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2001-2004 ARCHIVES
2005 ARCHIVES
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Feature
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
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Bethel's Success Program Changes Lives |
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Judy Lessentine smiles in the light of
her success as a recent graduate of Bethel College.
The daughter of blind parents who taught her to “aim
high”, she is also the mother of two grown sons. Not
content to wait for the Chattanooga program to
develop, in its inception stages she attended classes
in several other Success Program training sites as
well, traveling as far away as Memphis. She is the
first graduate of the Chattenooga program. |
Bethel College's Success Program
couldn't be more aptly named. Wildly successful in its ninth
year--with a 300 percent increase in enrollment and six
campuses across Tennessee, offering 22 class sites from
Memphis to Chattanooga and in which every student receives a
laptop computer--it has been a boon not only for the once
financially-strapped college but, more over, for the
graduates who have benefited from the 14-month degree
program. Among them is Martha Scruggs, now human resources
manager of Physiotherapy Associates in Memphis.
"Truly it has been awesome and I
want to personally thank you and Bethel College for offering
such a tremendous opportunity for adult learners such as
myself," Scruggs recently wrote in an email to Dr. Nassar S.
Nassar, executive director of Educational Outreach at the
college. She reported that shortly before her December 2005
graduation, she was able to begin a new career after 12
years in "a dead end job".
"It is a tremendous opportunity
(with a substantial increase in pay) and a huge blessing,"
she said. "However, I could never have had the door open if
I had not gone back to school."
Nassar thrives on the feedback.
"That's the greatest gratification anybody can get," he
says. "I get these on a daily basis; it's something that
definitely makes it worthwhile."
There was a time when he was
skeptical of the program, however, despite his love for his
alma mater. A 1988 Bethel graduate, Nassar enrolled full
time at the college in 1986 after taking a summer course,
when he fell in love with the school and the community.
Originally from Jordan, he had previously enrolled at nearby
UT-Martin to learn to speak English. At Bethel, he completed
his degree in two and a half years, taking no time off for
summer breaks. He then worked seven years as a managerial
assistant, troubleshooter and trainer at Pepsico before
obtaining his MBA at UTM.
Dr. Nassar Nassar, director
of Educational Outreach, credits the late Dr. James Potts
(left, with Nassar) as his “intellectual model”. Potts, a
professor for more than 50 years before his death last year,
had charged Nassar with evaluating the Success Program’s
standards.
At Pepsico, he had discovered he
both enjoyed and possessed a knack for teaching, so when he
returned to Bethel to visit his former advisor, Dr. James
Potts, he welcomed the opportunity to take on a project
suggested by the estimable professor: find out if the
Success Program is legitimate. It was a question in the
minds of many: How could a student achieve in 14 months, in
one class per week, a full-fledged college degree?
The answer is necessarily prefaced
with Nassar's experiences as an undergraduate student at
Bethel, when he strived to take at least one class per
quarter under Potts, whom he deeply admired.
"I would easily say he is my
intellectual model," Nassar says of the late professor who
died last year after a teaching career spanning more than 50
years. "He is what a true professor ought to be," Nassar
continues, speaking of Potts' sincere regard for his
students and ability to instill internal motivation through
challenging instruction.
Nassar recalls studying the theory
of diminishing returns under Potts only to discover in a
subsequent class, when asked to contrast the theory with
another principle, that he had forgotten the previously
well-rehearsed doctrine.
Exasperated, he later asked Potts if
his knowledge of the thousands of precepts learned during
his college career was going to evaporate at some
inopportune moment in the future, leaving him to appear less
than intelligent among his peers.
"He lowered his glasses and just
looked at me," says Nassar, leaning back in his own chair,
"and said, 'You go to school to learn how to learn. In a way
college is a long term, very expensive, mind stretching
exercise. We don't teach you the specifics of any company
that you're going to work for or industry you're going to be
a part of, but we stretch your mind so you become a better
learner, and we also get you ready for the workplace, in
essence.'"
Satisfied at the time, Nassar admits
he didn't fully understand what Potts meant until he joined
the Success Program. With the average age of the Success
student being 34 to 36 years old, and most coming into the
program from the workplace, he said, "Their mind is
stretched plenty. If we used the same tool, the same format,
as traditional universities and colleges, we would be almost
scratching their brains; it would do more damage than actual
benefit. That's when I bought the whole concept of
accelerated knowledge dissemination programs and practical
education... By the time I finished the first module I
realized it was completely legitimate. It's just a different
format."
Nassar assumed directorship of the
program in November 2002 after conducting studies comparing
models of knowledge transfer in preparation for his doctoral
dissertation. In his first six months as director, the
Success program curriculum was overhauled to present what he
describes as one focusing on "muscle" in the form of
"knowledge that can be applied the next day or the next
week."
The program is designed to produce
executives, he elaborates. "With that end in mind we provide
practical, up-to-date information that gets to the heart of
what they need to learn."
Nassar cites Success graduate Bev
Ligon of Nashville, whose research project saved her
employer, Skyline Medical, 6.5 million dollars. Another
graduate, he says, proposed a dental readiness plan that is
being implemented nationwide among National Guard units
subject to duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
And Bethel's educational outreach
doesn't stop with the Success program. "Our mission is to
create learning opportunities," says Nassar.
Bethel provides training to state,
business and industrial employees. Clients include, for
example, the Verizon call center in Murfreesboro, Goodyear,
and the Tennessee Department of Workforce Development. The
results of those training sessions also make their way to
his email inbox.
Writes Rusty Felts, state employment
security manager 2, "I just wanted to tell you again how
much I enjoyed the leadership course last week... it was one
of the most valuable training courses I've been a part of in
my career with the state of Tennessee. You bring a ton of
material and knowledge to the course... I learned a great
deal that I can take with me forever."
Uncompromised excellence is what
Nassar strives to promote. It's a value he learned the hard
way as the student of another Bethel instructor, Maribeth
McGuire, whom he holds in great esteem.
McGuire is the recently retired
academic dean who taught English when Nassar was a student
at Bethel. Having made Bs in each of his previous classes
under her instruction, he desperately wanted to make an A in
his final class. When he received his final score of 92--in
a grading scale in which 95 percent was required for an
A--Nassar decided to appeal to her sensibilities.
"I've only been speaking English for
four years," he implored. "Don't you think you can give me a
break?"
Her response redefined his meaning
of excellence: "Well, Nassar," he recalls her saying, "If
you want me to assess your performance with a different
criteria than others, I can do that, but 950 points (in
1,000) is what anybody has to have in order for them to get
an A in this course. If you want me to water down the
criteria for you, I'll think about it."
Although he admits walking out of
her office muttering under his breath, Nassar declares, "I
think the lesson now and probably for the rest of my life is
very simple: the standards of quality cannot acknowledge
limitations; the standards of quality are just
that--standards. If you want to change them so you have the
perception of quality--regardless of whether you have a
legitimate reason or not--then you're watering down the
challenge; you're actually pretending to perform and people
are pretending to give you credit."
It's a concept recent Success
graduate Judy Lessentine, who lives near Chattanooga,
learned early on. The child of blind parents, Judy says,
"They always taught us to 'aim high'. Some things never
change; in order to be successful, one must always aim
high."
In a presentation shared with other
Success Program students during Bethel's recent Homecoming
celebration, Judy used an acronym for "AIM" to convey how
important the program was to her.
A = Accountability: "We all have
made excuses for not completing projects or going back to
school: young children, older children taking up so much
time, new job, move to a new city, husband's demands," said
Judy, whose own husband died in January after 25 years with
multiple sclerosis.
I = Innovation: Judy had wondered
how she could possibly complete the 128 semester hours
necessary to earn her degree, including the College Start
and Success Program credits. With the Chattanooga program in
the inception stages when she first enrolled, she chose,
rather than waiting, to take the required courses in
McKenzie, Nashville, and Memphis as well as Chattanooga. She
traveled 19,250 miles in all, some days leaving home at 4
a.m. and returning around 10 at night. "Now that is
innovative," she said.
M = Mutual Success: "If I prove a
success, then both the college and I achieve mutual
success," concluded Judy, who became the first graduate from
Bethel's Chattanooga Success site. Bethel College in August
was honored by the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce during
the grand opening of the new site.
Although several other colleges and
universities have instituted an accelerated degree program,
Nassar says none have experienced the success of Bethel
College. "Nobody in Tennessee has more locations; we are
definitely number one," he says, citing 43 department
staffers--up from five originally--and more than 197 adjunct
faculty members across the state whose main occupation
titles include judge, human resource manager, vice
president, attorney... "you name it," says Nassar. "It's a
very impressive array of people."
But he says the truly great thing
about Bethel is that it is a family with deep roots in
McKenzie. Photos of the city of McKenzie and Bethel's campus
are prominently displayed in every satellite campus. "We
have a lot to be proud of," he says. "I think we're blessed;
that's the honest truth and our success would always start
at, 'We're blessed'. It seems like God has taken care of
us--Bethel means house of God. Every time we turn around,
Bethel is being blessed; it's the reason for our success."
For more information, contact
1-877-4BETHEL, success@bethel-college.edu, or visit the
Success Web site at www.bethelsuccess.net. Bethel College is
chartered by the state of Tennessee and accredited by the
Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools.
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