Posted: 11:08 a.m.
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Former MUM dean joins Cincinnati State
By http://www.journal-news.com/staff/rick-mccrabb/" rel="nofollow - Staff Writer
MIDDLETOWN —
Instead of a retire/rehire, Kelly Cowan is
trying a retire/inspire.
After 21 years at Miami University
Middletown, including serving as dean, Cowan retired on Dec. 31, 2014 and now
has joined Cincinnati State Middletown as special assistant to the president,
Dr. O’Dell M. Owens. In 2013, Cowan earned $137,411 at Miami
University, and this year at Cincinnati State, her salary for the part-time
position is zero.
Cowan, 53, has three grown children, and
married Ted Light last year. She said she’s financially secure.
It’s time to give back, she said.
“This is about my faith,” Cowan said Monday
afternoon while sitting on a couch in the lobby of Cincinnati State.
“God has given me so much. I just want to do what I can to make this place the
best that it can be. I think this place has the right mission, taking students
who may not know what they want and giving them a chance.
“This place gets it.”
Just then, a young female student walked
by, carrying her books, pushing a stroller.
“There is huge potential here,” Cowan said.
“Some of these students, well, you don’t know what they have been through. All
they want is a chance.”
Cowan talks from experience. She became a
teen mother in high school, and at the time, never dreamed of earning an
associate’s degree. Now she holds a PhD in microbiology from the University of
Louisville School of Medicine. She has been a professor of microbiology since
1993 and has served numerous roles at MUM. She also served as the National Chair for Undergraduate Education for the
American Society of Microbiology.
In 2009, she founded the Community Building
Institute (CBI) in Middletown providing
cradle-to-career programming for youth and creating the Parent Resource
Center.
To be successful, Cincinnati State
must “rethink” the way it educates its students, Cowan said. For instance,
non-traditional students can’t take 50-minute classes three times a week
because of their work and home schedules. Instead, they need a block schedule
where they attend class for three hours at a time. Transportation and childcare
shouldn’t be obstacles to keep someone from attending college, said Cowan.
Also, she said, Cincinnati State
officials need to change their approach to recruiting students. Instead of
attending college fairs and passing out free pens, they need to discuss career
options with waitresses and waiters and those working minimum wage jobs. Show
them a career path, she said.
“We can’t use ‘college speak,’” she said.
“We need to use ‘people speak.’”
Cincinnati State Middletown offers 30
degrees and certificates taught entirely at the Middletown
branch campus and more than 100 degree and certificate programs on the Clifton campus that students can take once they have
completed their general education requirements in Middletown.
Owens said the first time he met Cowan he
noticed her “strong passion” to help Middletown
residents who wanted to change their lives.
Before she made the career move, she
discussed it with her husband over dinner in Cincinnati. She gave him veto rights.
“He’s very supportive,” she said. “He knows
my heart.”
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