Transformative Education with Dr. Irma Becerra

Speaker A: Welcome to the Education and Empowerment Podcast. In this show, our hosts explore success and advancement through education by interviewing today's top leaders in the fields of education, business and technology in order to provide insight into what it really takes to succeed. All right, let's get into the show.

Speaker B: Welcome to Education and Empowerment Podcast. This episode, I'm happy and pleased to introduce you to Dr. Irma Becerra, the seventh president of Marymount University, Virginia's first Hispanic serving institution. Under her leadership, Marymount's prominence as a comprehensive doctoral granting university, known for its innovative curriculum, has continued to grow. In 2025, Mary Mound celebrates its 75th anniversary and university is proud to be one of the 33 institutions nationwide to receive both research college and university and opportunity college and and university designations and Carnegie classifications. This is a very rare dual Recognition celebrates the research and innovation, uh, and leadership. While prioritizing access and student success and dedication to academic excellence has earned Marymount recognition from New York News Reports and World Reports as the best national university with additional honors from campus diversity and success in attracting international students. Please join me in welcoming President Becerra. Welcome to Education and Empowerment Podcast where we learn from the best leaders and get inspired about education and empowerment. This afternoon I have an amazing leader, someone I'd like to continue to learn from, and someone who has really done a lot of work in transforming private education and higher education. Without further ado, please help me welcome Dr. Irma Becerra.

Speaker C: Thank you, Bob. And also delighted to be here with you and with the rest of our audience.

Speaker B: Amazing. Thank you so much. So this topic today is Transforming Higher Education. And it's a topic that everyone, uh, is talking about, you know, on a day to day basis. We wanted to dive into your experience and take you back to what you started at Marymount University. What were your hopes when you came? It was right, an amazing time. Right before, you know, the pandemic hit. So no one was thinking about pandemic, but what were you give us this, um, uh, inspiration of when you started in this role. How did you get started and you know, what were you planning? How to transform the institution?

Speaker C: Sure. When I was appointed as Marymount University's seventh president in July of 2018, we one of the questions I received from the chair of the board of trustees was, how long will it take you to develop a new strategic plan? And drawing, uh, from my background as a business professor, I knew that creating a meaningful, inclusive plan would take at least six months because it had to reflect the voices of all key stakeholders, faculty, staff, students, Alumni, trustees, and of course, the broader community. So we set an ambitious goal to unveil the new strategic plan during my inauguration in March of 2019 and use that moment to unify the campus around a UH bold new vision for Marymount's future. At the time, Marymount was ranked 58th among regional universities in the South. Unlike many small private institutions, we faced challenges that that included being highly leveraged, experiencing a slow but steady enrollment decline, and dealing with significant deferred maintenance, including in our technology infrastructure. Our UH vision was aspirational to become nationally recognized for innovation and commitment to student success, alumni achievement, and faculty and staff excellence. Some were skeptical that this was an attainable goal, but we knew with the right strategy and strong leadership, we could transform Marymount's trajectory.

Speaker B: Amazing. And so, you know, in what you said, um, I think what really resonates is the fact that you were open to, you know, putting the new change, setting the new standards and taking, you know, programs to an innovative level. When you came, can you walk us, uh, through how you, uh, worked with your team to whom you probably met for the first time, you know, what was their understanding and what was their vision? And you know, how that played today when, you know, you've been able to take Marymount University to amazing national rankings?

Speaker C: Yes. So in as we uh, develop our strategic plan, we've actually focused on several goals that would help Marymount, UM, evolve from a regional institution into one that had national recognition. And of course this included driving enrollment growth, expanding our research footprint, and um, UH launching new market driven academic programs and improving student success through stronger retention and graduation rates and prioritizing job placements. We also emphasize the importance of maintaining the most rigorous academic accreditations, strengthening alumni engagement, and UM building a high performing, mission driven culture across the university. Then Covid happened, right?

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: Um and the COVID 19 pandemic certainly slowed our uh progress in some areas, but we stayed focused on our vision. For example, we continue investing in foundational infrastructure like our UH multi year implementation of workday, which is a major cloud enterprise system that completely modernized our operations from the inside out.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: Rollout took more than five years and um, it was a major life milestone. In particular because our uh infrastructure was perhaps 30 years antiquated. Uh, so the extent we extended the length of the strategic plan to take into account of the pandemic by two years, but we really never stopped our momentum. And by the way, that's the name of our strategic plan, Momentum recognized that while some goals would take longer to realize, our vision remained that we will stay committed, we would adapt, and we will keep moving forward.

Speaker B: That's amazing. That's amazing. And you know, what I'm learning there is, um, obviously the wholesomeness of this whole transformation. And I understand that these transformations don't happen overnight. Right. It requires constant change and constant communication of what's important and taking people, uh, and teams through that. What is the secret sauce behind, uh, that success? Um, is it sleepless night? Is it like something secretive that, uh, you know, like to share with us?

Speaker C: Yeah. Um, I have to say that there have been many sleepless nights along the way for many different reasons. Uh, uh, I always like to share that. I. You know, when I was a business professor, I really, uh, loved the work of Jim Collins in the book Good to Great. And that is really. We drew a lot of inspiration from Jim Collins. Jim Collins, uh, to set our strategy. Um, uh, but, you know, I have to tell you, transformation, it's really not the result of one big decision.

Speaker B: Correct.

Speaker C: Uh, it really. Transformation really is the result of countless efforts that are happening behind the scenes. Um, I like to say it's like you have to light 100 fires.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: Um, so, you know, for example, first we develop our goals in a collaborative fashion. We brought together voices from across the university, faculty, students, alumni, trustees, to make sure that everyone had a stake in the vision. Once the goals were in place, of course, communication was key. We worked hard to ensure transparency, alignment across the entire enterprise so that everyone understood what we were striving to do and why. And I have to say, uh, Bob, this is not, uh, an activity that is once and done.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: I feel like we. You, you know, even sometimes I. I think I reflect well. Did we communicate enough? And sometimes we probably could have communicated more because. Because the whole. When you're going through the effort of transformation, you know, it's. It's. It's hard, it's difficult. It's a lot of change that has to be put in place and that is not easily absorbed. Also, we needed to cultivate a sense of urgency. Um, you need to move quickly and decisively also, while keeping the focus on prioritizing, uh, the priorities, minimizing on distractions. And also we needed to accept early that transformational change is never a straight line.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: Gonna be bumps along the way, mistakes, setbacks, and moments that require us to pause and to regroup.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: But every time, I think it's important to use those moments as opportunities to adjust and to keep pushing forward. So I think for leaders that are facing the difficult Task of transformation. And I think probably every leader in higher ed is dealing with that today. Also, try to be kind to yourself when things don't always work as you planned and just take the opportunity when mistakes are made to learn from those mistakes and keep pushing forward.

Speaker B: That's amazing. And speaking of priorities, I think one of the, um, greatest, um, achievements, um, for Marymount University under your leadership, um, is the degree, uh, that allowed to basically align with the today's notion of, you know, artificial intelligence. Can you share some, a little bit more light into how you've taken your team to adapt to, you know, bringing artificial intelligence into your curriculum? And what are some of the things that you learn and how is that performing today?

Speaker C: Yeah, thank you, uh, Bob. Well, you know, I want to tell you that the AI journey is also one that we are really beginning to kind of contemplate because, as you know, AI is now, uh, going to change everything. Everything that we, you know, how we work. Ah, how, um, many of the curriculum, um, we've been hearing a lot about the computer science curriculum.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: Um, what are some of the actions that need to be taken so that we are preparing our computer science graduates to be successful in an environment that they are expected to know about AI and how they can, uh, be most efficient and effective at their jobs? We have heard a lot about how, um, generative AI can take on some of the jobs, early entry level jobs, encoding.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: Scientists in the curriculum learns. Yeah. Part of what they learn is coding, but they learn a lot more.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: And I can tell you, uh, you know, just for the benefit of my, of the audience, you know, I'm a trained electrical engineer that also, um, took all my, uh, electives in computer science. So I was learning how to program in basic and in FORTRAN and in machine language when I was a student. Clearly no one studies those, uh, languages anymore.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: And, uh, the job of a coder has really changed from the days that I was putting ones and zeros into a, uh, Motorola microprocessor, uh, to, you know, it's so much easier, like, uh. Well, that computer science graduates today are so lucky because it's almost like, you know, writing a novel. And they, you know, you don't have to put ones and zeros and translate them into hex code and then enter that into a microprocessor. But, uh, of course that means that the cognitive level, our students, is just going to have to be higher.

Speaker B: Right?

Speaker C: They're going to have to be more efficient and their ability to, uh, to think critically, not just rely on the code that is produced by generative AI, but actually be able to say, well, this would not work because the logic is flawed to understanding the logic behind the code. Uh, I mean, uh, hearing a number of people comment now in the media that we still are going to need computer scientists. I don't want students to now all of a sudden be scared that I'm gonna get jobs because you're still gonna need them. But their jobs, just like the accountants, just like the lawyers, just like consultants, is about to change dramatically and it's happening really, really, really fast.

Speaker B: Right. Well, one of the things that I'm reading between the line and you mentioned this earlier is the importance of research. Right. Um, can you maybe shed a bit more light into and why is this such a big critical focus for Marymount University? Um, one of the things, I guess part of the strategic plan that I learned was about, you know, research diversity and the edge that Marymount offers. Um, I was wondering if you can give us insights into, you know, what it means to, you know, your institution as Hispanic, you know, serving institution and how is that reflected on sort of the day to day of the campus as well as, you know, general, uh, um, you know, general academics.

Speaker C: Okay, well, I'm gonna, let me first I'm gonna try to remember all these important questions. Let's see if I m missed any, but please let me know.

Speaker B: No worries.

Speaker C: Let's talk about the importance of research. Number one. Uh, research is one of the most important contributions of the academic world and it's how we create new knowledge.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: Solve the complex challenges that are facing humanity.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: And I've always believed that great researchers more often than not make great professors. As uh, I've seen firsthand how a faculty member's research can really breathe life into a classroom. Um, sparking curiosity, inspiring students, and connecting theory to a real world application.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: So at Marymount, as part of our strategic plan, we made it a priority to grow our research footprint. And when I In back in 2018, we were about a million dollars of research a year.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: Um, back in now in 2024, we are now doing about 21 million.

Speaker B: Wow, that's 20x.

Speaker C: It's an exponential growth in this, uh, seven years. Um, and our research is funding interdisciplinary work that is shaping the future from healthcare innovation to artificial intelligence to workforce development and more. Um, and uh, it's giving us the opportunity to create a dynamic research driven culture. Um, prepare innovators who are students to be innovators and critical thinkers. Now we have many undergraduate Students that are collaborating in research with their professors as well as students. But oftentimes in the big research one institutions, undergraduate students don't have that opportunity to collaborate in research. And that's something. An experience that is mostly afforded to the graduate students, but for us, a Hispanic serving institution, and I want to explain to those in our audience, and those don't know what that means.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: Is that more than 25% of our undergraduate students are Hispanic.

Speaker B: Wow.

Speaker C: And about 61% of students that come to Marymount are first generation, meaning that their families didn't go to college. So as you can imagine, Bob, um, they face many challenges. In particular navigating the whole uh, college experience, which is intuitive if you are the first one in your family to go to college. Many are facing financial challenges. Maybe they have also responsibilities at home. Not only financial, but maybe they are helping with their siblings. Um, they have a lot of activities that are competing for their time time. They cannot just dedicate themselves totally to school. And they have to, let's say, uh, multitask with many that they're doing at home. So research is all, sometimes for our student body, something of a little bit, let's say, mystifying.

Speaker B: I see.

Speaker C: And I've had over my lifetime, you know, I have work at two, uh, hsis before I came to Marymount. And I am, um, very lucky that I was a researcher once and I had a center, knowledge management center, that was funded primarily by NASA. And having many first generation students, uh, working with me. I'll never forget when one of my students said, uh, Dr. Becerra, could you explain to my mom what research is? I can explain that to her. And I, um, I want to go to graduate school. But my mom doesn't understand why I would not get a job right now. As an engineer I can make pretty good money. But I love the research enterprise. I want to continue doing that. As we look at underrepresented, um, minorities that are also underrepresented, um, among faculty at universities, research is the first opportunity that one has to engage those students early on so that they may consider becoming professors and they may consider being in the classroom inspired other young minorities that will be coming after them.

Speaker B: Amazing. So what I'm learning from you, um, in what you said is that, uh, the diversity that you bring to the campus and uh, is a big strength in preparing, you know, leaders, um, of tomorrow and uh, global citizens. And I think, uh, Marymount University has done a great job of that. I was actually really excited about, you know, learning, uh, about Your, um, Early Learning and the Workday Partnership, um, which I think is a great example of uh, partnerships and collaboration with different stakeholders. Um, can you shed more light into what that means and you know, how that program began and, and um, what's the purpose of the program and what are some of the outcomes that you're seeing so far?

Speaker C: So let me first. Thank you, Bob. Let me first tell you about the Early Learning Academy. Um, uh, uh, back in 1974, uh, Marymount had um, the Gerard Magella Childcare center on campus, which served Arlington families for many years. And the center eventually closed. But we decided to return to our roots and reimagine that offering, uh, an Early Learning Academy in a way that it meets today's needs, but it also incorporates a state of the art, uh, innovation and STEM learning that gives young children a, ah, strong foundation. From the beginning. This is how the Early Learning Academy, the idea started and we launched it successfully last September. Uh, we've had such success that there is a waiting list already to get in.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: We are now planning an expansion of the Early Learning Academy. And the wonderful thing is, uh, we have a curriculum with students in education that are specializing in early childhood, but also students in counseling, nursing and speech language pathology that see the opportunity to have a clinical right on campus, a clinical experience that supplements what they're learning in the classroom. So it's a great opportunity not only for us to give back to the community, but also for our students to get more experience and more depth in what they're learning in the classroom. So that's uh, the Early Learning Academy. Now I would like to tell you about Workday. Um, Workday is uh, the most advanced enterprise resource planning platform in higher education today. And we started our Workday journey back in 2018. Um, this was key to Marymount's commitment to becoming a high performing culture.

Speaker A: Wow.

Speaker C: And in addition to helping us, uh, streamline our operations, we are proud to share that we're one of only two universities in the US that are going to be offering Workday credentials to students, alumni, um and um professionals around the world. So we are not only using the technology internally, but we are helping people gain in demand skills that can help them advance their careers in a rapidly, uh, evolving workforce. How that idea came about is, well, we started noticing that a lot of our employees were getting poached and we said, well, I'm glad that we are contributing to everybody's technical workforce. Uh, we're going to have to do something about it. I approached uh, Workday over a year ago and said to them, there's a lot of need for workday professionals. I don't want to continue to educate workday professionals for my neighbors. Can we help you partner so that we can uh, educate workday professionals? Because there was a significant shortage of talent. So that is also we have a strength in technology education. We offer degrees in computer science, it, cybersecurity. So this is a great addition also to our um, engineering degrees. Uh, so this is, goes hand in hand also with opportunities for our alumni, our ah, current students, and then of course employees that want to uh, learn these skills. And we have students now all over the world that are pursuing uh, workday credential education.

Speaker B: That's amazing. And what really resonates with um, I'm sure our listeners will find it exciting because there are multiple implications in what you said. One is when you begin, uh, you had a strategic vision and you knew that it takes a cultural change to work with your team and to introduce proper research and diversity, uh, and make sure that your curriculum is up to par. And today, you know, Marymount, uh, University has took off from being one uh, of the institutions to you know, the tops of the tops. Can you shed a bit more light into sort of uh, as we recap this, you know, where in the ranking um, Marymount is and what does it mean, uh, to the whole higher education community and of course to Marymount, UM staff and faculty and board and everyone.

Speaker C: Yeah, so thank you, Bob. Yeah, we, we were, like I mentioned earlier, we were ranked in the region and now we are, uh, ranked uh, at the national level. So we are now among the top 300 universities in the nation. And of course that means a lot to our students. That also means a lot to our alumni is that we're working hard to say, improve the value of their education as it is perceived by others. I mean Marymount has always had a good curriculum and preparing students well for great careers. But the fact that we are now ranked among the top 300 is a validation that our efforts are being recognized. U.S. news World Report. And it also signal to the student that uh, the Marymount degree is going to continue to hold this value and not only hold this valuable grow in value in competitive landscape. Uh, so, um, I think, you know Bob, um, we are at a crossroads moment here today with higher ed. We are facing unprecedented challenges. Of course we hear every day about the growing public scrutiny to the rising uh, cost of attendance. While, you know, some of that criticism, um, is warranted, some of it is not. We of course need to take ownership of what we can control.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: The cost of education continuing to rise also sometimes is the result of increasing regulatory burdens. You know, so, but, you know, so we cannot sit here and say, well, you know, we're facing all these burdens. We need to continue to increase the cost. We have to be responsible to find smarter, more sustainable ways to move forward. I'm always of the mantra, can we use technology? Can we use artificial intelligence in a way that we can streamline our operations and better serve our students without adding cost? Um, I think also, if I may, uh, I know that we're coming to the end of our segment, but I want to say a word about recognizing the incredible value of the American higher education system. Uh, we are the envy of the world. And, um, this is why the United States remains a magnet for global talent. We have a diverse fabric of, uh, institutions, public and private, large and small, faith based, secular. And we need to do everything to preserve and strengthen this system, this fabric of universities that are each one of them willing to meet students where they are. And we need to preserve that not only for today's students, but also for those that are to come in future generations.

Speaker B: Amazing. Thank you so much. This episode was really insightful and I learned a, um, lot and I hope our listeners will as well. For those listeners who are curious about the work that you have done or, you know, are interested in, you know, Marymount University, what is the best way to find you?

Speaker C: Yes, you can write to me@presidentarymount.edu and you can also follow me on LinkedIn. And I'm looking forward to hearing from, uh, our audience today. Thank you, Bob.

Speaker B: Wonderful. Thank you so much. Uh, Dr. Becerra, this was great episode. We, um, thank you for your leadership and stewardship and hopefully next time we talk, Marymount, uh, University will be much higher in rankings altogether and, you know, we will all, uh, be proud and, you know, we can take that, um, amazing stories and change lives of other people.

Speaker C: Thank you. I agree with you totally. And Go Saints.

Speaker B: Amazing. Thank you so much for tuning in for Education and Empowerment podcast. We'll see you next time.

Speaker C: See you next time.

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