He Chose Missions Over Easy Paychecks for 15 Years. Here's What It's Built.

[0:16]  Welcome back to another episode here on the Hard Hustle Podcast. Tim, I meant to ask you that. Am I saying this correct?

[0:22]  Yeah. Thyman.

[0:23]  Tim, you know. Okay. All right. Cool. It wasn't correct. "Time in" is what it is. Man, I appreciate you joining us on this beautiful Tuesday afternoon.

[0:25]  Uh, we're both in Florida, so the weather is really good for those that are listening. Yes, we got good weather right now. Just don't be coming to visit right now, 'cause it gets so crazy crowded, and we ain't got time for that.

[0:30]  Uh, but man, I really wanted to talk about how you got started in this space. You wanted to be an elementary school teacher, right?

[0:35]  Uh, definitely far from it. Kind of still in the space of kids, but then you switched to child development, and then you realized that babies be crying a lot.

[0:40]  That is true. They be crying a lot, and you don't do that. That's not a new thing. Uh, walk me through that journey, man. Like, how do you go from, "Okay, I want to work here," and then you get all the way into higher ed?

[1:10]  Yeah. I, uh, well, when I went to college, I went to South Carolina State, and they produced some of the most black educators in the state at the time. I wanted to be an elementary school teacher, and we did something that was called precept, and precept was your pre-clinical hours.

[1:29]  So I did my precept, and students talk a lot. Like, elementary school students talk a lot. Uh, and so I realized, you know, it's a lot going on in this room. It's a lot of conversation. I need to go a place where it's a little bit more quieter.

[1:32]  And so I decided to go through the child development route, which I absolutely love. But babies cry, right? And I have a niece, and she knows I think she figured it out. She knows if she cries in front of me, I will do whatever it takes to get her to stop crying.

[1:40]  Uh, so I said, "You know what? Babies cry a lot. I'm not going to go through that piece too much more."

[1:45]  Uh, and then I was in, you know, very active in undergrad at all. Um, there was a lady, Dr. Valerie Fields, who was our interim vice president for student affairs, and she showed me that student affairs is a real job.

[2:19]  Uh, what she does every day, you come to work at a university, you never have to leave. You can have fun every day.

[2:25]  Uh, and she put me on this path to student affairs and higher ed. And I realized it's something I can do for a living. So that's kind of how I got to the role I'm in now. And now I serve as vice president for student affairs.

[2:37]  And, um, in student affairs, you mentioned that it doesn't feel like work. Do you feel like it was an easy transition for you to go from high school, college to then become VP of student affairs?

[2:50]  Um, it wasn't that it was easy, but it was very familiar. And so, uh, working on a college campus undergrad and then master's and doctorate, you have the opportunity to see the college experience every day.

[3:14]  So I get to experience college for me every day, but then I help to shape the experiences for students. So every day is different, um, but I enjoy it every day.

[3:16]  Doesn't mean you know you have tough days, but you know...

[3:17]  Oh yeah. Yeah. 100%. I mean, but do you still feel like you love what you do for a living? Like, do you feel like it's even a job at times?

[3:25]  Not even a job. Um, and the thing is my family is brought into it too. So they understand the work I do. Um, it's a new field, right? It started in the 1900s, but it's a new field for student affairs.

[3:28]  And my family is a part of that journey with me. My family, they tell you they marry the institution I'm at, and then when I leave the institution, they have to break up, and we change our logos and all the shirts that we wear.

[4:08]  But it's just like for me, my family is a part of this. The HBCU space and higher ed space is a family too. So it's very much something that I enjoy doing. It doesn't feel like work.

[4:09]  It's like going to see your cousins and your aunts and your uncles and family every day.

[4:22]  And you said you went to HBCU. You just mentioned HBCU. Um, you said it was really foundational the first time that we talked about not just the degree but, as you mentioned, the belonging, the community, the family.

[4:24]  Um, what did that experience give you that you don't think you could have gotten anywhere else?

[4:37]  Um, I'm reminded of, uh, and this is how I have seen HBCUs too. I was able to watch A Different World growing up, right? And there's a part in A Different World where Whitley and Dwayne are talking about why she chose Hillman and was that her first choice.

[4:40]  And she talked about her grandfather who went to Hillman, which is, you know, the fictional HBCU, but went to Hillman and he became the first judge in the city.

[5:09]  And he told her that HBCUs are the only place that they're going to love you and care for you and teach you all these things. And it's some things that you'll get love and care and teachings everywhere, but it's a certain space and comfort, especially as an African-American male, that you get at the HBCU.

[5:37]  So my parents might be at home, but I have 200 other parents sitting on this campus that would treat me just like, you know, their own. So it's a different feel. It's a different vibe.

[5:39]  And then it's a different education. Like, you learn in the classroom, but the experiences and education that you get outside of the classroom is critically important. And it's something that just doesn't compare to anywhere else.

[5:54]  Yeah. You mentioned A Different World, and I didn't realize you were talking about the show, and then automatically my brain starts to go to the show, and then you start naming the character. I'm like, "Oh, okay, we talking about the show here."

[6:26]  Uh man, what a show! But also, representation matters, right? Like, without that show, would you have had that same mindset?

[6:30]  I always say that it takes one moment, it takes one story, one person to change somebody's life. And obviously, just those moments of seeing representation matter to you, and I think you being in the spaces that you're in today matter better representation-wise.

[6:32]  And I would even say from the color of our skin, but even from a male figure. Like, how many males do you know are actually doing this line of work? Is there more than I know?

[6:34]  'Cause I always feel like when I have these conversations at this level, it's usually a female, which is nothing wrong with it, but I do believe someone like myself that grew up with no father, right, I always look for that male figure as just a mentor.

[6:56]  Do you see that there's a lot of them in the space?

[7:09]  Yeah, we're starting to see a lot more males in the space. I think historically, just for education as a field, we saw a lot of females in the space, and that doesn't stop in elementary school, in high school, in college.

[7:11]  It still expands to college. So, we see a lot, but now it's so much more important now that we see the black male and a male figure on a college campus.

[7:30]  Um, I remember at some point when the population and the demographics of students were heavily female. Here, where I am now, Florida Memorial, we have a lot of males that are coming in. So that representation is key.

[7:39]  Talk about the school, man. You had Florida Memorial. Um, what are some of the unique things that people may not know about Florida Memorial that you love?

[7:41]  Man, uh, we are the birthplace for the Negro National Anthem. People don't realize that we are the birthplace. It was here on this campus.

[7:43]  Um, we're located in Miami Gardens, Florida. So, we are literally the access point to everything.

[7:45]  Uh, in Florida, people think that, you know, you come to the Miami area and they see what they think on the shows and things like that, but we have a really, really diverse student population here.

[7:47]  Uh, our student population here is absolutely phenomenal.

[8:05]  He, uh, William McCormack Jr. Uh, he was a student. He was our SGA president. He was on the baseball team.

[8:16]  So he was a lot of things on campus. All those accolades, and now he's a university president, right? So our students get to see firsthand every day what they can be and the role model that he is and where they can go to.

[8:19]  I love that, man. I love that you have another male figure, right, that you can look up to.

[8:31]  And just to also know, just how it's really funny how you said he was SGA president. Like, when you say you started when you were young, was he SGA president like in college or high school, and he just kept that going?

[8:33]  Yeah, he was SGA president in college.

[8:36]  Um, baseball team in college. Uh, Mr. Homecoming in college, the first Mr. Homecoming.

[8:38]  Uh, and he now serves as the first alumni to serve as president. So he's the first to say that's dope.

[8:45]  Not a lot of time that you're going to have the opportunity to do that. Actually, um, I'm fortunate my old high school that I graduated from, the current principal is an alumni to the school.

[8:46]  And I thought, like, how cool, man, 'cause you don't get to see that often. You don't get to graduate from a high school, then go back and become the principal, especially in Central Florida.

[8:56]  Um, you know, we just have too big of a departments for that, I would say. So, man, it's pretty cool, man.

[9:01]  What do you think that you being in student affairs brings differently from being a student at one point that now you can help the other students?

[9:25]  Like, is it communication? Is it the way that you see things? Like, 'cause that's usually what we love to do is pour back into some of the things and life that we've had. We like to pour that back into others.

[9:27]  Yeah, we talk a lot about how we want to make sure that the students have an experience that's better than ours.

[9:39]  Um, where I've been situated in undergrad that time until now, I've been able to see things change, right?

[9:40]  Um, some of our students, they don't have the cell phones that we had then; they don't even know what we're talking about.

[9:40]  Um, we saw Blockbuster, right? They don't know what that is. They only know Netflix, Hulu.

[9:40]  So I'm able to see across generations. So students now are coming back to school.

[9:40]  Um, so I'm able to connect with the students that are coming back that are my age. I'm able to connect with students that are new that's coming in because now we're in AI, meta glasses, everything is happening, right?

[9:40]  So I'm able to connect with those students.

[9:40]  So I'm able to see across the spectrum and collaborate and connect with students.

[10:26]  And I think that's the key, especially at institutions and at HBCUs, is connecting with students every day and letting that student know that you're there for them and they have access to you is really big.

[10:49]  You mentioned AI. I've also heard in higher ed that there's a drop-off maybe in like computer science or any of those because people think AI's taken over.

[10:51]  Where you guys implement AI as an organization? I see in high schools that they're still blocking them, but I feel like we're in a space where AI will be a part of everything.

[10:51]  So why not continue to educate them? Because those are the jobs that will be opening. Do you agree? And what are you guys doing in that space?

[10:51]  Yeah. So we have, um, and AI didn't exist, right? So now we have to have AI policies on how we use it.

[10:51]  And so everyone is using AI, and we're now teaching the proper way to use it.

[10:51]  Um, AI is not something that you go and you write a paper and then you turn in that.

[10:51]  Um, you use AI, um, and what I like to tell students is I use it to get unstuck, right?

[10:51]  So, if I'm writing and I've tapped out on everything in my mind that I think that I'm supposed to write about, and I go in AI and say, "Hey, I'm talking about this. What are topics I can then talk about?"

[10:51]  Now, it then allows me to say, "Oh, you know what? I should talk about this."

[10:51]  So, now I can bring that into the writing.

[10:51]  So, being unstuck is what I try to tell students to use AI for, but we can also use it for how we do data.

[10:51]  We still use it for how we do data.

[10:51]  We still use data science as one of our majors. So, we're able to use AI in that.

[10:51]  Uh, we're able to use AI in graphics.

[10:51]  Um, students are always doing graphics.

[10:51]  Um, students are always doing programs.

[10:51]  So, when they're doing programs and they want to do flyers, I'm not the most artistic.

[10:51]  I can't do a flyer, right? But I can use AI to do a flyer.

[10:51]  My flyer is not going to be the best, but the one that AI helps me to produce, if I give AI all the details that I want, um, then it shows up and it looks way better than what I can put together.

[10:51]  So, we try to teach students how to use AI in ways that would be positive, um, and that would be positive with honesty and integrity, but it's just definitely something that is not going away.

[12:14]  I agree, man. I definitely use AI as well. I think there's a lot of cool things around AI.

[12:17]  Even AI in the conversational way when we talk about how do we meet people where they're at?

[12:17]  Um, AI allows you to do that, especially with some good data.

[12:17]  You mentioned data so important in the space of higher ed is like if you don't have good data, how who are you really talking to, right?

[12:17]  You got to understand your audience, and I think data definitely allows that.

[12:17]  But also, how do we continue to engage with them through the process as well?

[12:17]  I think there's huge opportunity there for AI.

[12:17]  But yeah, I laughed when you said about using it for the graphics because I'm not a graphics person either.

[12:17]  And sometimes I think the graphics is really good, and then I go send it to my editor.

[12:17]  I'm like, "Look at this," and I was like, "You did this on AI, right?"

[12:17]  Like, we're to the point where we understand what AI looks like too.

[12:17]  So it's like you got to be different, you know?

[12:17]  We always say be different, you know?

[12:17]  You got to add your flavor, your sauce to that.

[12:17]  Um, so yeah, I do agree that AI is here to stay.

[12:17]  And I don't know that AI is taking away jobs.

[12:17]  I think at some point we might see a job that is like an engineer prompt or something like that, right?

[12:17]  Because you got to be able to give good prompts as well.

[12:17]  Um, or I also laughed at when you said turning in papers that were AI.

[12:17]  I'm guessing you guys are seeing that.

[12:17]  Is there an uptick on something like that?

[13:34]  I haven't seen it, but I have seen some of my colleagues talking about AI being sent in papers.

[13:35]  I've talked to them and said, "Well, you have to teach students how to properly use AI."

[13:44]  Yeah.

[13:44]  It came out and it just dropped, and they said, "Hey, here we are, and if you put this in, we'll give you this."

[13:51]  I love it, man. What is the student affairs department really do?

[13:54]  Like, I can imagine people are listening like, "Student affairs? What is that? VP of student affairs? What is that?"

[14:02]  Could we talk about day-to-day? What does that look like for you?

[14:04]  Um, the day-to-day for me, uh, I do two parts.

[14:04]  Um, one is enrollment management, but then also the student life portion outside of the classroom.

[14:04]  So, when you look at student affairs, it's everything outside of the classroom.

[14:04]  Um, so, one half of my role is to recruit students.

[14:04]  Um, so, we're recruiting students to come, advising them, letting them know how to navigate processes on campus, uh, the financial aid piece.

[14:04]  Uh, and then there's also what the students say is all the extra fun stuff.

[14:04]  So the step shows, the concerts, the student activities, um, what it looks like in housing, uh, programming.

[14:04]  Uh, we also have counseling services, and one of the staples of HBCUs, uh, the university band, our marching roar.

[14:52]  Uh, so that reports to me. So we get to see all the fun things, and I get to navigate all the fun things every day on campus.

[14:52]  Um, so at any given day, you'll see students walking up or coming into my office.

[15:06]  It's the fun thing. Were you stepping back then when you were in college?

[15:08]  You know, a little bit, but you know, bad knees.

[15:12]  I love it. Listen, it only gets worse, too, man. The older that we get, we realize, wait a minute, why are my knees cracking every time I wake up or they popping?

[15:13]  Like, this ain't it right here.

[15:13]  I hear you, man. What were some of the fun things that you've had to encounter or what does school do for you?

[15:54]  I think it's such a pivotal moment for somebody that transitions from high school into college.

[15:56]  I think that is needed as well for those because it's like you go from being the biggest person in your class, right?

[15:56]  Like, "Oh man, all this," then you got no friends when you leave, you know, high school because it becomes very small.

[15:56]  But you go into a college and it's like it never stopped, right?

[15:56]  But what are those things that you've enjoyed about college for those that may be just kind of on the fence?

[15:56]  Um, I've enjoyed getting to know new people.

[15:56]  Um, one, you get to know and learn and meet, live with, eat with, um, party with, concert with, live life with for four years.

[15:56]  Uh, with people that are very diverse.

[15:56]  Uh, here we have a huge international market.

[15:56]  Uh, we see students from Brazil walking across our campus every day.

[15:56]  Uh, we have learners from Africa that we see on our campus every day.

[15:56]  The Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, uh, Bahamas, Haiti.

[15:56]  So we see a very large diverse population on our campus every day.

[15:56]  So when you come to college, you get to see a totally different view than what you may have seen in high school.

[15:56]  Uh, you also get access to new experiences.

[15:56]  So not just the people, but then now we have the food, right?

[15:56]  Food is not the same that you ate at home, right?

[15:56]  So, it looks different, it tastes different.

[15:56]  Um, I think we have some of the best food here.

[15:56]  Um, Chef will say, "Oh, it's not seasoned in college."

[15:56]  I think it is here.

[15:56]  So, uh, the food is different.

[15:56]  Uh, and then you get access to different parts.

[15:56]  And I talked earlier about us being the access point in Miami to different and new experiences, but you get to our students have gotten to go to the Miami Heat games, right?

[15:56]  To meet executives from Miami Heat to get to meet executives from Burger King to in the health field.

[15:56]  Uh, so you get the experiences that you may not have gotten anywhere else when you come to town.

[17:29]  I love that, man. Yeah. Let's pick up FMU. You also shared a story I would love for you to share with the audience about a teachable moment around a car key.

[17:41]  You remember that story?

[17:43]  Yes. A little bit of insight on that, man, for those that are actually listening and how you just turned a moment that made for a student could have probably felt like the end of his world, right?

[17:58]  He just broke his key. How do I fix this? But you made it a teachable moment. I think that's really cool and also goes to show that you just do more than what we just talked about.

[18:00]  Right? The life outside of the classroom is so important.

[18:00]  Students come to college to learn, to get a degree.

[18:00]  Uh, but there are different parts in their journey on campus that they get to think more critically.

[18:00]  And that's the key that we've tried to do in the classroom and then also outside of the classroom to make sure students are able to think more critically.

[18:00]  So, I did have a student who came to me years ago.

[18:00]  Um, and he lost or he broke his key to his car, right? It's the only key he had.

[18:00]  He broke the key. He comes and says, "I don't know what to do. I can't tell my mom I broke the key to my car. I don't have the money to pay for it."

[18:00]  You know, he goes through the laundry list.

[18:00]  I said, "It's not that hard. It's not that difficult."

[18:00]  Right? This is what you do. We're going to call the locksmith.

[18:00]  The locksmith is then going to make a copy of this key.

[18:00]  He is going to give you a key.

[18:00]  It's not going to be the $500 key that you bought.

[18:00]  It's going to be much cheaper.

[18:00]  But that moment, he was then able to see things can be fixed.

[18:00]  I even have it on my desk. Everything is figure out, right?

[18:00]  We can figure out anything.

[18:00]  It's just how we think about it and how we can be more critical in our thinking to accomplish the task.

[18:00]  So now even after that, he's able to say, "Well, we can figure that out. This is not going to be that hard."

[18:00]  Now the things that are big mountains in the student's mind become very small.

[19:33]  How does someone reach you at a time of need?

[19:34]  Let's say after hours or not just so much you but their need of something.

[19:34]  I think that speaks volume because someone was able to find you, right?

[19:34]  Have that conversation. But what happens after hours?

[19:34]  Have we kind of closed that gap in how we communicate with those students and how they can get answers?

[19:34]  Yeah. Well, the beauty about student affairs is that we are 24/7.

[19:34]  Even last night, literally last night, a student texted me maybe about 10:30 and said, "Hey, are there any scholarships for summer to go to class in the summer?"

[19:34]  Yes. And so, how do I do it?

[19:34]  And then I tell him how to do it, right?

[19:34]  Um, a student emailed about even this morning, do we have housing over the summer?

[19:34]  Yes. And this is what you need to do.

[19:34]  So, students want the access, and I've learned that we talk about having access, right?

[19:34]  But it's more of, are you able to answer a question in time?

[19:34]  And that's the real thing.

[19:34]  And so even though offices are from 8 to 5, student affairs is 24/7.

[19:34]  We operate 24/7.

[19:34]  So, our students need our assistance, and they know even on this campus you can go to anybody.

[19:34]  Um, people will send an Instagram message to our FMU Instagram page asking a question, to our admissions page, uh, to the university Instagram page because they have a question that they need to answer.

[19:34]  And so our job is to answer that question around the clock.

[20:44]  Yeah. On all different channels, like you said, really meeting them at where they're at.

[20:45]  Um, I had someone that mentioned how a Netflix everything is really curated to someone, right?

[20:46]  Like, my Netflix is probably very different than yours and everything that the experience that we have in life now is so curated to us.

[20:46]  You talk directly to us.

[20:46]  So in that space of where people want answers, it's funny because they probably emailed, but they also Instagram 'cause it's like, "Let me tweet as well, see where am I going to get my answer from first."

[20:46]  'Cause they're in dire need or they think they're in dire need a lot of the time, and it's like, "Yo, you could definitely wait for tomorrow morning for this answer."

[21:32]  Uh, but it is definitely meeting them at where they're at.

[21:32]  That's actually really cool that you guys are 24/7 and still try to fill in that gap, um, even when you got to sleep, right?

[21:32]  Ideally, but that's a lot of times when people are going through their mental day, and it's like, "How do I get all these things answered?"

[21:32]  Because now I'm available, right?

[21:32]  A lot of times someone's working a 9 to 5.

[21:32]  Is it still the same when you go into, I don't even know what it's called, but maybe this was kind of a student affairs department, but anytime I had questions around financial aid or classes, I would have to sit in this room, and it'll be like an hour and a half, and you sit here.

[21:32]  It's almost like I was at the DMV, and I'm like, "Oh my god, I just have a quick question."

[21:32]  Is it still like that, or has it changed?

[21:57]  No, it is not. And I remember those days where you came in and you had a question, you sat in the seat and you kind of went down because there was a line to get the question answered.

[21:59]  It could be really short, but no, it's definitely not like that anymore.

[21:59]  Uh, we definitely have students have more access to the information now.

[21:59]  One part, and then our job over in student affairs too is to be more proactive.

[21:59]  So get the information out to students quickly and earlier so that they don't have to come to our offices.

[21:59]  Um, some people know and even in our financial aid think that if people are in financial aid, that means we're working really hard, right?

[21:59]  And I see it as the opposite. When they're not in the office and coming in with questions means we've answered them.

[22:45]  Now, there are going to be some that we have not answered the question they have not asked, right?

[22:45]  But for the vast majority, when the complaints go down and the wait times are shorter, but the documentation is going up and the information that we need to receive is that percentage is going up.

[22:45]  They were doing a pretty good job.

[22:45]  So I'm glad that it's not as what it used to be when it came to sitting down and waiting so long.

[23:03]  Yeah. No, that was definitely the worst.

[23:05]  Um, I just enjoy how you really, you could just tell by the way that you're talking that you enjoy serving students, carrying some of their problems as well as much as we talked about how hard it is, uh, that financial pressure, right?

[23:05]  The family obligations that first-gen navigation with probably no roadmap.

[23:05]  How do you meet a student? Because we were just talking about this.

[23:05]  How do you meet a student where they're at without letting them know that they actually let them know that they're stuck there?

[23:05]  Um, I encourage my team to tell their story.

[23:05]  I was a first-gen, right?

[23:05]  Uh, make those connections with students so they realize this is what I did, right?

[23:05]  I didn't know everything about college when I came.

[23:05]  Uh, but these are all the resources and all the materials that we have.

[23:05]  And our job every day is to make sure we articulate that.

[23:05]  If we create these how-to guides and we create these forms and the information, we don't get it to the student, then the students don't have the information that they need.

[23:05]  So our job is to create those things but then get them out.

[23:05]  Uh, so that's what we try to do to make sure students know the resources that they have but then also know who to go to.

[23:05]  So students will say, "Um, and this summer, right, I came here this summer, but quickly students found out who I was."

[23:05]  And so they said, "I need to talk to him."

[23:05]  And so they said, "I need to talk to him."

[23:05]  And so they said, "No, it's financial aid."

[23:05]  They said, "No, but you can talk to us."

[23:05]  I said, "No, he's the person I need to talk to."

[23:05]  So we have a lot of those people on my team, which I'm grateful for, that students know I can go to this person to get an answer.

[23:05]  And even if it's in someone else's area, you know, we'll walk and say, "Hey, walk with us; we'll go over there together."

[23:05]  And now they have another connection, so I have two people to go to.

[24:37]  So it's making those options and resources available for students, and that's what really allows students to be successful.

[24:53]  So wait a minute, you're new to the school?

[24:56]  Yes, I'm actually, uh, in a couple days, May will make a year here.

[24:58]  Wow, I love it. Okay, so I got a better question.

[25:01]  How did you become the guy I need to talk to?

[25:01]  Because a lot of times it ain't the suit and tie.

[25:01]  Is it that you going back to meeting with Rat is because maybe the way that you present yourself?

[25:01]  Is that the difference?

[25:01]  Um, or what is it?

[25:01]  Because clearly you're in, and people already want to speak to you.

[25:01]  That shows volume.

[25:19]  Yeah. I, um, one, I try to be thoughtful with my words, right?

[25:24]  If I say I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it.

[25:24]  And, um, so I have sticky notes.

[25:24]  I live by sticky notes.

[25:24]  And students will say, "I'll say, 'Hey, put your stuff on the sticky note, and I promise you, you know, I'll get back to you.'"

[25:24]  And that's what students really want.

[25:24]  They want to have that promise fulfilled, right?

[25:24]  If you say you're going to do it, let's make sure we do it.

[25:24]  But then I also, uh, we just had a probate on campus, and I had on Jordans and a shirt, right?

[25:24]  And so students, I didn't know that was you.

[25:24]  Yes, I don't dress in shirt and tie every day, right?

[25:24]  But I also am approachable outside of the classroom, and so students feel that energy.

[26:04]  100%. I can feel the energy just talking to you.

[26:06]  There's a smile on your face.

[26:06]  The first time I spoke to you, you sound excited for what you do, and I think people can relate to that.

[26:06]  And I think that's why it's so important to be authentically you.

[26:06]  And I can imagine you also share that a lot is to be authentically you.

[26:06]  But there had to be somebody was pouring all this into you, man.

[26:06]  You ain't just wake up one day as a born leader, but right now you're playing a leader.

[26:06]  Not playing, you are a leader.

[26:06]  Who are some of those that filled your cup, and what do you do to fill other people's cups?

[26:06]  Like, what are some of the leadership things that you pass along for others?

[26:34]  Yeah. Um, one is Valerie Fields that I talked about earlier.

[26:38]  She was my VP when I was in undergrad and taught me about student affairs, taught me about accreditation, taught me about assessment and programming.

[26:38]  So, I see her now.

[26:38]  She was my VP when I was a student, but I see her now at conferences.

[26:38]  So, I still call her Dr. Fields, and she's like, "We're colleagues now."

[26:38]  And I'm like, "No ma'am, you are Dr. Fields forever."

[26:38]  Um, so her, uh, people like M. Christopher Brown II, he is a phenomenal, brilliant leader and researcher in higher ed, and he's given me a lot of leadership lessons.

[26:38]  And so, um, I enjoy when you have the mentor-mentee relationship with people because then you allow that person to, you know, one day he could call me and tell me off, and I'm not going to say anything, but I know it's because he loves me.

[27:24]  And I know it's because he is making sure that I'm staying focused on the work that I'm supposed to do, but then when I mess up, he's like, "That wasn't it. That was not the way to go."

[27:24]  Uh, so I can take that advice, that professional advice.

[27:24]  And so he gives me those lessons.

[27:24]  And my job too is to make sure that the things that I did where I may have misstepped or did something wrong, I give those instances to my team, and they don't have to.

[27:24]  So I try to pave the way that way too.

[27:24]  And then I work for an absolutely phenomenal president that allows me to do some crazy ideas I have and leads me in the area for higher ed.

[27:24]  So I have a few good people that allow me to be important to me.

[28:12]  That's so good, man.

[28:14]  I love good mentors that are very tough on you too.

[28:14]  Like, I guess I need a little bit of tough love, and every time I tell the story, somebody's like, "Could he really say that to you?"

[28:14]  And it was, uh, I had a mentor, and he says, "Yo, Ephrain, if you continue to call me with the same stuff by the end of the year, we can't be friends."

[28:14]  And it was one of those things; he was just tired of hearing the same old BS, right?

[28:14]  And he said it in very little words, but it ignited me to say, "You know what? I am complaining about the same old thing, and it's not going to change if I don't sit here and take ownership of it."

[28:14]  Um, and we've had to make those changes.

[28:14]  So, it looks like someone is kind of you got that person that also kind of keeps you in line and holds you accountable.

[28:14]  Accountability partners, like we need those in life, man.

[28:55]  Yes. And even my peers and colleagues that I went to school with, we'll call each other and we'll say, "I heard this exact same story. I've already heard this two or three times before. You need to fix it. If you're not going to fix it, then let's stop talking about it."

[29:13]  Um, and so we do that to each other.

[29:13]  And that's really the accountability piece.

[29:14]  Notice something. Is it dark outside for you?

[29:15]  No, my window is tinted.

[29:19]  I love it. I'm like, wait, I know we're in Florida.

[29:21]  How the hell is it dark on his side?

[29:22]  Okay. Make sure I wasn't going crazy, dude.

[29:22]  I almost thought to myself, I knew you said you were in Florida, but how is it not bright outside?

[29:22]  No, I appreciate this conversation, man.

[29:22]  And what you've really been doing because we are in a space where funding is so uncertain.

[29:22]  Political pressure on HBCUs is so real.

[29:22]  But you're smiling right now.

[29:22]  What do you say to a student right now who is worried about that their institution they're coming to might not be for them?

[30:02]  Um, there's just so much fear and people going to school and the school that they're going to be attending or want to attend.

[30:02]  You kind of just break any narrative or any debunk anything out there that's not true.

[30:02]  Yeah. People say that you, I think there was a narrative before about higher ed or college degrees weren't necessary, um, or even HBCUs weren't necessary.

[30:02]  Both of those are false, right?

[30:02]  The degree is we do need the degree.

[30:02]  Um, and college can be an option for everybody.

[30:02]  Of course, there's the fit for them.

[30:02]  But if they're going to an institution, the world is changing, the landscape is changing, funding is changing, but there are people like me on campuses that are finding ways to tell students this is the path to take.

[30:02]  Uh, this is what you should explore as far as, you know, if people have funding issues, financial aid is changing.

[30:02]  So how can you navigate the landscape?

[30:02]  Uh, one thing in Florida we have a lot of access to grants and funding for students and scholarships.

[30:02]  So when I came here, we actually launched it earlier this semester.

[30:02]  We created a scholarship portal which every Monday is going out to our entire student database.

[30:02]  Right.

[30:02]  Uh, and if you miss it or you missed the email or can't find it, you can go to this portal that has all the scholarships that we talked about that we sent out, deadlines, um, grant opportunities, and not just the ones on campus, not just the ones in Florida, but anyone that we find.

[30:02]  So, students have a number of opportunities to get funding to fund their education.

[31:27]  I love that. Yeah. I always hear there's a lot of money being left on the table, and you just kind of spoke to all the money being left on the table.

[31:28]  How many applicants do you guys see a year?

[31:35]  Um, we've seen inquiries and applicants up to 15,000 a year, right?

[31:37]  So there's students that are going to college, and of course, in Florida, we have a lot of schools.

[31:37]  I used to work in Georgia, which there are over 30 public schools in Georgia at the time.

[31:37]  So there's a lot of options.

[31:37]  So students are applying to multiple places, but it's the experience that you get on campus that draws a student.

[31:37]  So, um, what happens between the student getting accepted and actually showing up?

[31:37]  I think that, you know, acceptance rate obviously being strong, but I think people may not know what that actually looks like from a student perspective.

[31:37]  What is that in between, and what do you lose in that window?

[31:37]  Yeah, it's all about the connection.

[31:37]  So, students want to have options, right?

[31:37]  And the students typically choose how their vibe is right with the campus or if they see themselves at the campus.

[31:37]  And that's what we try to do.

[31:37]  Uh, we know everybody won't come.

[31:37]  I want everybody to come here.

[31:37]  Um, but everybody won't come.

[31:37]  So it's the fit for a student.

[31:37]  It's the, um, do they see themselves here or do they see themselves at that particular institution?

[31:37]  And then how we help to get them to close the gap in what the cost of attendance is and how much they may actually pay at the end of the day.

[31:37]  And that's a huge indicator too because I don't have millions of dollars.

[31:37]  Now I wish and I will pray and accept all millions of dollars in my bank account, right, that are legal, but everybody doesn't have that.

[31:37]  So, how do we get a student from the cost of attending an institution to what they actually pay out of pocket?

[31:37]  And that is the driving piece that closes that.

[31:37]  Appreciate you sharing so much insight here on this conversation.

[31:37]  I'll leave you with a couple of questions here, man.

[31:37]  With everything that you've been doing since you started higher ed, and it's been 15 years, am I right?

[31:37]  Uh, next year will be year 15.

[31:37]  15. Oh, I gave you too many years.

[31:37]  I'll make you older than what it is.

[31:37]  Okay. 15 years.

[31:37]  Okay.

[31:37]  For 15 years, and you've really been working at different institutions, whether it's DC, Jacksonville, and now in Miami.

[31:37]  What is staying in spaces where work isn't really taught teach you about yourself as a leader?

[31:37]  I feel like you're in a very purpose-filled career.

[31:37]  It's about passion for you as well.

[31:37]  But what is it teaching you about yourself as a leader?

[31:37]  Um, every place is different, right?

[31:37]  I'm learning something new in my leadership journey every place I go.

[31:37]  Uh, so for me, it's the constant learning.

[31:37]  Um, I'm learning one place I may learn assessment, another place I may learn budgeting, another place I may learn to tap into more research.

[31:37]  And I did that in DC, but all those come together to create this portfolio and this person and this leader.

[31:37]  Uh, and I work with different groups of people, right?

[31:37]  And different students.

[31:37]  So all those things together kind of develop how we think, what we do.

[31:37]  Um, and some things that happen at one institution you can bring to another one.

[31:37]  Some things may not work as well.

[31:37]  Uh, I didn't do a scholarship portal at another institution.

[31:37]  But here we find the need.

[31:37]  Um, and we think through the options for students, and then we create.

[31:37]  Um, and that's the one thing that never stops wherever I go is the creation.

[31:37]  Mindset, man, is so good.

[31:37]  And I love that you say because I actually say this out loud to myself and I say this even to young adults is what's in it for me, right?

[31:37]  Every job that I go to is what am I learning out of this?

[31:37]  What do I want to get out of this?

[31:37]  And I put time frames around those stuff.

[31:37]  Um, are you going into the same different institutions with that mindset of like what am I getting out of this or what do I add to this organization?

[31:37]  Is that how you think about it?

[31:37]  Yeah, I always want to remain value add.

[31:37]  Um, how can I continue to shape an institution?

[31:37]  Um, I don't want to go to a place, and we've kind of talked about it before, I don't want to go to a place where everything is all put together because then I'm bored.

[31:37]  Um, I need some challenges.

[31:37]  I need some tough days.

[31:37]  I need to bounce back and say, "You know what, now I figured out how to fix this thing," right?

[31:37]  So, those are the things that fulfill me every day, especially when it comes to institutions.

[31:37]  Um, so if an institution has it all together, they probably be really nice, and it might be very easy day, but that's not what fulfills me at the end of the day.

[31:37]  It's the work and the advancement of students and solving the key issue for a student.

[31:37]  Those things make me happy.

[31:37]  I leave you this last question, man.

[31:37]  Statistically, I shouldn't be here.

[31:37]  I think we talked about offline what that actually looked like for me, but a lot of students may feel the same way.

[31:37]  Okay.

[31:37]  What do you actually say directly to that student who is sitting on the fence about whether they belong in the space like FMU or not?

[31:37]  Um, well, I will say that for us, we're the pathway to everything.

[31:37]  Um, we're the pathway to promise for students and what they can get after graduation.

[31:37]  We're that access point.

[31:37]  Uh, and a lot of institutions are.

[31:37]  So, I do believe that students that can get to college, we can help get through college.

[31:37]  All we have to do is if you come here, we can help to get you to your next spot.

[31:37]  Um, and HBCUs have been known to be the access for education, and we never stop being that access.

[31:37]  You must have said that a lot.

[31:37]  I literally the whole time that you spoke to my that was good.

[31:37]  If we can help you get through college, we'll help you get through college.

[31:37]  Wait a minute now.

[31:37]  That was a word.

[31:37]  That was a word right there, bro.

[31:37]  That was really good.

[31:37]  You definitely should write that down.

[31:37]  When you said that, I'm like that was so good.

[31:37]  That was really good.

[31:37]  Um, where can people find more information about the organization, not just the school?

[31:37]  If they want to know more information about the university, where's the website?

[31:37]  What's the socials?

[31:37]  And maybe even if they wanted to tap in with you if you're on LinkedIn and what that social may look like.

[31:37]  Yep, I'm on LinkedIn, uh, Tim and mgram, Florida Memorial University, fmu.edu, uh, social media, FMU official.

[31:37]  Uh, so we have we're on social media everywhere.

[31:37]  We're on LinkedIn, um, our website, and you can tap in and reach us from there.

[31:37]  But we're not gonna be seeing you dancing on any of the socials because there was a video that was posted from a step show, and we were there were some strolls, and I could be caught in a side view.

[31:37]  But no, you won't see too much of that.

[31:37]  I love it, brother.

[31:37]  Well, listen, man, I truly appreciate what you've been doing, Simon, um, for taking the time and just really I want to say this may be the first HBCU that we've kind of spoken to, and you really enlighten us on a lot.

[31:37]  And I can imagine we can do another conversation on so much more and really talk about the history.

[31:37]  But if you guys want to make sure you guys are tapped in, you guys know exactly where to tap into, whether it's LinkedIn or find them on their socials or even on the website.

[31:37]  We thank you for these conversations.

[31:37]  We appreciate those that are watching.

[31:37]  Make sure that you guys do like, subscribe, and comment.

[31:37]  Tim, anything else you want to leave us here with? Any words of encouragement, my brother?

[31:37]  Um, do great. Be great. Uh, there's an institution that says go forth inspired.

[31:37]  So do that every day.

[31:37]  All right, brother. My name is E Fray, and this is Tim, and we'll catch you on the next one.