” by Mary Lou Clark.
The science section of any bookstore was Freeman’s go-to place as a child. His parents, both teachers, widened his collection by tucking in Shel Silverstein books for children—and he occasionally revisits a Silverstein book for its lessons about life.
“I think reading literacy and comprehension has been my greatest strength. I seemed to understand almost instinctively when a teacher would ask a question about the main idea or theme of a paragraph or chapter,” Freeman said. “I think the ability to contextualize facts and ideas is important to anyone’s life and has been central to my education in history and law.”
Patricia Coopersmith, UMGC associate vice president and deputy director in the Europe division, also returns with frequency to a book she read when young: “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen.
Patricia Coopersmith, UMGC associate vice president, Europe division
“The rags-to-riches, romance, historical perspective—and so much more—sweep me away to another place and time, take any stress out of my day and always remind me of a few life lessons that I shouldn’t forget,” she said.
Coopersmith, a fan of historical fiction, said her reading of stories about kings and queens fueled a desire to see the world and directly connects her job at UMGC to her early reading.
Jeanine Williams, director of the Writing Across the Curriculum Program, is clear about her early connection to books—and its irony.
“I hated reading as a child,” said Williams. “It’s funny when you think that my professional background is actually in reading. I teach writing now but most of my work has been around students at the college level who needed reading support.”
She said that work is designed to teach students how to more deeply understand the lessons found in stories. “I got into that because I realized how important literacy is to everything in life,” Williams explained.
She said she did not feel connected with books until sixth grade when a teacher “selected books that seemed to resonate with me and my classmates.” Today Williams usually is reading multiple books at a time. Even more, she is a demonstrative reader.
“I don’t come to reading passively. When I read, I mark up the margins,” she said. “I get really engaged and have a conversation with the text.”
Author Steven Killings, director of the Humanities and Philosophy Program, described himself a late bloomer when it came to reading.
“I joined the Marine Corps when I was 17, after graduating high school, and didn’t really get interested in books until I was in college,” said Killings, the author of “A Student Reader of Secular Latin Poetry from Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages” and the novel “The Queen of Sorrows.”
“A professor of mine suggested that I visit the Newberry Library in Chicago for a class project. The Newberry was like the Pierpont Morgan in New York City or the Huntington Library in San Marino, those institutions founded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by wealthy industrialists whose aim was to create a repository of ancient and medieval books and manuscripts for American scholars.
“I became fascinated by the culture of medieval scholars and manuscripts at the Newberry. I became friends with the special collections curator, and I changed my college major and began studying Latin and Ancient Greek so I could read the medieval manuscripts,” he said.
Killings’ interest in books cascaded into the collecting of rare books, as well as calligraphy and book binding.
Libraries were also a favorite haunt of Reynaldo Garcia, a professor and director of the Community College Policy and Administration doctoral program. He recalled being a regular visitor to the library in the Catholic grammar school he attended. “For every book I finished, I was always anxious to get back to the library and pick the next one, and then the next one, throughout elementary, middle and high school.
“Reading for me was always an exciting privilege,” he said. “Early opportunities to explore and develop those reading muscles made me a very strong student and a really well-informed consumer of information who is able to examine things with a critical eye.”
Today Garcia splits his reading three ways—and he always has multiple books going at the same time. He reads books that keep him current in his field. He reads for self-development, a category that includes books about history, politics and governance. And he reads for pleasure, from airport paperbacks to classic literature.
Childhood books hold a special place in the lives of many UMGC readers.
“My earliest memory about reading involves a book about a mouse who wanted to bake an apple pie. I was able to understand that much from the pictures,” said Valorie King, collegiate professor and director of the Cybersecurity Management and Policy Program. “I wanted to know the rest of the story but there was no one available to read the book to me—my older brother wanted to play outside with his friends and mom was busy with chores.
“I decided then and there that I was going to learn to read so that I didn’t have to wait for anyone else,” she said.
King’s aspiration didn’t actually come true until second grade, when a nun at Holy Redeemer School in College Park, Maryland “took me in hand and taught me phonics and spelling.” From that point forward, she borrowed books from her school library on a daily basis and, during the summer, walked two miles each way to the county library “to check out as many books as my arms would hold.” Science fiction was her favorite genre.
“Those were the days when Andre Norton and Robert Heinlein were writing juvenile fiction,” she said. “I am constantly amazed that I am living with the technologies that they and other authors created and described in their fictional works.”
She added that she gets some of her best ideas for cybersecurity-focused student projects and classroom discussions from the works of authors like S.E. Weir, J.D. Robb, C. J. Cherryh, Glynn Stewart, and Craig Martelle.
King is a voracious reader, currently on a Kindle reading streak that is close to 160 days long.
Books were also a gateway to the world and new ideas for Lloyd “Milo” Miles, senior vice president of global military operations.
“I come from a poor background, and books were the way we could escape and read about different places in the world we never thought we would see,” he said. “I could increase my imagination from reading science fiction—Isaac Asimov—or ‘Robinson Crusoe’ or even comic books.”
For his work at UMGC, there’s a book that Miles keeps close at hand, the war novel “Once an Eagle” by Anton Myrer.
“I refer to it a lot in the speeches I make. It has messages about leadership that I value,” he explained.
Miles said he reads nonfiction during the day and fiction “for enjoyment and escape” in the evening before he goes to bed.
Miles retired from the U.S. Army as a major general before joining UMGC. In his real-life journeys around the globe, he has often been struck by how people—especially those who do not have a lot—value books.
“If you gave them a book, it was like handing them a bar of gold,” he said. “I always appreciated when nonprofits would team up with military to help us distribute books in various parts of the world.
“I felt that maybe we were helping them escape to a bigger world, like I did as a child,” he said.
The student, who asked only to be identified as Kaitlyn, was elected to a one-year term on the MACHE Board of Directors.
“The election of Kaitlyn to the MAHCE Board as the first student member is a wonderful testament to the value and recognition the Maryland Health Care Executive community assigns the UMGC Global Health Management and Administration (GHM&A) programs and alumni,” said Liliya Roberts, MD, program director and professor of GHM&A. “Kaitlyn, an HCAD student sitting on the board of this prestigious and well-recognized professional organization adds additional pride to the UMGC GHM&A programs and the students.”
Kaitlyn, who has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Towson University, began her graduate studies at UMGC in 2020. She anticipates graduating in 2022 and is a student member of the MAHCE.
“After working in a clinical setting for about five years, I realized that health care was where I wanted to build my career. But instead of doing clinical work, I wanted to make a difference not only in the lives of our patients, but in the lives of the staff taking care of those patients,” Kaitlyn said. “When I stumbled upon the Healthcare Administration Master’s Degree Program at UMGC, learned the details of it and what it could mean for my career, and then applied it to my existing skills, I realized that the administrative side of health care was for me.
“One of my HCAD professors posted an opportunity for students to get involved in the MAHCE as the student board member and, after taking a chance, I was nominated,” she added.
MAHCE, founded in 1973, fosters professional development and collaboration among health care professionals. The organization is a local member of the Chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives, an international professional society.
“This nomination has already given me the opportunity to connect with health care executives that provide real-life insight to the existing trends in the health care system. Working alongside my fellow board members, I can delve into the world of health care administration and apply my learning not only to my schoolwork but to my future career endeavors,” Kaitlyn noted.
“Being connected to health care through my schoolwork, my job, and as a student board member with the MAHCE, I am able to build the skills I will need to help lead our health care system.”
Adelphi, Md. (Aug. 19, 2021)— University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) is pleased to announce that three Doctor of Management in Community College Policy and Administration (DMCCPA) faculty members received distinguished honors in their industry. Trudy Bers, Ph.D., Gena Glickman, Ph.D., and Charlene Nunley Ph.D., all adjunct professors of DMCCPA, were recently recognized.
Trudy Bers
“The awards and honors given to UMGC faculty members in the community college doctoral program represent the highest levels of achievement,” said Reynaldo Garcia, Ph.D., professor and program director of the DMCCPA program. “That our doctoral program students have the privilege of working with individuals who are at top of our field is a testament to the high quality of our program and our university. I know of no other community college doctoral program that can match the level of achievement in the long list of awards our faculty received this year. I am humbled and honored to work with these outstanding scholars and teachers.”
Trudy Bers was honored with the 2021 Sidney Suslow Scholar Award from the Association for Institutional Research (AIR). As a 2021 awardee, Bers, who was acknowledged through her scholarly work as stated by AIR, “has made significant contributions to the field of institutional research and advanced understanding of the profession in a meaningful way.”
In addition to teaching at UMGC, she is president of The Bers Group, an education consulting organization. Bers is also the former executive director of research, curriculum and planning at Oakton Community College, and a data coach for more than 20 Achieving the Dream Colleges. See Bers bio
Gena Glickman
Gena Glickman was elected to serve as chair of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), which is the national advocate and institutional voice for academic quality through accreditation.
Since 2018, Glickman has led Massasoit Community College as president and prior to this, she spent 10 years as president of Manchester Community College. Focused on student success, academic excellence and community engagement, Glickman has managed initiatives, wrote articles on higher education issues, and presented at national conferences. View Glickman’s bio
Charlene Nunley
Furthermore, the founding director of the UMGC’s DMCCPA program, Charlene Nunley was awarded the 2021 American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) Leadership Award earlier this summer. AACC’s award honors individuals who demonstrate outstanding accomplishments and professional contributions to the community college field.
Nunley was the president of Montgomery College for eight years before coming to UMGC. She spearheaded Montgomery College into the top five national community colleges in private fundraising for three consecutive years. In the past, Nunley co-chaired a statewide task force that examined capacity challenges facing Maryland’s public colleges and universities. Read Nunley’s bio
About University of Maryland Global Campus
University of Maryland Global Campus is a world leader in innovative educational models with award-winning online programs in disciplines including biotechnology, cybersecurity, data analytics and information technology that are in high demand in today’s increasingly technical, global workplace. With an enrollment of some 90,000 students, UMGC offers open access with a global footprint and a specific mission—to meet the learning needs of students whose responsibilities may include jobs, family and military service. The university offers both undergraduate and graduate degree and certificate programs, including doctoral programs. A pioneer in distance education since 1947, UMGC today is harnessing the power of learning science and technology to deliver high quality, low cost, accessible higher education.
A recent virtual panel discussion—entitled “Successful Online Academic Programs” and organized by the Chronicle of Higher Ed—focused on what institutions will do with their online capabilities as they explore the potential of the digital-first classroom post-pandemic. It also delved into the lessons these same schools have learned about operating successfully from more established online players.
Joining moderator Ian Wilhelm, an assistant managing editor at the Chronicle, was University of Maryland Global Campus Chief Student Affairs Officer Martina Hansen, along with Evangeline Cummings, assistant provost and director of the University of Florida’s online program; Peter Shea, a University of Albany education professor, who had been the associate provost for online learning; and Jarris Taylor, director of Hampton University’s online program.
The panelists agreed that the question will be whether students will want to continue studying online, and if not, how quickly they will jettison “Zoom U” in favor of the traditional on-campus experience. What happens in the next couple of years may transform higher education.
If traditional, brick-and-mortar universities choose to continue providing online instruction post-pandemic, they will have to enhance the online experience to ensure that students feel part of an academic community.
As a pioneer in online education, UMGC can offer practical advice on what makes these courses and programs work.
“Have you ever shown up for a party [where you] didn’t know anyone, and you felt really lonely and probably left early?” Hansen asked. “When our students are showing up in an online classroom, how do [we] help them feel a sense of belonging?”
One of the first assignments in each class is to post something about yourself to the discussion board, she said, including your goals, background, and what brought you to UMGC. Many students are veterans or active service personnel, and they quickly find they have other things in common.
“It seems so simple, but that helps people feel like they are not alone,” she said.
Hansen added that students also want to feel a part of their program, so it helps to find ways to connect them to other students with the same major and program-related activities. Students need to know that the program is right for them, see their path forward, and understand where it will lead.
Equally important, they need to be able to find support online just as students would on campus, whether around financial aid, clubs and organizations, or registration and transcripts.
The online experience must be about flexibility, Hansen said, so students studying online must be able to do everything just as easily as their counterparts on campus. And they also need the mental and emotional support to help them navigate the personal and academic challenges online students often encounter—especially when they are adult learners juggling full-time jobs, families, or military responsibilities.
While Hansen said UMGC conducts regular student surveys, hearing directly from students is one vital component that generates more nuanced feedback. The university’s Student Advisory Council provides regular feedback on how the institution can improve, she said, and that has informed decision-making around the availability of academic support resources and how to get help from tutors, librarians and success coaches.
“Outreach to students is really critical,” Hansen added, “just keeping a pulse on how students are doing and helping them individually to overcome challenges.”
Adelphi, Md. (August 16, 2021)–University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) has named Chuck Trierweiler, a senior marketing executive with more than 30 years of experience in higher education, technology, and consumer goods, as chief marketing officer and senior vice president for admissions. He began his new position on August 2.
Trierweiler will serve on the university’s Executive Committee and lead the Marketing and Admissions unit, responsible for developing and implementing a comprehensive, global approach to marketing and admissions that aligns with the university’s overall strategy, strengthening the student experience and shaping how UMGC engages with prospective learners all the way to graduation.
Chuck Trierweiler
“Chuck is a true professional with a long track record of driving growth across multiple industries, including higher education,” said UMGC President Gregory Fowler. “I look forward to his insight and leadership as we work together to strengthen our student experience, expand our reach, and improve lives and communities around the world.”
Trierweiler most recently served as global head of product marketing and vice president for ibml, a market-leading technology company focused on information capture and intelligent, high-speed scanning. Prior to that role, he served for 15 years in higher education, first at Capella University in marketing and business management and more recently as chief marketing officer and executive vice president for the Education Corporation of America, a 71-campus college system.
“I am very excited to join an institution with such a strong history of focusing on the needs of adult learners, and I look forward to expanding UMGC’s mission of transforming the lives of students across the globe,” said Trierweiler.
Earlier in his career, Trierweiler held leadership roles in marketing with the $8 billion grocery retail division of SuperValu Inc.; with subsidiaries of the Alberto Culver Company in Illinois and Stockholm, Sweden; and with the Cadillac Motor Car Division of General Motors in Detroit, Michigan.
A graduate of Michigan State University with an MBA from the University of Michigan, Trierweiler has won multiple advertising awards, including three ADDYs; the Cannes Advertising Awards, Bronze Lion; and second prize in Sweden’s Advertising Effectiveness competition.
New Contract Extends UMGC’s Presence in the Region that Started in 2005
Adelphi, Md. (August 10, 2021) — University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) was awarded a new five-year contract by the U.S. Department of Defense to provide educational services to troops on military installations in the Middle East, North Africa and downrange locations that may be in active war zones. UMGC has been providing educational services in those regions and other downrange locations for the last 16 years, with the first courses taught in Afghanistan in 2005.
The new contract, which began on July 13, covers coursework and management of testing centers at 10 sites in seven countries, including Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates. In addition to undergraduate liberal arts programs, active-duty military personnel located in these locations can take courses in select master’s degree programs.
“We are deeply proud to continue our service to those who wear the uniform of our country in this pivotal region of the world,” said Maj. Gen. Lloyd “Milo” Miles (U.S. Army-Ret.), senior vice president for Global Military Operations at UMGC. “It’s a testament to the quality of our faculty and staff and their dedication to the success of our students.”
The Middle East and Africa contract extends through academic year 2025-2026. UMGC also holds contracts to offer instruction in Europe and Asia. The university first began sending faculty to Europe in 1949 and to Asia in 1956.
“We have been educating our active-duty military servicemembers overseas since shortly after the end of World War II,” said UMGC President Gregory Fowler. “It’s a commitment that is at the core of our historic mission to serve adult learners wherever they are in the world.”
About University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC)
UMGC is the state of Maryland’s open-admissions university. With an enrollment of some 90,000 students, the university offers high-quality, affordable, accessible undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs as well as non-degree certificate programs in online and hybrid formats.
From its inception in 1947, UMGC has been guided by its historic mission to bring education within reach for adult students in the workforce and the U.S. military in Maryland and around the world—students for whom a traditional education is impractical or impossible.
In 1949, UMGC became the first institution to send faculty overseas to teach active-duty military personnel at installations in Europe. The university expanded overseas operations to Asia in 1956 and to the Middle East in 2005. UMGC faculty have taught in the war zones of Vietnam, Kosovo, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq.
UMGC now offers classes and education support services to military personnel and their families at 175-plus locations in more than 20 countries. Over half of the university’s current students are active-duty military personnel and their families, reservists, members of the National Guard and veterans.
Adelhi, Md. (July 27, 2021)—University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) has promoted Kristophyre McCall to the newly established role of chief transformation officer.
In this new position, McCall will oversee innovation, enterprise program management (ePMO), and information security, and will serve on the university’s executive committee. McCall will also be responsible for driving forward critical business and technology processes, products, and programs that will support the university’s academic and administrative priorities.
“Kris has been successful in optimizing key processes and operations that have strengthened our services for learners worldwide,” said Nicholas Eremita, UMGC chief of staff and senior vice president for strategy. “He has led a variety of other initiatives to improve efficiency and effectiveness in service to our students, and we look forward to his vision and leadership in this new role.”
Kristophyre McCall
McCall came to UMGC in 2018 as vice president for academic operations and led his teams to record-setting performance, even in the face of challenges presented by the pandemic. He has worked across Academic Affairs and with other institutional partners to develop the Straightline Paths for UMGC’s undergraduate programs based on real-world student data and behavior and extended the university’s capacity to expand and optimize student transfer pathways.
“I am excited to take on these new responsibilities and this new position,” said McCall. “Our education offerings and the way we operate are destined to change as time passes, and it is imperative that we prepare for the future of education. Our goal is to establish a level of agility that allows us to continuously improve upon our vison, strategy, operations and culture, even as we position ourselves to seize new opportunities in an ever-changing educational landscape.”
McCall has spent his career developing new and innovative ways for educational organizations to adapt and transform the way they handle operations while focusing on great student experiences and outcomes. Prior to UMGC, he served in senior leadership positions in university operations for Pearson Online Learning Services, Western International University and American Intercontinental University.
From 2003 to 2008, McCall was vice president of operations and student management at Career Education Corp., where he was a member of the Group President’s executive management team and led the daily operations of the student management process across three institutions in the group.
McCall holds a BS in Economics from Northern Illinois University and a MSM in Business Management and MSM in Project Management from Colorado Technical University.
The Maryland Recreation and Parks Association recently recognized two solution-driven projects undertaken by University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) students with public service awards.
Both of the initiatives, which were capstone projects for students in the Environmental Management Master’s Degree Program, made recommendations for nature areas in Calvert County.
“The partnership was really important to me because we were being able to use the skills of the people in the classes to look at some issues that we have and then be able to come up with the recommendations,” said Karyn Molines, chief of the Natural Resources Division for the Calvert County Department of Parks and Recreation. “They helped us eliminate a step in these projects, which saved us a lot of money. That money can be used for other work.”
One project assessed storm water management at the Battle Creek Cypress Swamp Sanctuary in Prince Frederick. The county is moving forward on the recommendations generated by the five-student team, noting that they could save the county more than $30,000.
Flag Ponds Nature Park
The second project offered an analysis on building a sustainable beach shelter for education programs and visitors at Flag Ponds Nature Park in Lusby. The students were praised for the creative ideas they presented, but the county found that state and federal regulations made the project infeasible.
Molines said she is working on new projects she hopes UMGC students will help to produce.
Like many UMGC masters programs, the environmental management program emphasizes practical projects to augment theoretical learning. In place of a master’s thesis, teams of students work together on capstone projects that require an analysis or examine a problem. They must complete the work within a 12-week course.
Many of the students already are working in environmental management, and they come with a wealth of experience, said Dan Grosse, who teaches the capstone classes. Students with expertise in the field are often paired with less experienced students.
“The amount these working adult students can teach one another is truly phenomenal,” Grosse said.
Nadean Carson, for example, had five years’ experience in civil engineering with the Air Force. She worked on environmental and construction projects after graduating from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. She was assigned to the same UMGC team as Peter Holland, a Towson University graduate in sociology. Holland had decided to move into the environmental field and realized he needed a graduate degree to advance to the next level. Like many UMGC students, he is progressing slowly through the program as he dovetails the academic work with a schedule that also includes his paying job and family responsibilities.
Most of the students’ work was done virtually during the COVID-19 epidemic, although one member of Battle Creek Sanctuary team lived in the same town as the sanctuary and was able to visit the site. The use of topographical maps underpinned the project, the students said, but having Andrea Gibbons at the park during a rainstorm was a big plus.
“She was taking videos. She took pictures,” Holland said. “Seeing the water running down, Andrea was able to see firsthand the problem areas we were discussing and the heavy erosion.”
The project broke the work into phases so the county could advance on it as it got the money, Carson said. The project fit right into the type of work she does professionally.
“This was fantastic for me,” she said. “I did a little happy dance when we got the assignment.”
Natalie Oryshkewych was the team leader on the Flag Ponds Nature Park project. With 25 years of experience at the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, she brought a wealth of knowledge to the team. Her team was located in two time zones and had to learn quickly to work together in order to meet the capstone deadline.
Even though the shelter will not be built, the team had the satisfaction of knowing that its work saved Calvert County from investing time and money into its own analysis.
Oryshkewych said the capstone project also gave her a new appreciation for her job with the Ohio EPA.
“It helped me see the agency that I work for in a more holistic manner, so it wasn’t just what I do from a day-to-day perspective,” she said. “It gave me a better understanding of what my agency does as a whole and how it contends with all of the regulatory programs.”
Adelphi, Md. (July 14, 2021)–University of Maryland Global Campus has announced that Martina Hansen has been promoted to senior vice president and chief student affairs officer.
In this role, Hansen will lead the university’s new Student Affairs division—recently created to consolidate key academic and administrative student support functions across the university—focusing on increasing persistence, retention, and the institution’s various measures of student success. She will oversee enrollment management, regional center operations, academic support and new student experience functions, tutoring, the Effective Writing Center, library services, student resolution, student communications, retention and engagement initiatives, career services, and virtual lab support for students.
Martina Hansen
“Martina Hansen has a track record of building and leading student-centric teams that create positive experiences for our learners, as well as a passion and enthusiasm for serving our students,” said UMGC President Gregory Fowler. “I look forward to her vision and leadership in this new role. I am also confident that our new structure will position us to be more focused and effective in supporting our students and to more deliberately reflect our value of ‘Students First.’”
Hansen joined UMGC in August 2018, initially serving as vice president of student retention and later as vice president of student affairs. She has led the design, implementation, and improvement of programs to continuously enhance academic student services and student success.
“UMGC has made great strides over the past year in enhancing services and support available to our students,” said Hansen. “I look forward to building on that to ensure the best experiences and outcomes for our diverse learners by maintaining focus on what our learners need to succeed and ensuring that they have the right support throughout their journey, along with the confidence to achieve.”
Hansen came to UMGC with more than 18 years of experience in enrollment management and operations. Previously, she served as vice president of operations at Delta Career Education Corporation. In that role, she was responsible for centralized operations, information technology, PMO, application development, training and development, and procurement. Simultaneously, she served as a regional vice president of campus operations, with profit and loss responsibility for 17 of Delta’s campuses. At Delta, Hansen carried out several strategic operational transformations, migrated the organization to a new academic model, and led enterprise technology integrations.
Before that, Hansen served as vice president of continuous improvement at Career Education Corporation, where she implemented strategies to improve student success and persistence, served as a liaison between departments, and worked to ensure the effectiveness of new growth and student experience initiatives.
Hansen holds a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in marketing and communications from University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and a master’s degree in technology management from Georgetown University.
