Their backgrounds range from housewife to business owner,
but they have one desire in common — to return to
college and finish their degree from Eastern Michigan University.
More than 100 students from Washtenaw and Wayne counties
attended the Nov. 29 "Return to Learn" open house at EMU's
main campus to find out how they can complete a degree.
EMU also had open houses at its Brighton, Livonia, and
Detroit satellite sites.
"We have worked very hard to get the word out through
media interviews, advertisements and letters," said Lynnette
Findley, coordinator of EMU's "Return to Learn" efforts. "We
targeted Washtenaw and Wayne counties by sending out letters
and it worked. More than 95 percent of the students at
the last open house indicated that they had heard about
the program from the letter."
Findley said interest in the program has been so high
that an additional open house is set for Dec. 20, 4-7 p.m.,
at McKenny Union on EMU's main campus in Ypsilanti.
"These are students who started their college education
at EMU and want to complete their degree here," said Findley.
Although the current "Return to Learn" students will not
begin their classes until 2006, here are several examples
of students who took the step to complete their degrees
at EMU:
Jose Valderrama, a 38-year-old husband
and father, left school 10 years ago, to work as an emergency
room technician. His friends and a mentor, who was
an EMU graduate, however, saw his potential and encouraged
him to consider a nursing career. He returned to EMU and
will graduate from the nursing program in December. He
will continue working in the University of Michigan's emergency
room, but in a new capacity — as a registered nurse.
He considers his education an investment in his family's
future.
Sara Duvall was president and CEO for
a film production company before retiring after 20 years.
After retiring, the 56-year-old returned to Michigan and
found herself substitute teaching. She loved it. Her excitement
for teaching led her to enroll in Eastern Michigan's doctoral
program in educational leadership and counseling. She recently
graduated and plans on working as a superintendent in a
school district.
Gary Nicholls is looking forward to the
day when he finally graduates from EMU, nearly 40 years
after he first started college. Not only will he have earned
his bachelor's degree, but he also will have achieved a
lifelong dream of teaching school. Nicholls went
back to school after he was let go from his job at a film
production company due to the economy. It was a wake-up
call for him. After considering his options, he enrolled
in EMU. He now plans to become a social studies teacher
in a middle school, something he thought he'd never have
the chance to do.
"We have utilized every possible tool at our disposal
to help get out the word about this great program," said
Pam Young, director of University Communications for EMU. "We
have done radio interviews, run radio commercials and print
advertisements, built a "Return to Learn" Web site with
personal stories of some of the students the program is
attracting, and provided 'one-stop shopping' with our open
houses. Eastern Michigan University already had an array
of programs available to adult students so gearing up for
the "Return to Learn" initiative wasn't difficult."
"This is a great investment for us because it helps the
students, it helps EMU and ultimately it benefits the state
and the economy," Young said.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm announced the "Return to Learn" initiative
at the beginning of November as an effort to double the
number of college graduates in the state. Michigan is currently
above the national average for percentage of adults having
some college credit, but no degree. Granholm said that
getting these people back in the classroom is vital to
Michigan's economic growth and public prosperity, because
states with the highest number of college graduates also
are the states with the strongest economies and the lowest
unemployment rates.
