Journey of Ferrum College President

Speaker 2 0:14

And now from the Blue Ridge PBS studios in Roanoke , virginia . It's the Virginians of Interest podcast , with your hosts Brian Campbell and Karthan Curran .

Speaker 1 0:24

Welcome to the Virginians of Interest podcast . Thank you for joining us today . My fellow guest host , Karthan Curran , has a special introduction to make .

Speaker 3 0:31

Thank you , brian . Before I do that , it's hard to believe this is our third season opening today and it's good to be with you .

Speaker 1 0:38

We're not sure we're going to make it to the third episode , much less the third season . So far , so good .

Speaker 3 0:42

Congratulations To you as well , congratulations we are delighted to have with us today Dr Myrta Martin , the 13th president of Ferrum College , who will be inaugurated on May the 4th . As the 13th president , welcome , dr Martin .

Speaker 4 0:57

Thank you . Thank you for having me here . It's great to see you both , gentlemen .

Speaker 3 1:01

I will say for our listeners I am a proud Ferrum College graduate so it's especially a treat and a delight to have you with us this morning . I think our listeners would be very interested in knowing your background , your early childhood and that amazing story getting to the United States . Can you begin with that ?

Speaker 4 1:22

Sure , I think the amazing story is really getting to Ferrum College , because that's where I was destined to be . I think the journey there is an untraditional journey , but perhaps not so much so . So I was very quickly . I was born in Cuba and when I was six , the communist regime allowed my grandmother , my sister and me to leave the island . They did not allow my parents , my grandfathers , my brothers and the rest of the family to leave . But my grandmother decided to give us freedom and so , on a leap of faith , she left her family behind and we went to Spain . There we didn't know who was going to go pick us up . We left literally with a close on our back , not a suitcase , not nothing . But my grandmother knew that if she did not take that opportunity , we would be destined to then stay in Cuba because they would not allow us the opportunity to leave again , and if we were not allowed to leave , my parents would not leave without us . So the entire family would be in a sin , destined to stay in a communist regime . And she believed in giving us freedom , the freedom to express ourselves , the freedom of liberties that we hold dear in this country , and certainly the freedom to practice our faith . So when we arrived in Spain with literally a spaghetti string is what I was wearing there was no on the ground and there was a group of nuns that were there picking up individuals who were coming , who had no families . We just happened to be the only ones who didn't have anywhere to go . As I said , my grandmother just picked up and left on a leap of faith . So the nuns took us to their convent and they gave us coats . It's the first time I saw snow and we thought we would be there for the next two weeks , for the next two months , until my family would leave . Regrettably , or eight years later , my family had not left and I was still terrorizing the nuns in that convent . But , as you can imagine , for me it was a wonderful time because back then and it's how I will tie my journey to Ferrum College I started to understand the importance of not self-bite others . I saw those nuns cater to the community , serve others , without any expectations or anything for themselves . So I was very , very , very happy there . I learned a lot , my faith grew and then , of course , in Spain , if you're a girl , you go to school with nuns and if you're a boy with friars . So I lived in a convent with nuns and I went to school at another convent with nuns .

Speaker 4 4:10

Well , as I said , eight years passed and the American embassy my grandmother had been trying to do everything , all the paperwork , to get my family out of Cuba . And so the American consulate , one of her vices , told her that maybe if we came to the United States as American citizens and as minors , we might be able to get our parents out , our family out of Cuba . So on , yet on another leap of faith , my grandmother picked us up and brought us to the States . We went to Miami Beach . I was 15 years old , I didn't speak a word of English and , like many American families still today and most immigrants , my grandmother worked two full-time jobs , like many of my kids now , at Ferrum College as a high school student . I went to high school , obviously , but then I had a full-time job and my full-time job was normally 45 , 50 hours a week . On Sundays we'd get up , we'd go to church and we then would go clean homes , and it was the money from cleaning those homes that put food on our table . And I will tell you I have told the kids that that's something that you don't ever forget . We were working every possible hour in the day , yet sometimes , while we had food on the table , it was not enough , and so I remember going hungry . That's why , to this day , I fight hunger insecurities , because it's very difficult to study when you're hungry , and many of our kids do today are very difficult to study when you don't know whether or not you're going to have a roof over your head . Many of our students at Ferrum College have aged out of the foster care system or for whatever reason . They're independents and don't have a roof over their head .

Speaker 4 6:01

So I came to the States . I did high school in Florida . I did well , but I really never thought I would go to college . My grandmother always said in America , a college degree is what's going to get you forward . And I kept thinking it's easier for me to go to the moon than to go to college , because we don't have any food to put on our table . How in God's green earth am I going to go to college , let alone , how do you navigate the educational system ? How do you know what to apply ? How do you know what scholarships to get ? How do you know what to apply ? How do you know what scholarships to get ? How do you know what major to choose ? That is still the plight of many of our students at Ferrum College today and throughout America who , as me , are first in their family to go to college . But I was fortunate . I had an incredible mentor who took me under her wing , who taught me how to apply to college , how to discern where to go , how to figure out what major I should perhaps be interested in pursuing . And it was that teacher who , at a time when we didn't have the money , wrote the check that I attached to my application to Duke University , and that's how I started my journey . So in every school that I have ever been , we have removed that barrier because other students may not have a teacher who's able to write that check . And so at Ferrum College we don't have an application fee because we want to remove every single obstacle that there is to ensure that college is affordable and accessible to the next generation of leaders . So I went to school at Duke .

Speaker 4 7:42

I'd met my husband freshman week . We started to date by Christmas . We dated the four years we got married after we graduated . And , as I say to the students now , do as I say and not as I did , because , while it worked for me being married at the age of 20 , it's interesting , let's just say that we grew together . My husband , john , who Cartha knows , literally grew in height after being married , but that has worked for us . You know , we are each other's best friends . We've gone through trials and tribulations .

Speaker 4 8:20

We both worked two jobs , one to pay the bills , the other one to put a little bit of money away so we could purchase our first home . And so I went to work in banking and I was actually started to work with a company that's well known here in Roanoke , which was Dominion Bank Shares . We had , of course , dominion Bank in Richmond and that was bought . That was merged with at the time with First Union Bank was bought . That was merged with at the time with First Union Bank . And so I grew up in the banking industry and First Union Bank .

Speaker 4 8:57

At the time , you know , I of course I had gotten an awful lot of education , but that time I had a PhD and had more education than anybody else . Because you know , I don't know about you , gentlemen , or about those who are listening , but when your grandmother comes to you and says you're going to go back to get your master's , you don't say no , you say ma'am , yes , ma'am . And when your grandmother comes back to you and when you're finishing your master and she says , and now you're going to get your doctorate , you don't say no , you say ma'am , yes , ma'am . And so I have a master's and MBA with a concentration in finance , because of course I was at the bank and my PhD is in business strategy . And so I left the bank as a senior VP in charge of commercial lending and mergers and acquisition at the time when the bank was the third largest in the United States .

Speaker 4 9:44

But my children had been born , we had no family . My mother and two brothers were allowed to leave Cuba , but they stayed in Miami . The rest of the family was never allowed to leave . So we had no family and John , my husband , and I felt very strongly that we needed to give our children our faith . We believe strongly that there's two things that we can give children . One is our faith , another one is an education , and I'm very grateful that we've been able to do that to both of our children . And so that's when I entered into academia and I , you know , grew up in academia , have a very diverse background . I've been privileged to work in both public and private sectors , the community college system .

Speaker 4 10:25

And then I left Virginia about 12 years ago to go to my first presidency in Kansas , then my second in West Virginia , always trying to come back home and because John never left , even though I went to Kansas , he was running a third generation company and he wasn't quite ready to retire . But you know , living away from each other for 11 years gets old . And the joke is that , and he'll tell you , is that we only saw each other five times a year , just because of the distance and because of his responsibilities . And the joke is , and I'll tell you , is that , yeah , five times a year was fine , but I didn't care that as much as the fact that I only got to see my children once a year . So we made the decision that I was not going to seek a third contract in my previous institution .

Speaker 4 11:18

And within a week Ferrum College called me and so I told the board I would consider that . I came on campus . I called John . I said OK , we need to go back to Ferrum College , because I knew about Ferrum College I mean , my goodness gracious , it's been around 111 years but I wanted to feel that this is where I belong and so we came down 40 .

Speaker 4 11:40

We turn into Wiley Drive and the chapel is that iconic building . The chapel is on the right and I just looked at John and he looked at me and he said you're home , aren't you ? I hadn't said a word and I said yes , I am . And so that's my journey to Ferrum College , and I will tell you it's a magical place . This is my seventh stop , my third presidency , and I have never in my life found a place like Ferrum College it's just no other way to describe it but magical .

Speaker 4 12:11

And it's the people that make it magical . It's the love of the people , it's the support of the people , of the community . It's the work of the board . I mean , these are individuals who are it's a working board . They're there because they love the college . They believe in the college . Our faculty , our staff are there because they believe in the college . They turn on a dime . They believe in the college . Our faculty , our staff are there because they believe in the college . They turn on a dime . We color outside of the lines .

Speaker 4 12:37

When I came in 14 months ago , I said to everyone okay , we've got a lot to accomplish , so we're going to be on roller skates and steroids . And we have been . And now we have so many more initiatives that the joke is we're no longer on roller skates and steroids , we're now on rockets and steroids . We've graduated to rockets because even roller skates were too slow . But you know , I'm happy to to share with you all some of the wondrous initiatives that are going on in the college .

College of Opportunity and Family Stories

Speaker 4 13:09

We are , as you know , the College of Opportunity of Virginia . We were founded 111 years ago by the women of the United Methodist Church and I accentuate women because we often hear about founding fathers right , and that's normal , especially 100 plus years ago but never about founding mothers . This was at a time when women didn't even have the right to vote . And yet these ladies envisioned a school of opportunity in Virginia , in Southwest Virginia , to be a beacon of hope , to be a beacon of education , to be a destination of choice for individuals who had the potential , who had the talent , who had the intellect , who had the drive , who had the resilience , who had the work ethic but perhaps didn't have the finances . And so , true to those words , true to that vision , today we still are honoring that vision , that mission of being that college of opportunity in Virginia .

Speaker 1 14:03

Well , this is a very inspirational story . So before we jump into more details about family , do you mind if I go back just a little bit , because I've never heard your story before ? Two things so your family became the nuns and your old family was , most of which were left in Cuba . Did you whatever happened to your family that stayed in Cuba ? Were you ever allowed to see them again ? And then also , I'm just curious about the nuns what order was it ? And you know that sort of stuff . So can you tell me a little bit about your family in Cuba and a little bit more about the nuns , and then we'll move on to Faram .

Speaker 4 14:31

So the nuns are the daughters of Mary Immaculate . They are headquartered in Madrid and that's where I was at their convent . They were not closer nuns , meaning they could not see the public , but their mission was to serve humanity , and that's what they did . As you can imagine , living in a convent , I got an awful lot of religion . I went to mass with the nuns at seven . I went to school , then we had mass in Latin at 12 . Then I came back to school , then I went back to the convent and then we had mass at 7 pm with the nuns .

Speaker 1 15:11

Wow , that's a lot , Are they still ?

Speaker 4 15:14

around . Did you ever go back ? Oh , yes , they are still around . So a funny story .

Speaker 4 15:19

My son , patrick , went to UVA and one of the requirements of his major was to do study abroad , and so he went to Spain . He speaks Spanish , of course he speaks it like an American , like a Southern American , just like my daughter . But he went to Spain to do a semester in Salamanca , there , to satisfy the requirement of the institution , and then he stayed behind . So I had told him where I'd live , in Madrid , and I told him you know , if you go into the chapel , which is open to the public , you go through the very end and on the left-hand side you're going to see a crypt of the founding mother of the order , saint Vicenta Maria , and then there's a door and if you go through the door you're going to go straight and then you're going to turn right and then in front of you you're going to see this humongous set of marble stairs . If you go up through the marble stairs and turn left and then take the little corner and go to the end , that's where we live . So what does my 20-year-old son do ? He does what you told him , he does what I tell him and goes back into where the nuns live . Oh , that's right .

Speaker 4 16:32

So he got caught at the top of the marble stairs with these nuns saying what are you doing here ? This is our home . You can't be here . And he's saying in Spanish , but this is where my mother lived . She told me that , you know , I want to see where she lived , and they're going no , no , no , no , no , no . That's not how this works it . I want to see where she lives and they're going no , no , no , no , no , no . That's not how this works . It's just somehow we can't get you in here . So , yes , they're still there . They are still a very strong order and still doing the work that they did when we were there , and that is making sure that immigrants who don't have , who just come to the country and end up in Madrid and don't have a place to live , have a place to live and get their feet from under them .

Speaker 4 17:15

As far as my parents , my family , the only ones who were allowed to leave the islands were my mother and two brothers . They came as I was getting ready to go away to school at Duke , so we really don't know each other . I mean , my brothers and I have gotten close over the years , my mother is . You know I never lived with her we had been separated for 13 years and with the rest of the family , so it's something akin to a dear aunt . You know who you know is there , who you love , but there's , regrettably , no affinity .

Speaker 4 17:54

All of my family died in Cuba . My father died two years ago and we were never reunited , and you know that's the plight of so many immigrants who choose to leave their countries , their families , behind , to give their children a better way of life . And that's what my grandmother did for me . She gave me freedom , she gave me an opportunity to live in a free , democratic society , and that's also one of the reasons that I have made it a life's mission to serve and to facilitate access to education to the men and women , past , current and future , who serve this country and who protect this country , because it is through their sacrifice that I and my children are able to live in a free , democratic society , and my respect , admiration and gratitude will be forever with them .

Speaker 1 18:46

Thank you very much . Thanks for sharing that extra part . I appreciate it , carson , thanks for sharing that extra part .

Speaker 3 18:50

I appreciate it , Carson . Thank you , Brian . Dr Martin , as you see , give us your take on the higher education landscape today after having this is your third presidency . You've been in higher education now for over 20 years . Yes , that face especially private higher education institutions like Ferrum . Can you give us your sense of where these challenges ? How do we address these challenges ? The cost of an education , even the questioning of having a college degree , is out there . I'm curious about your thoughts on how Ferrum is approaching that and your thoughts about that just in a general , global sense .

Speaker 4 19:37

Well , you know , I think that's a very fair question and it's one that I know it's being discussed at various levels .

The Future of Higher Education

Speaker 4 19:46

I believe , and I still do , and I will ever do , that the way forward , as my grandmother would say in America and anywhere in the world , is through an education . And an education doesn't mean necessarily a four-year degree , it doesn't mean a master's degree , it doesn't mean a PhD , it means a post-secondary degree . So , for those students or those parents who are listening , you know if you send , if your child just wants to get a two-year degree , that's an education , that's a post-secondary degree , even a certificate that provides college credit as an on-ramp to a larger degree . It's an education and I believe firmly in it .

Speaker 4 20:26

I think that one of the things that academia does not do well and we do a lot of things very well but one of the things we don't do well is we don't turn well on a dime . We have become a great big enterprise and so it's difficult to turn around a Titanic . And I get that . I come from industry . When I left , as I shared with you when I left , when I graduated , I went into a banking industry . So I came into academia as a three-headed monster because I was not traditional . You know , normally when I started in academia 20 years ago , the normal track was you went to college , you went get your master's , your PhD , and then you went to teach and you became an assistant professor , associate . You went up through the ranks , right ? I didn't do that . You went up through the ranks , right ? I didn't do that . I went straight into the market and then , as a non-traditional student , I went back to school , like many of our listeners , like many people in America today . It was because the you know , the single family income home is a thing of the past . These days , you have to have double incomes to make ends meet , especially when you're getting out of college . So what academics are not able to do is move very quick Coming from industry . The joke around school and everywhere being is that I don't color within the lines , I like to color outside of the line , and I think that that's critical . I think that these days , what has to occur is innovation in education and I can tell you that at Ferrum College we are on steroid through innovation because of an education .

Speaker 4 22:07

We have many , many challenges in higher ed a declining audience right , the demographics are coming down In 2026 , it's going to be , theoretically , the least number of college-age students who are able to enter higher ed in the history of America . Okay , now , after that , it will begin to turn up , but the new demographics are quite different because , as we know , the minority will become the majority . So the new population that's coming up is a population the Hispanic population , the African-American population that will become the majority , but their college-going rates and their college persistence rates and their college graduation rate is not at the level of their counterpart . So we're going to have to shift to be able to do it . We have had to shift because of the pandemic , but we're going to have to take it to a different level .

Speaker 4 23:11

In addition to that , what you stated , the fact that industry is saying to people , just because of the need for employees , don't go to school , come , we can get you a job , you know , a job paying $40,000 , $50,000 a year . It's a lot of money for our students . And so they go and they go to work , and that's great , except that two , three , four years later , when it's time for that student to get a promotion , what's the first thing that employer says what's your education ? What's your education ? Where's your degree ? And , of course , that student now possibly has a family it has been used to getting a check , has moved out of their household and so it's very difficult to be promoted . So you know , for us we are trying to remove that theorem college . We're trying to remove all the barriers for education .

Speaker 4 24:13

The high cost , an increasing cost of an education is an issue Again at Ferrum College . We're dispelling all of that . So true to our mission of being the College of Opportunity in Virginia . This year we reduced our tuition by $10,000 . That's huge At a time when most institutions are raising tuition . Here's a small college by design in Southwest Virginia , by design , by mission , as the College of Opportunity . Who's saying our mission is to be able to attract you as a College of Opportunity , to give you an education , and so if you have the ability , the intellect to drive the work , ethic , not the money come to us , because we're going to reduce it by and we have by $10,000 . Last year , again following that mission , we launched our Panther Promise , which provides free tuition , free tuition to attend Ferrum College for qualifying Virginia residents . So , depending on whether or not you qualified and a lot of people right now , 39% of our population qualifies for the Panther Promise , and so what we're doing is we're trying to understand what are the needs of society and how we can address those needs .

Speaker 4 25:31

Now , coming out of industry , I also have a very I don't know that I have a unique view on the role of higher ed , but I will say is perhaps a little different . I believe that , as the providers of an educated workforce to industry , it is our role to listen to the needs of industry and then , pivot , to be able to educate our students to meet those demands . That's not necessarily what higher ed does . Higher ed has their construct and they say , okay , so here are majors , this is how we do things in industry , this is what you're going to do and this is what you're going to take . And then industry has to do what ? Retraining Exactly , which is cost them money and , as we all know , is on ramping in industry , is the most expensive part .

Speaker 1 26:29

Yeah .

Speaker 4 26:29

What we're doing at Ferrum College is we're taking all of that out of the equation , thereby creating a competitive advantage for our students . So , for example , next week we're getting ready to have a historic announcement the secretary of labor of the Commonwealth of Virginia , brian Slater by the way , a proud Ferrum College alum is coming . We are partnering with the Bill Smart Institute here in Roanoke to be able to launch a first-of-a-kind partnership between an institution of higher education , a four-year institution , and an academy that particularly and primarily focuses on educating construction workers , and so we are making sure that we are addressing the needs of that industry . That's huge . You know we have put forth a grant to the Virginia Department of Education . We're hoping and praying that that will come through . And it's again innovation in education , and that's to be able to create an on-ramp to education from the high school , from the trades okay into college , and also for nursing . Ferrum College has an incredible nursing program . We started it about three years ago and because it's new , unlike many other programs in Virginia , we still have capacity to be able to attract students . We've also done something that no other school in Virginia is doing , and that is we accept students into our nursing program as a freshman . All the other schools . You are accepted into the university , into the college , as a freshman , but then you have to apply to enter the nursing school as a junior . Now imagine the anxiety of whether or not I'm going to be accepted . And because there are limited spots , not everybody is accepted . So then , if you're one of those students who's not accepted , what do you do ? You have to leave , you have to change major , and that's at a time when , as you said earlier , health care is at a critical height in its history . We need to be churning out more and more and more and more and more nursing . So what we've done at Ferrum College is we believe in obliterating any and every obstacle that there could be for students , and so we accept students who want to go into nursing freshman year , students who want to go into nursing freshman year . That allows us the opportunity to create an expansive on-ramping , takes away that anxiety , increases the level of engagement , participation and affords our students the opportunity to do much more hands-on . So again , something else that is innovative In all of our courses , one of the things as I go out throughout and visit with industry , they will tell me they will hire a Ferrum College graduate before somebody else , and one of the reasons for that is that you know , higher ed all shares pretty much the same curriculum .

Speaker 4 29:42

I mean , a master's degree in business is a master's degree in business , right . A management course is a management course , a biology course is a biology course . But there's a difference at Ferrum College . Actually there's various differences with industry designed , industry-ready skills that are embedded in each one of our courses , or certifications , or ability to sit for certain certificates that anywhere else you would have to go to an academy and take . So let's say you're sitting in a management course , okay , you would think that that management course you would have when you finish it as an employer . You would think that that management course you would have when you finish it as an employer . You would think , ok , this person has a little bit of knowledge of how to do a budget . That would be right . Or this person would have a little bit of knowledge as to how to put together a hierarchical structure or an organizational structure . That would be right . Structure or an organizational structure , that would be right and that's throughout right . But we go one step further at Ferrum College . When you get out of that management course , you also want to have an Office 365 certification industry skill . If you're sitting for an IT course , you're going to have a cybersecurity certification industry skill If you sit for three agricultural courses and of course we know that agriculture is one of our largest major we've got 800 beautiful acres situated in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountain , with two working farms .

Speaker 4 31:18

One is geared towards horticulture , so our students do aquaponics and hydroponics the way of the future , in addition to the regular knowledge of how to run their farms , because many of them still come from family farms . On the other side we have the animal husbandry side , where we have goats and we have the larger animals , whether it's the cattle or the lambs . And so what occurs is if you sit in one of those courses three of them on the agriculture side you're able to sit for an OSHA certification Again industry skill . If you're taking a ceramics course , you come out with a welding certificate Again industry skill . This is not you have to sit in a separate class . This is part of your curriculum at Barron College , because that's what industry has said to us that they need . They need industry ready skills . So we color outside of the lines and because our classes are small by design 10 to 12 , we're able to do that . We're also able to give students a hand-on experience that elsewhere they're only going to get if they're a C .

Speaker 4 32:34

So let's go back to agriculture . That freshman is going to go through the process of raising an animal . So they are going to be involved as a freshman , from insemination to gestation , to growth , to delivery , to care , to sale of that animal , of that goat small animal . From there they may graduate into a lamb , a larger animal , and then graduate into cattle . But they're going to be able to understand this . So we put them out into the field . How do you rotate them ? You know , how do you actually perform the skill ? That is based on the education that you're receiving . You know , if you're in business , we run a VITA program where we fill out the tax returns for people in the community who may not know how to do it free of charge , and so that freshman accounting student is going to be sitting in that room . Now , obviously there's going to be people checking them right , but they're actually doing hands-on work .

Speaker 4 33:43

I could go on and on and on , but you know , the point is that all of our courses at Ferrum College are laden with industry ready skills and small by design , and that's the way we want to be . We want to know our students by name , we want to understand their aspirations , we want to be able to guide them to achieve their American dream , the American dream that I'm living . We want them to do that , and to do that , just like in business , we've got to create a differentiation strategy , which we have and we continue to do , and we could create a competitive strategy to make our students marketable and competitive and to be able to differentiate themselves when they enter industry . And that's what they do . 92% of our students who graduate from Ferrum College have a job in the field of their major before they graduate . That is an incredible success .

Speaker 4 34:59

And the other 8% within six months . Again , and it's because of the connections , right , we get to know you . So I've got somebody in media communication and I can say , okay , let me connect the two of you . They do internships , they come here and they speak and they see how this podcast works , and then they're getting ready to graduate and you say , well , you know I can't hire you , but I know somebody who can . And then you pass it forward and you connect . So it's what a school ought to do , because for us , our kids and I tell parents , when you drop your child at our doorstop they become our kids and we take that really seriously . And so our kids we know what they need , what they want . We nurture them , but we challenge them , we connect them and we give them the education with the industry , latent skills , so that they can create a competitive advantage for themselves , so that they can differentiate themselves , so that when they go out into the world they're able to transform it , and transform they do .

Speaker 1 36:00

Let me go back in your history a little bit , because you described the coming wave , the demographic . You were that demographic , so that's a little unusual . But I'll also be honest . I mean , when you said Duke , I immediately think what was that like ? I mean because Duke is like a lot of schools the perception is that it's a little more privileged , a little not minority . So when you attended school , what was it like ? And number two how does that inform you now as a college president ? Two how does that inform you now as a college president ?

Speaker 4 36:25

It was different . I think you're right . I think I was very privileged

College Life and Academic Success

Speaker 4 36:34

to go to .

Speaker 1 36:34

Duke , I did very well in school and um , how about campus life ? I mean , did you ? You met your husband early on . That probably helped .

Speaker 4 36:44

Well , it did , you know it , it so . So on the academic side , I had done very well in high school and I was privileged and very grateful to do that . They gave me a scholarship to be able to attend , not on financial needs , which I more than would have qualified , but really on on academic progress , and it's what I tell the kids now . You academics do matter . We were on , as with any facility , any college like Ferrum , where the gross percentage of 93% of our students live on campus . The same thing was true for Duke Freshman week . You get kind of hooked to your roommate , literally , and so my roommate and I went everywhere together . She was on the gymnastics team at Duke . She met Carrie , who was my husband to be roommate , who was on the men's gymnastics team . So Carrie brought John and Evelyn brought me and so we connected . So then the four of us became the tribe and we went everywhere together .

Speaker 4 37:44

You know , it was difficult for me because I was still learning the language . I had been in this country for four years . I had done I mean mathematics , just I look at life through numbers and that's easy the language . I could write it better than most Americans . Very candidly , because I had to learn , you learn how to speak it , and then you were taught I had to learn , you learn how to speak it , and then you were taught I had to learn how to write . Yeah , you know . So I learned the structure of it , but I couldn't read as fast as you could because I was still translating Right ?

Speaker 4 38:18

You know , duke back then was not like Ferrum College , a very cohesive school . It was small back then . Of course , since then it's grown by leaps and ground , but it was small . The faculty not unlike the faculty at Duke took interest in the students . So I felt very much at home . Where I didn't feel at home was that because my counterparts were very privileged . I couldn't do what they could do . You know , I went to school and then I went to work and I worked a 50-hour week .

Speaker 3 38:55

Well , I think it's worth noting Duke also is a faith-based .

Speaker 4 39:00

Yes , duke is also a member of the United Methodist Church . It's a faith-based institution . The chapel , the Duke Chapel , is an iconic building throughout the South , as is our own chapel , the Vaughan Chapel and Carolina at Ferrum College , and so both institutions are grounded in faith .

Speaker 4 39:22

So the working part made you different than a lot of the other Duke colleagues , the working part did make me because , again , I would go to class , and when I would finish class and my peers went to study or to play or to whatever I would go , to work , john will tell you the story that he would call coming on me , calling on me on Friday nights Well , friday nights , where most kids would take the afternoon off after school . Because you got the weekend , I studied , because I got off work , and then , saturday , I worked a 12-hour day . Okay , so I worked from nine o'clock in the morning to nine o'clock at night and then had to walk back to campus . It was at a nearby shop , and so John would call , calling on Friday , and he would call and I would start saying what part of I have to study , do you not understand ? So one day it was like I got really upset and I slammed the door in his face . It came this close to breaking his door and it was like what ? In what language do I need to tell you ? And I speak seven ? In what language do I need to tell you I am studying ? But he persisted , despite the fact that I almost broke his nose , and so he'd come back at midnight when I finished studying , and that was our date . We would go across the street . There was an open Wendy's that stayed open 24 hours , and so we would cross the street over , go to Wendy's and get a Frosty that we would share and then he'd walk me back to the dorm because back then , you know , at midnight there was somebody on the door and you couldn't get to the door , you couldn't get into the dorm . So he walked me to the door and I went in and he went to his dorm .

Speaker 4 41:13

So , but you know it , I understand , you know , as a mother , that's why I'm so , I'm so passionate about removing obstacles . As parents , we want better for our kids that we had ourselves , and I was able to do that for my children . My husband and I worked very hard , very long hours , so that when they went to college , their job was to be in college . Now they came back during Christmas , during summer , in breaks , and they worked , and they worked very hard , but in school that was their job , because I knew what it was to just not have a life at all , and I did .

Speaker 4 41:54

Regrettably , many of my kids at Ferrum College still are doing 30 years after the fact that what I was doing 30 years ago and I want better for them , and that's where I'm out asking industry to invest . It's not to donate . They're investing in their future , because what we're doing at Ferrum College is we're educating their future workforce leader , and that workforce employee it's going to have the skills that they need to go to work right away , instead of having to train them , so I am , in essence , saving them that money so invested in us .

Speaker 4 42:32

Our board is incredible , our alumni are great . We exist because of the generosity of individuals , alumni boards , community members , industry partners , people who just believe in the vision and the mission of Ferrum College , which is not self but other , which is to educate the next generation of leaders . And so we're grateful , very grateful , for that support for those individuals who you know , don't know us and write a check , just because we believe in what you're doing . And that's what makes Ferrum College work , that's what makes it a magical place . It's the people . It's the people who believe .

Speaker 3 43:14

Carson , Dr Warren . We mentioned Ag is one of our majors at Ferrum . You want to maybe discuss some other flagship major .

Speaker 1 43:24

Certainly .

Speaker 4 43:25

We have over 80 majors at Ferrum College . Obviously , I could sit here and talk to you all of them . By the way , carson , what ?

Speaker 3 43:32

was your major Public administration .

Speaker 4 43:35

And so you know , criminal justice is one of also one of our popular majors .

Innovations in Education and Technology

Speaker 4 43:40

We are partnering with the Cardinal Academy , actually right here in Roanoke , so that the students who are in criminal justice , if they want to go into the law enforcement venue of it , are able to come to the Cardinal Academy , obtain the law enforcement certificate , and so that when they graduate , not only do they have the baccalaureate in criminal justice but they also have a law enforcement certificate . Why is that important ? You are hired by a PD and then you are , in essence , a security guard . They have to then send you to an academy to become certified in law enforcement . That's time away from work , that's an expense to you , that's an expense to the family , that is a void that that police department is going to experience during those weeks that you're in training , and so we've again pulled that out and given our students that opportunity're in training , and so we've again pulled that out and given our students that opportunity to go there . We have the only crime house in the state , which means that if you're either going into forensics the other arm of criminal justice or into a law enforcement this crime house , you're able to actually understand and view and practice and do what you're learning in the class right .

Speaker 4 44:57

Nursing , of course , a very popular major , not because only of its need but because of the fact that , since we are just starting , we have capacity , so it's becoming a destination . This year we launched a brand new nursing program . It's actually the first in the state . It's an RN to MSN program . So for those nurses who are listening to us , who are out there , who have their RN degree but have not finished their four-year BSN , they can come back to us online degree and in two years get their master's in nursing . So it's an RN to BSN , it's an accelerated program . Again , design there's a need not just for nurses but also for nurses who become supervisors , who become administrators , and this is a way to be able to get to that . You know , hhp Health and Human Performance is a very interesting major and it is a very large major and we need an awful lot of individuals who look after us . You know the trainers athletic trainers , whether you're they're the ones who are going to on training and coaching in the state , and this fall we will launch a master's in clinical psychology and mental health , very much needed . Again , we're listening to the needs of the community and we're pivoting very , very , very quickly Now in their 14 months .

Speaker 4 46:27

None of these things existed 14 months ago In larger institutions . We would be lucky if we were launching two or three years . We've launched some of these things in three months , in six months , in 12 months , and the only reason that it's taken , in some cases , 12 months is because , of course , we're accredited by SACS and they have to approve it in certain areas . So we design it , we ship it to SACS and then we sit for four or five , six months until they ship it to SACS , and then we sit for four or five six months until they approve it , which they have , and then we're able to launch .

Speaker 4 46:58

You know , we have our biology courses . We have the oldest environmental sustainability major in the United States . Okay , and that's huge , because these days all that you hear about is how do we protect the limited resources of our earth ? Okay , so we have had it . We go beyond the classroom . So we have a science vessel that was provided to us through the generosity of AEP , and so what that science vessel does is located at Smith Mountain Lake , and they have been testing the water quality of Smith Mountain Lake for years . How do you create a sustainable environment . You know , last year last , I guess summer , a time flies , it's already been a year there was that burst of bad algae and there's good and bad algae , of bad algae at Smith Mountain Lake and it was awful , I mean , you couldn't go into the water , you couldn't fish . Our science vessel was right there and you know , it's really a miserable , miserable , miserable internship to spend your entire summer on a boat at Smith Mountain Lake .

Speaker 3 48:19

I think I missed an opportunity .

Speaker 4 48:20

You know . So you know those are . We got our one of our courses , for example , we actually have our anatomy and physiology . It's actually worked on in academics . Yes , we have all of the wonderful little gadgets with the computers where the students can dissect and understand the various layers of the human body and they can see it on a computer base , but there's nothing like doing it yourself . And so many of our students go on to medical school , to veterinary school , which , by the way , I'm very proud to say that 100% of the students who apply to medical school , to law school , to vet school and to graduate school get in . That is an amazing statement and statistic , but that's because of the resolve of our faculty and our staff who are there at each and every step of the way with these students to make sure that they have the knowledge , the expertise , the hands-on training to provide them with a competitive advantage so that when they take that MCAT or LSAT or the GRE or the GMAT , whatever it would be , that they outperform the population at large and they do so . That , together with industry-ready skills that they have amassed in their courses , plus the fact that they have internship experience and hands-on experience , makes them a whole package .

Speaker 4 49:54

Of course , you know , we have the traditionals , we have history . Our history department is incredible . Our English department they create , they form , they educate the next generation of poets . Our journalism department who you know ? It's avant-garde from the standpoint . It's not just the paper and pencil , but it's all media . Right , social media is being able to create video , because nowadays it's not . You don't have a crew of three or four people . You got to do it all and you're able to do it all because the computer systems and the technology you're able to do it .

Speaker 4 50:29

I think something else that we do very well is embrace new and emerging technologies that most people , most institutions , don't do . You know that last week we had a conference in artificial intelligence . Well , this is at a time when many academics are saying well , you know , artificial intelligence is another way to say they're cheating . Okay . Well , that's akin to when we went to school and being told well , you know , there's something out there that's called the World Wide Web and it has information at your fingertips , but you can't do it . You still have to go to the library because you know that's cheating . Well , 20 years later , here we are and we can't imagine what it would be without WWW , right ? Well , the same thing is happening with artificial intelligence . And today , for us it's incredible , two years from now , what artificial intelligence is going to do . It's going to transform the world .

Speaker 4 51:29

So our job is not to tell our students don't use artificial intelligence , and our faculty don't do that . Quite the opposite . Our job and we do at a fair in college is to tell our students let me teach you how to use artificial intelligence ethically , how to do it so that it is the right way to do it , how to manipulate it . Because , employers , that entry-level job is going away , maybe not this year , maybe not next year , but in two years that entry-level job is going to go away . Because why would you need it when you have an artificial intelligent agent to be able to do it ? What you're going to have to do is to be able to understand how to refine those models , how to ask the computer the specific model , how to drill down . So the critical thinking skills are going to be a necessity for that next population . But part of that necessity is also at the exponential rate at which artificial intelligence is progressing . How do we keep up with it ? And so our faculty . That's what they're doing with our students . They're teaching them how to manipulate this technology , how to do it in an ethical manner and a just manner , and so we hosted the very first artificial intelligence conference at Ferrum College a couple of weeks ago .

Speaker 4 52:51

We talked about artificial intelligence in the US military and of course , they are a billion miles ahead of anybody else . And that's what we know , as opposed to what they can tell us , right ? But we heard from an employer who's a CEO of an accounting firm and who's saying you know , this is the way of the future . We heard from an academic who was saying this is how it's being transformed in higher ed , you know . And one of the things that we heard over and again was it doesn't matter what you're doing . If you don't know how to manipulate , how to work with , how to understand artificial intelligence , we're not hiring you , because why are we going to pay you money to do something pencil and paper when the computer can do it in one millionth of the time ? What I need to pay you is to tell me what that means , what that answer means , what that numbers means , and how do they pertain to our business , how do you grow it , how do you create a differentiation strategy ? And so that's what we do at Fairarm College .

Speaker 4 53:57

We innovate , we go beyond what the conventional academic structure would be of any institution , and we do it in a familial way where every student is an individual . Every student has dreams , has aspirations . We're not a cookie cutter school , we're a one size fit one , and that's our model . That's what we do , that's what we're proud to do . You know , as I travel throughout the Commonwealth and I meet with alums , I say to them in jest that I'm going to change our motto from not self but others to were it not for Ferrum College , I wouldn't be where I am today . It doesn't matter whether it's somebody who graduated last year or somebody who graduated 60 years ago . Like Carthan , you were about 60 . Yeah , no , that's fine .

Speaker 1 54:45

But somewhere in that conversation they say Well , let me pick on Carthan for a second , because I've known you for a long time . You're not from Rocky , you're from Chester , virginia .

Speaker 3 54:54

How did you end up at Ferrum ? I had some friends that were older than I was , and they grew up in Chester .

Speaker 1 55:02

They talked to you about it . I'm sure they talked to you about the rigorous academics and scholarly work . Is that what they talked to you about Exactly ?

Speaker 4 55:07

At the party . You know , back then , we , back then , we don't have that stuff .

Speaker 1 55:10

Was that what you minored ? You majored in public administration and you minored in recreation or shenanigans . Was that what you minored in ? Some have said yeah , yeah , well , I guess that's the good point , right ? So my next question is related to you know , carleton gets word of mouth . It's a really noisy complex . You got online . We didn't have online when questions come around . You've got all these

Ferrum College's Unique Educational Pathways

Speaker 1 55:30

choices . Now how does a school in Rocky Mountain , virginia , stand out to somebody who's not from the region ? Farum Virginia . Oh , okay , excuse me . Well , there you go . That shows you I'm from Eastern Virginia . I'm a completely ignorant guy .

Speaker 3 55:42

I'm from the county seat , which is Rocky Mountain . Farum College is in Farum Virginia .

Speaker 1 55:46

Okay , but it's in Franklin County or Western part of Franklin County , okay , all right . So I'm from Tidewater , which is where I'm from , and I had no exposure . I knew no one who went to Ferrum .

Speaker 4 55:59

I couldn't spell Ferrum Expanding into Tidewater . Actually , hampton Roads and Tidewater is one of our largest destinations if you would .

Speaker 1 56:05

Well , that's my point , I guess , for Northern Virginia and Tidewater . How were you doing it ? Just ?

Speaker 3 56:11

by presence . Well , I think remember the United Methodist Women founded us , and so the Methodist Church was a natural arena to start off with . So that helped and that gave us a statewide presence in a sense .

Speaker 4 56:27

And now , you know , have Carwell travel . I mean , that's what we're doing . We're hitting the road , we're telling the story , we're going into the high schools , we're telling what differentiates us . This Panther promise that affords free tuition to qualify in Virginia students to attend Ferrum College is huge . It's huge , huge , huge , huge . The fact that we lowered our rate by $10,000 is huge .

Speaker 4 56:49

The other big announcement when we just made last week which is humongous forget about huge humongous is that Ferrum College is going Division II . We have joined the Conference Carolinas and we are the only institution of higher education in Virginia that is in the D2 conference with Conference Carolinas . So for students who felt that they needed to leave Virginia to play D2 because they wanted to continue their career , perhaps beyond college , they wanted to go into the pros , either nationally or internationally , we now are able to become that destination of choice , one for a superb education and the other one for excellence in athletics . And that's that was what I told the family , the Panther family , of Ferrum College , when I arrived . I have a very simple expectation I expect excellence in the classroom , which means our students make the grade so that they have that superb education latent with industry-ready skills that they can go out and transform the world . That's what they're coming to Ferrum College for , and excellence on the field . And that means that's very simple we win , you know , we win ethically . But what that means is excellence in the pride of the sport .

Speaker 4 58:04

So going to Division II aligns us perfectly with a conference that believes that it's a perfect fit with our values . They believe in creating champions of mind , of body and of soul . So mind excellence in the classroom , Body excellence on the court , on the field , on the athletic field , Soul . We're an institution grounded in faith . Ferrum College is so . It's a perfect love .

Speaker 4 58:40

I have been quoting our chairman , Scott Showalter , who I think summarized it best In many ways . We were destined to be together because the two conferences align , but what that has done to Ferrum College , what that offers the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia , is that they don't have to leave the state for those students who want to play in Division II . Now they have an institution of higher education that has been around for 111 years . We're alive and well , we're open for business , we're still accepting students and we want to be able to be that destination . We want to be able to educate students within the Commonwealth of Virginia and retain them in the Commonwealth of Virginia so that they can become part of the economic engine of the state .

Speaker 1 59:29

I've got one last question . Then we got to wrap up and then Karth , you can have the final question , and that is by knowing Karth and I understood that Ferrum used to be a junior college . It did , and so that was also . Let me just say what I was going to say . It seemed to me that was also once the community college system was created . It felt he became a traditional baccalaureate in graduate school and that ultimately seemed to me to be a problem . It seemed to me that back then , if you weren't ready necessarily for a traditional big university , it was a great place to go and you guys had a terrific history of providing that . Share a little bit of that history with me , both of you , karth and Dr Martin .

Speaker 3 1:00:13

And then it seems like to me you're kind of getting back to that , that you're back to providing people on on-ramp , to a better life and not trying to be like every other university .

Speaker 3 1:00:18

Well , the origins of the history goes back to 1913 . It just so happens that's the last time a Virginian was in the White House Woodrow Wilson , I'll just add that little tidbit to you . But the United Methodist Women that part of Western Franklin County , patrick County , henry County , floyd County , they were remote , they were the part of the 20th century . It was a terrible road system and a lot of these mountain children were in a sense deprived of having even a secondary education . So the college started as a training school actually , and then evolved to a junior college , I think in the 30s , and then in 1976 , we became a four-year institution . So we have evolved in three different important ways over the past century , plus Dr Murray . I wanted to just one last thing about Ferrum . That alsoa unique part of our history and what we offer , and it's another aspect that's important for FAM to have the Blue Ridge Institute .

Speaker 4 1:01:18

Absolutely .

Speaker 3 1:01:18

Which is the official repository in the Commonwealth of folklore and folk life in Virginia .

Speaker 4 1:01:25

And it's the largest one in Virginia . It's certainly a destination . The Blue Ridge Institute and Museum was founded 50 years ago . We just celebrated our 50th year and it is a part of the college . It is a distinctive part of the college . It's no different than , you know , the School of Arts and Humanities or the School of Business and Technology . It just happens to have , instead of a school of , it happens to be a museum because it gathers all of that incredible history and legacy of this part of the region . But it's part of the college . It also embraces the folklore of the land .

Speaker 4 1:02:03

Ferrum College is proud to be the only college in the United States to have a Blue bridge , a band that is dedicated . It has banjos , it has guitars , it has the traditional instruments . So the Bluegrass Brass Explosion Band at Ferrum College highlights bluegrass , but it also has the brass instruments . You see them on the field and you think , oh , my goodness , because you've got some of these kids that are dressed in band uniform with the traditional trumpets and drums and so on and so forth . But then you have the other ones that have the oboe , or they have the brass instrument , or they have the fiddle or the banjo and they sing and the music is incredible . Actually , we were the opening act at the NASCAR races in Martinsville and we're very grateful to have that opportunity to spread the word .

Speaker 4 1:03:05

I think one of the things that I want to accentuate as we close is that you know we look to partner with institutions . Ok , we are not a community college . I had the privilege to serve on the board of the community college system and I believe in that mission and so we partner with community colleges here Virginia Western Community College , dr Sandell , as well as Patrick and Henry , and community colleges throughout Virginia . As a matter of fact , because of our partnership , we created the Ferrum Promise . That is intended to provide an on-ramp from the community colleges to Ferrum College for any student who graduates from Virginia Community College system . We guarantee that they will finish in two years and if they're not able to finish , we , ferrum College , will pay the difference . Ferrum College will pay the difference .

Speaker 4 1:03:55

That is unique and that's because many times , students who graduate from community college and go on to senior institutions , they may have junior status , but then the institution may say , well , but you haven't taken this and this and this and this , so they regress , not at Ferrum College , and so we value that relationship . We're not trying to cannibalize . That's a different market . What we're trying to do , though , with our roots in two years , is be able to meet the needs of the community at large , be able to grant certificates for credit two-year degree , an associate's degree , a baccalaureate degree , four years a master's degree , and in the next two years we'll be also awarding a doctoral degree . So a student , regardless of the path in which they find themselves , whether they start as a certificate and can want to go all the way to a doctorate , or whether they come from a community college or a transfer school from a two-year institution , they're welcome at Ferrum College and we are positioned to be able to ensure that their pathway to graduation stays on track .

Speaker 1 1:05:07

Terrific . We've run out of time . Carthan , do you have anything you want to say as we wrap this up ?

Speaker 3 1:05:10

We're just delighted to have you with us , dr Martin , congratulations . I'm looking forward to being at your inaugural on May the 4th and looking forward to your remarks and having a wonderful day with you , thank you .

Speaker 4 1:05:21

Thank you . Thank you , I'm thrilled to be here . Just make sure that to all those who are listening , welcome home to Ferrum College . We're open we're laughing well and open for business , and we'd love to have you come and visit our beautiful 800 acres the only college in Virginia that has a lake and so common fish at the lake . We're actually trout season at the lake .

Speaker 1 1:05:42

That's right . Thank you , dr Martin . Thank you also for joining us today for the Virginians of Interest podcast . If you like what you heard , please download , subscribe and like us .

Speaker 2 1:05:49

Thank you , thank you for listening to the Virginians of Interest podcast . To hear other episodes of this podcast , head to virginiansofinterestcom .