{"id":9715,"date":"2021-06-16T13:52:46","date_gmt":"2021-06-16T17:52:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/?p=9715"},"modified":"2021-06-16T13:52:46","modified_gmt":"2021-06-16T17:52:46","slug":"ceo-magazine-my-formative-years-gave-me-a-passion-for-knowledge-irma-becerra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/ceo-magazine-my-formative-years-gave-me-a-passion-for-knowledge-irma-becerra\/","title":{"rendered":"CEO Magazine: \u201cMy formative years gave me a passion for knowledge\u201d: Irma Becerra<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\u201cMy formative years gave me a passion for knowledge,\u201d she tells The CEO Magazine<\/em>. After earning her bachelor\u2019s degree and then a master\u2019s degree in electrical engineering at the University of Miami, she became the first woman to earn a PhD in electrical engineering from Florida International University.<\/p>\n

Now, as the seventh President of Marymount University<\/a> in Arlington, Virginia, she is passing on her love for education to her students while supporting their needs. Founded in 1950, Marymount University has grown from a two-year college for women into a comprehensive, coeducational Catholic university serving about 3,500 undergraduate and graduate students.<\/p>\n

More than 50 of these are Dreamers \u2013 young immigrant students who are protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Unable to receive federal financial aid, or to even work, these students face great difficulty in putting themselves through college.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne challenge I faced right away at Marymount University was developing ways to financially assist our many Dreamer students,\u201d Irma reveals. \u201cThrough no fault of their own, they were brought to this country at an early age and are now striving to make America stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the first meetings Irma attended when she became President in 2018 was one with members of Marymount\u2019s Dreamers Club, who shared their financial struggles. \u201cSince then, we\u2019ve accomplished so much for this group of students,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Those strides include Marymount becoming a partner university with TheDream.US, the nation\u2019s largest college access and success program for Dreamers. \u201cWe\u2019ve worked closely with Virginia\u2019s Dream Project, established our own Marymount scholarship fund for Dreamers and, just recently, we became the first Hispanic-Serving Institution in the Commonwealth of Virginia,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

Irma highlights another boost for the university\u2019s Dreamers: a newly passed bill will allow undocumented students to receive Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant funding. \u201cThis is something I lobbied for in a Virginia House Education subcommittee, where I offered testimony on the importance of expanding education access for Dreamers,\u201d she points out.<\/p>\n

This is just one example of the positive change Irma has achieved since taking up the reins. \u201cWhen I came on board, Marymount already had high-level academic and student performance,\u201d she reflects.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat it needed was a new management team and overall infrastructure, which included significant technology upgrades.\u201d A five-year strategic plan called Momentum was put in place, laying out a new vision for the university \u2013 that it will be nationally recognized for innovation and commitment to student success, alumni achievement, and faculty and staff excellence.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo make this happen, we are focusing our efforts on four pillars: embracing our distinctive identity, offering transformative experiences, fostering a vibrant community and ensuring a sustainable future,\u201d Irma explains.<\/p>\n

Momentum goals include the enrollment of 10,000 students in the university\u2019s undergraduate and graduate programs, retention of more than 90% of entering first college and transfer students, and the doubling of its four-year graduation rate to 80%.<\/p>\n

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 catalyzed many of the improvements that were already underway, particularly in the field of technology. When the virus prompted campus closures across the US, many universities were left scrambling to put necessary arrangements in place.<\/p>\n

But Marymount succeeded in transitioning its nearly 700 courses online in just a matter of days. \u201cOur faculty demonstrated flexibility and agility in providing a high-quality academic environment despite the circumstances,\u201d Irma reflects.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur students were very understanding when this transition took place but, while this style worked on a temporary basis, we heard from them that they missed the in-person, face-to-face instruction they were used to.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Return to Campus Task Force was created to help the university return to on-campus learning and living by fall. Over many months, they put in place solutions such as a hybrid class format, investments in personal protective equipment and increased technology resources.<\/p>\n

Irma is so proud of Marymount\u2019s response to the pandemic that she highlights it as her greatest professional achievement. \u201cWhile many other higher education institutions have had their problems dealing with the virus, we only had a 2% positivity rate among community members for the entirety of the fall 2020 semester, and it\u2019s been even lower so far this spring,\u201d she reveals.<\/p>\n

The pandemic also made it clear that Marymount\u2019s enterprise technology had to exist in the cloud. Fortunately, the university had started using human resource planning platform Workday since early 2019, allowing it to hire nearly 100 employees during the shutdown.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt revolutionizes how we manage data, processes and people across campus while delivering an exceptional service experience to our students and prospective Saints,\u201d Irma says. \u201cIt is the mechanism for a cultural shift at Marymount and we are grateful to have had the assistance of Collaborative Solutions throughout this process.\u201d<\/p>\n

With so many people losing their jobs during the pandemic, providing them with the skills to return them to work is a priority. Marymount has launched a new initiative called \u2018Upskilling for the What\u2019s Next Economy\u2019, encompassing modular graduate certificates and degree qualifications.<\/p>\n

It has also introduced a \u201cset of stackable graduate certificates\u201d that can combine into a master\u2019s degree in emerging technology. \u201cThe nature of this offering is that students can earn certificates slowly, one at a time, or multiple certificates all at once,\u201d Irma notes. \u201cIt\u2019s up to them and their schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n

These innovations are just a taste of things to come both from Marymount and the wider world of higher education, according to Irma. \u201cThere is a need for higher education to move away from the generic, one-size-fits-all approach,\u201d she insists. \u201cInstead, we should be offering a personalized educational environment that is customized for a student\u2019s preferred learning style.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the original article on CEO Magazine’s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  \u201cMy formative years gave me a passion for knowledge,\u201d she tells The CEO Magazine. After earning her bachelor\u2019s degree and then a master\u2019s degree in electrical engineering at the University of Miami, she became the first woman to earn a PhD in electrical engineering from Florida International University. Now, as the seventh President of Marymount University in […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":9716,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCEO Magazine: \u201cMy formative years gave me a passion for knowledge\u201d: Irma Becerra - Marymount University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"  \u201cMy formative years gave me a passion for knowledge,\u201d she tells The CEO Magazine. After earning her bachelor\u2019s degree and then a master\u2019s . 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