Processing Your Payment

Please do not leave this page until complete. This can take a few moments.

June 20, 2016

Anna Maria's new president looks towards strategic plan

PHOTO/LAURA FINALDI Mary Lou Retelle has been with Anna Maria College since 2011. She was appointed interin president in 2014, a position that became permanent last year.

A lot has happened at Anna Maria College since President Mary Lou Retelle officially took the reigns on a permanent basis about a year ago. The college has added seven new board members, study abroad programs have increased and affordability options have expanded.

While the first year of a college presidency is usually an exciting and energetic time full of new ideas, Retelle said, the goal is to keep that momentum going.

Retelle joined Anna Maria as vice president for enrollment, student life and athletic programs in 2011 and was promoted to interim president following the resignation of Dr. Jack P. Calareso in 2014, taking on the role permanently last year. Since then, she has secured $550,000 in grants, added key board members and increased students' options for getting an education for a reasonable price. The college is in the data gathering phase of putting together its long-term strategic plan, something Retelle said she hopes to be able to present to the board by early next year.

When she joined the college as head of enrollment, Retelle's job was to attract the best possible students, and so she had her hands in a little bit of everything, including athletics, scholarships and student life. While she said it is relatively unusual for a college president to come from an enrollment background – they traditionally come through academics or advancement, she said – being involved in so many aspects of the college gave her a seat at the table and prepared her well for her current job.

“You have to be aware of all the things that are necessary in order to have the best students, so you have your fingers in everything,” she said. “At some point or another you're working with other constituencies on campus in enrollment. That was a tremendous preparation, good experience for me as the president, because I had that chance to have those conversations with people for many many years.”

Community partnerships

When she was appointed interim president, Retelle said she put a lot of effort into making herself known in the community, to make it clear that Anna Maria hadn't disappeared just because a presidential search was ongoing. She easily worked herself into the fabric of the community, which contributed greatly to the board of directors' decision to hire her permanently, said Paul A. DiPierro, chairman of the Anna Maria College Board of Trustees.

“She can walk into the room, get to know people, and people like her,” DiPierro said. “She's not afraid to boldly go where she has to go.”

Over the past year, Anna Maria has added seven new board members, including Maureen Griffin, vice president of benefits operations at Unum, Peter J. Dawson, chair of the land use and environmental law group at Mirick O'Connell and former lieutenant governor and Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Timothy P. Murray. The board has 24 members, and the college is looking for three or four more – perhaps leaders in the public safety sector or in the arts.

“It's a group of men and women who are not on the payroll who are saying, 'I like what I'm hearing. I like where the students are centered, I like the message that's going out from the college, and I want to be a part of that,'” Retelle said.

Having people like Murray on the board is an affirmation that the college is moving in the right direction, DiPierro said.

“He had to like what he sees to agree to be part of the board,” he said.

Affordability

One of the grants Retelle helped Anna Maria secure was a $10,000 Davis Educational Foundation grant, to look into ways the college could offer its degrees in a shorter period of time.

The grant is part of a larger focus on affordability. Last year, Anna Maria launched the Higher Education and Active Responsiveness through Transfer (H.E.A.R.T.) Initiative, a partnership with Quinsigamond Community College. Through H.E.A.R.T., accepted students studying either criminal justice, fire science, human services or social work can start their studies at Quinsigamond and be guaranteed a spot at Anna Maria after their first two years, all for a maximum total price of $40,000.

“We had to be mindful as a private institution; affordability is one of the things we continue to stress,” Retelle said. “We have to have reasonable expectations for students and their families. We just cannot continue to put that kind of a burden not only on students but also on families as well. So this is one way that we can do that.”

Quinsigamond was a natural partner because the schools had similar missions and public service programs that matched up, Retelle said. Anna Maria is in talks to offer H.E.A.R.T. in conjunction with other schools, including Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner.

“We've already done template, why not sell to other institutions that have similar programs that would match up well?” Retelle said.

Several public colleges, like Worcester, Fitchburg and Framingham state universities have similar partnerships with local community colleges, but Anna Maria was the first local private school to take this step, said Dr. Christine Holmes, the college's vice president for academic affairs. Outside of the community colleges, Retelle has made solid connections in the Central Massachusetts higher education sphere, Holmes said.

“She has great relationships with other college presidents – she helps us get out there and network,” Holmes said. “It's not about competition, it's about working together. She's a very community oriented person.”

Going forward

Another key component of a successful college presidency is putting together your executive team, Retelle said. Since she came on, Holmes' title became permanent and David Breen has been named chief operations officer. A search for a vice president for institutional advancement is ongoing.

As of late May, Anna Maria's strategic plan was in its early stages. Worcester academic consultant Keating Associates, Inc. had just been hired to work on the report and was in the process of gathering data on where the college currently stands, Retelle said.

“They're right in the middle of a great deal of data research. We will find out where are we coming from, what the competition is like, what is the market, what are the future opportunities for students, how the economy will be, perhaps. And that should shape dramatically the decisions and conversations that will be coming forth,” she said. “If you don't understand where you're at, and where you're coming from as a position of either strength or weakness, you won't have a good strategic plan.”

The plan should be ready to present to the board by early next year. Study abroad programs at Anna Maria have expanded over the past year, and Retelle said she would be surprised if partnerships with foreign universities didn't appear as part of the strategic plan. It depends on how the data-gathering phase goes.

“This isn't the Retelle plan,” she said.

Sign up for Enews

WBJ Web Partners

Related Content

0 Comments

Order a PDF