Megan: Thank you so much for being here today. I am very excited about today’s interview. We are talking with Fathia Hardy, who is with the University of Alabama and Huntsville, and we have talked with a lot of people on this podcast, specifically, who have made some economic impacts here in Huntsville.
But we haven’t really dove into the University of Alabama, which sits here in our own backyard and is such a phenomenal school and one of the top research institutions in the country. Over a hundred areas of study, huge economic impact. So, I am thrilled to chat with you today.
Fathia is the director of the Office of Professional and Continuing Education and has had many positions. Before that, doing a lot of different things. So, thank you so much for being here today. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. I think that UAH is what it goes by, is a school that I think a lot of people who have grown up here maybe take it for granted and it’s in their backyard, but they may not really know, a little bit about the school as a whole.
Right. And its economic impact. Right. And for me personally, I have a daughter who’s at the University of [00:01:00] Alabama, but in Tuscaloosa and, you know, when we were going through evaluating schools, of course, she’s like, I can’t, I can’t stay here. You’re too close to me, mom. You know, but we went and toured the school, and I know Jason Green.
He, you know, kind of hooked us up with a couple of people. Yeah. And I was blown away at UAH. Blown away. And fun fact, for anyone whose, students are looking at schools, UAH, correct me if I’m wrong, but they have the highest. Graduating salary. Yes. Like for students that come out entry level salary
in any other state, state. Mm-hmm. Like pay down those college levels a lot faster, you know, which is pretty amazing. So anyways, you so many accomplishments and accolades behind you, which is super impressive, and you know, when you and I chatted a couple of weeks ago, I could tell your energy was a perfect fit for this.
And you know, one of the things that, Amber gives her a shout out because she recommended you for, she boss. One of the things that she said in her initial email was that she was a fierce advocate for women, which makes it just a perfect Yes. Fit for Sheba for sure. So, thank you so much for everything that you do and for being [00:02:00] here.
Yeah. So, let’s kind of start with a little bit about your background and how you got to the position that you are today and really what that sort of day-to-day looks like for you. Alright. Well, that’s a Loaded question.
Fathia: So originally, I was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, so about an hour and a half south of here.
Irondale is the home of the Whistle Stop Cafe, which is the inspiration behind the movie, and so that’s kind of the historic value that Irondale had, and it’s still there to the day the train tracks, the Whistle Stop Cafe. It’s still runs; they still serve cafeteria style. So that’s where I grew up. I. Have a background theater and dance. So, I was heavy in the arts and that’s what kind of took me on my way to the University of Cincinnati after I graduated high school.
Okay? So, I went there, went to the College Conservatory of Music, and honestly, it wasn’t on my list at all. My junior year we went to Lincoln, Nebraska for, a big thespian festival. And so there you could audition for several different universities. So, I did my audition, and I got a call [00:03:00] back and the University of Cincinnati and he was like, hey, I winna offer you a spot, I winna offer you scholarship.
I was like, oh, okay. This’ll work. So we went, me and my parents. They weren’t too keen of me going that far away, but I really, I had okay childhood growing up in Birmingham, but it wasn’t great. And so, I just kind of was like, I really winna get out of Alabama. I winna experience the world a little bit more.
And I’m like, okay, where, how far can I go? Where could tuition dollars take me? Mm-hmm. And so, there were a couple other colleges and universities I got offered too, but when I went to visit Cincinnati. Absolutely fell in love. Yeah. So, it was such a cute city.
Megan: It was recently that I was there, so yes, it wasn’t that
Fathia: I went back, probably, it’s been about eight years since I’ve last visited, and when I last visited, I was like, what city is this? What campus is this? It has transformed tremendously, and it is an absolutely beautiful city now.
But when I went, it wasn’t that great. But so, I went there, I was doing theater was my major and then I was booking [00:04:00] gigs. I had an agent, and my agent was just kind of like, hey, you know, have a degree in performance is okay, but I would just get a backup plan because you’ve got it factor. Take some classes, do you know, just kind of.
Get a little bit more well-rounded. Yeah. And so, after two years I switched, my major to communication, which was still kind of in the same realm a little bit. Yeah, yeah. With a public relations focus and stayed there. Finished out my degree. I had to take an extra year because. You know, going from performance to an actual like degree.
It’s a big shift where, I only took a couple of academic classes ’cause all of my things were performance based and then having to switch, so yeah. You were having to start over a little bit. Yeah. Oh, pre for sure. I had to start over. There were only a couple credits that transferred over. How did your parents feel about that?
I think they were supportive of that. They really wanted me to come back home and do that because they were like, you can do that anywhere. But I had built a life in Cincinnati. I had friends, I had [00:05:00] sorority sisters, I had joined Alpha K Alpha Sorority Incorporated,
So, I had, you know, sorority sisters. I had built family with. I had my friends, I had networked, I had, you know, was working like, it felt like home. I actually, I was a resident, I was an Ohio resident. I became a resident because I wanted to get that in state tuition. I switched; I lost all my scholarship money.
So, I’m like, okay, I’ve gotta figure out something if I’m gonna stay. So, I actually was, I was an Ohio resident, had a driver’s license, the whole nine yards. but it was home. And so, I wanted to stay, and I wanted to finish my degree. And then my junior year I ended up getting pregnant and I decided to keep my son.
And, it was the best decision I ever made because it helped me kind of grow into the woman that I am today. If it wasn’t for that situation. I don’t think I would be as driven as I am today. So, he really helped push me because I knew that I didn’t wanna be a statistic.
Megan: Yeah.
Fathia: I wanted to make sure that he had everything he needed, [00:06:00] he wanted, and didn’t have to offend or want for anything.
And so, it pushed me to work harder. Such a motivation for sure. Yeah. And again, parents wanted me to come home and I thought about it. I did come home for the summer. he was a July baby, so I came home for the summer and then I was like, no, I’m gonna go back to Cincinnati and I’m gonna do this.
Help. How did you do that as a single mom? Well, you know, people ask me, and I look back and I’m like, you know what? I really don’t know what I, you just do. There’s no option. Right. I don’t know how I did it, but I did have an amazing village. So, you know, if I call my parents. They would come up and take some time and help me out.
I’ve had my sorority sisters, they were there. I had a best friend. Her name was Vivian Rose. She’s still my best friend to this day. she was Auntie Viv, like from the freshman, auntie Viv. That’s what she calls. she stepped in and helped out. it was that village that we’re like, okay, if you wanna do this, we’re gonna help you.
We know that you got it in you. and they helped me, and it was, that’s the only [00:07:00] way I made it through. I finished, I got my degree and my son was there, see me walk across the stage. We’ve got a picture of him holding the diploma while I’m holding it.
Megan: That’s so sweet.
Fathia: I am like, yep, this is your diploma too. I mean, and it was great. I had amazing professors. I switched around my schedule. I tried to take as many online classes as I could, or, night classes so I could work during the day while he was at daycare. Then I would have him. I remember one week the daycare was closed ’cause they had an e coli outbreak, and it was exam week. Oh my God.
Megan: Oh
Fathia: my God, you just can’t make
Fathia: so, I emailed my teacher, I was like, hey, you know, this is my situation. And they were like, oh, well just bring them, I’ll keep an eye on him.
And I was like, bring my child during exam week. They were like, yeah. And so, I brought him, he didn’t make a peep. the instructor had to come and find me and was like, I thought you were your infant. And he did not make
Megan: Wow. So, it was. Someone was looking over you.
Yeah. It’s amazing when, how things just work out at the right time when they need to, you know? [00:08:00] For sure,
Fathia: so, I graduated, and I was right in the middle of the reception recession. So, I was working several different part-time jobs, just trying to make ends meet, feed him. And finally, my parents were like, why don’t you kind of come on back home, you know, get back on your feet, get back situated.
And so, I decided to move back home in September of 2011 and at that time when I moved back, a friend of mine had just started up, they had changed an old Masonic lodge into an event center in Woodlawn. I don’t know if you’re familiar with Birmingham, but they were restoring that area around Woodlawn.
And so, they had changed a Masonic Lodge into an event center. And so, when I had switched my major in school, it was communications with a PR focus. But I had done a lot of event planning. I kind of had done that earlier in the years. Like I would always play my birthday parties, like down to the color scheme.
Everybody had a theme. All of the favors, I [00:09:00] had did, baby showers for friends. that was something that I had enjoyed doing and then it just kind of kept evolving I did my internships, with the American Lung Association where I was a special events coordinator.
Oh, fun. And then I also got my volunteer management experience, ’cause I had to help manage over a hundred volunteers for their fundraisers. I also did the Disney College program as well.
Megan: talk about that a little bit.
Fathia: With, at Cincinnati, you had to take a career course before you could intern or co-op.
And so, part of the career course they brought in alumni to kind of talk about what they did. So, one of the alums was actually the director of the floral department at Disney. Oh, how fun. All you wanna do is ask all these questions, right? Yes. And so, I made a connection ’cause I was like, I love Disney.
Like, I would love to like come down there and work and, you know, normally people get like the really bad jobs, like we picking up the trash or, you know, working the cart in the a hundred degree, But I [00:10:00] applied, I got accepted and she handpicked me and was like, Hey, you are gonna come work with me.
And that’s how I learned how to do florals. Which helped with that event planning
Megan: that route that I was going. So, was that, just floral arrangements that are distributed throughout the park or in restaurants? Event for weddings. Events, yeah. Oh, cool. Yes. And I’m sure a Disney wedding is Oh, like something else.
Fathia: house payment. I could see that. And that was 15 years ago. Wow. It was over. I totally imagine now.
Megan: Yeah. But, the Walt Disney mindset of business Is something that a lot of people are not, unless you’re exposed to it, you may not really realize.
I went to school in Orlando at UCF. And we actually took a course on Walt Disney, and you learned all about his business model and his practice. And it was one of the coolest things. It was one of the neatest things ever, Going to the park as a kid. you start to click, you’re like, oh, okay.
That’s why they pump sense of chocolate chip cookies in certain areas to pull you over to the food and yeah, just the science behind how they designed the theme [00:11:00] park was mind blowing. But that was such a cool experience for you.
Fathia: It really was. all of those things, finally brought me back to Birmingham, which all of those skills helped me help a friend of mine kind of build their business with the event venue.
That’s awesome. So, I was kinda working with sales and it was a small business, just like we were talking about earlier. I had my hand in everything, doing sales, doing catering, doing florals, managing the events, bartending, all facets of the event are how I kind of. Enhance my skills in that aspect.
I met my, well, he’s now my ex-husband. at the time he was my husband. I met him there and he was working here in Huntsville at, Browns Ferry, the CLE plant. after about two years of dating and. Learning about Huntsville and how it was growing and how more opportunities were being made available.
I packed up my son and we moved here to Huntsville. So, in 2013, actually January 1st. Oh, wow. Coming up of 2013. Yes. 2013. we moved to Hunts. Ville, I did a short [00:12:00] stint at the Space and Rocket Center when I first landed here. That’s a great place to start,
Megan: You know anything about the history of Huntsville, that’s a
Fathia: So, it was a lot of fun. I was doing catering for all of the events there, so it was a lot of fun. And then, some opportunities became available at UAH and also Alabama and m. And so, I ultimately chose UAH because when I visited and interviewed it just. It felt more like home for me.
Yeah. And so that’s how I landed at UAH and that’s 11 years as of today. Today’s my work university today.
Megan: Cheers to that cheer. Congratulations. how exciting. Thank you. And UAH again, it’s such an amazing school. there’s so many exciting things going on there. So, you’ve had a couple of different positions at UAH.
Yes. But talk to us just a little bit about your transition from where you started to kind of where you landed today, and then we’ll dive into that. Absolutely. So, I started
Fathia: off as the event scheduling coordinator in student affairs. So, I was working with all the student groups, plan all their grant events, and there’s [00:13:00] over a hundred student groups.
just kind of helping them. Okay, you got this schedule, you got food, you got, all of the little thing’s kind of helping them, put together events. When I first got there, they were finishing up the student union.
And, we were over in the old student union, which was now the conference training center. Conference training center, CTC. And so, we started off there and then we had our grand opening for the student union, not even probably a month after I had started because we had winter break. And so, we opened the union, and I was over there, and I was managing kind of both buildings there.
We also managed, helped manage Chan Auditorium in the business building. And we dabbled in a whole bunch of other things on campus too. but I was really engaged with the students, helping them, plan, their events, and kind of doing a little bit of mentorship, showing them kind of, this is how you put on a professional event.
This is how you put on a fun event. This is how you put on, a formal event, a fundraising event. And it was [00:14:00] great experience because I’ve really loved working with the students. They helped keep me a little bit young. Feeling a little bit young. I can see that. You know, and updated on the lingo that you’re like, I didn’t know.
Megan: Yeah. My 11-year-old tells me what’s in these days. I’m like, y’all really lame, but otherwise I don’t know what’s going on
Fathia: and then at the time my supervisor, his name is Will Hall. He’s still there to the day his today. he was like, you know.
I really see something in you. I really wanna see you in advance. He said, you know, if you want to kind of move up here at UAH, why don’t you start thinking about getting an advanced degree? And I was like, well, I’d never thought about that. I barely thought I was gonna get a bachelor’s degree, you know? and so I was like, okay.
so, I looked at to see if we had a communications master’s degree, because I had a communications bachelor. at the time they were still in the planning stages for the Master of Communications. And I’m like, well, I don’t know if I can wait. two, three years to start a degree. ‘Cause then that would prolong [00:15:00] advancement.
I met with Jennifer Petit over in the College of Business and she talked me through the business, master, the MBA, the Master of Business Administration. She said, some of your undergrad coursework would pair well with this. I was able to knock out some other classes that I didn’t have to take because of what I had already taken.
That’s great. so, I ended up getting my MBA took me around three years to do that because I was working full time. And I got married during that time and I also had another child. So, there was a lot going on. So, it took me about three years. I took about two classes a semester.
I got my master’s degree while working at UAH and that helped me in that pipeline. in 2016, a position became available over in what? At the time, it was the Division of Professional and Continuing studies, and I moved over there in February of 2016.
Under the direction of, well, she was Dean Karen Clanton, Dr. Karen Clanton. And she [00:16:00] kind of took me under her wing as well. And she, again, she saw something in me, she mentored to me. She had a lot of tough love. You need that, right? Yes. I had a lot of tough love, and she created opportunities for me that didn’t even really exist.
And so that’s kind of how I went through the pipeline, through the continuum education space. And, so I started off with doing their events. The assistant director of conferences and events and, we had some opportunities to work with osha, lifelong Learning Institute, also known as Ollie.
Megan: so, is it weird that I cannot wait to get older? That way I can take classes; I’m an Ollie member. Really? Yeah. it’s designed for like, retirees semi-retire. I can tell my in-laws. I’m like, but anybody take the class.
Fathia: Yeah. So, I, I’m actually going to the holiday party tomorrow night with them.
Good to know. Come join us.
Megan: saw it when we were touring and I’m like, this is amazing.
Fathia: some opportunities became available, so I was kind of still doing conferences and events, but also [00:17:00] helping out with the Ollie program, learning how that operated.
slowly I moved into an assistant director role and took over the Ollie program. They reported up through me. And then right after the pandemic in May of 21. she moved me up to director of all of our support services and outreach. So that included the Ollie program our, testing and certification services all of our outreach, any outreach that we did.
and then I oversaw the registration office, which also helped with the professional development side. So pretty much I was dabbling in a lot of different things. And overseeing all of that, Increased roles and responsibilities, more staff that reported to me, things of that nature. also, while doing that, I went through Leadership Greater Huntsville Connect Class 23.
I saw that, best class ever. and so, I did that after co like we were the. We weren’t the shutdown covid year, but we had the covid year because we still had to wear masks.
Yeah. And so, I did that and then when she was about to [00:18:00] walk out the door, she handed me a piece of paper and she said, this is your message here. And I was like, what do you mean, what is my message? And she spoke. The University of Alabama is waiving fees and the test scores for the EDD and higher education administration.
And I said, okay. ‘Cause she had been pushing me to go ahead and keep moving. Right after I finished my master’s degree, I was like, okay, hold on. I just finished a master’s degree. I just had a baby. gimme a little time. You just promoted me, so I need a little time to process everything.
And I said, okay, I receive that, I receive that. I believe that the universe does things for a reason. So, I applied for the ED DD program, and I got accepted and I started the program and slowly realized at the first semester, it was a lot. the executive route was not it.
I don’t know. How my other cohort members did it. But, you know, it was three classes that we had to take and I [00:19:00] would have to go down there for a full weekend. this is at Tuscaloosa. I had to go down there for a full weekend, actually go down Thursday night through Sunday, and we’re in classes all day.
Wow. once you graduate, what does that
yield
Megan: when you’re done with it?
Fathia: so that would be a Doctor of Education. Wow. And higher education administration. it was a lot and honestly. I wasn’t really learning anything because I had been afforded the opportunities to learn that in real world experiences.
Yeah. Through my roles and responsibilities that Dean Clanton provided for me. So, it speaks volumes about her. Exactly. And so, it was kind of like, okay, this is a lot. Do I want the stress? Do I want this? Do I want that just for a piece of paper? And I said, you know, I do wanna continue to move up in this space.
‘Cause I wanna be able to provide opportunities for other individuals as I’ve been provided those opportunities. And so, I stayed for another semester, and then life happened. I was going through a divorce, kid’s activities were [00:20:00] picking up work started. Being crazy. we went from division of Professional continuing studies to the College of Professional and Continuing Studies to the College of Professional Studies, and then we transitioned after Dean Clinton left.
And, I. We transitioned to what we are now, the Office of Professional Continuing Education, just kind of taking it back to our roots. Yeah. Yeah. I thought that was very important to really get down to why we supported the university’s mission. And so it was, there was just a lot of things going on, and so I decided that, maybe this wasn’t the right time to kind of finish that degree.
It’s still the goal. I actually, I attended a conference here back in October at, Harvard University. It’s the Women in Leadership Conference for Higher Education. And I was just so inspired, so inspired. I came back and I was telling my team, I was like, I’m so inspired. So, I, I made myself a plan.
there are some things that I need to take care of in the next several months, but I do wanna start back here in the fall. That’s exciting. so, I’ve got [00:21:00] some more years, but we’re looking at probably 20, 27 if I just. Kind of people. Put my feet to the fire. and then hopefully I’ll be Dr.
Hardy at some point.
Megan: So let me ask you, at the Harvard Summit that you were at Yeah. tell me a little bit about what left you so inspired. What were some of the two or three things that you walked away with that just sort of stuck with you?
Fathia: So, the very first thing is it created a safe space for us women to have conversations that we can’t have in other spaces.
And knowing that I was not alone in my frustrations was very inspiring for me. Being in a room with so many women and minority women With PhDs and EDDs, it’s like, okay, Fathia, you can do this. And hearing their stories and how they came to be. it just, it left me inspired
Megan: what would you say are, I mean, being in that group and among your peers, what are some of the challenges that. Minority women face within education that you found [00:22:00] as a common thread that ran throughout?
Fathia: Well, it’s not really a very diverse field in higher education, especially not here in the South.
Unless you are at a historically black college and university, HBCU, which we have several here in Alabama. But even then, it is still a harder space. so, I think that is the hardest challenge is trying to be a leader and a change agent and make pathways for people who otherwise may not have gotten through that pathway.
I’ve spoken at many different summits. I remember I did a talk for Spark with leadership Greater Huntsville. And afterwards, a young lady came up to me and she said, you know what? I didn’t even know we had any minority women in leadership positions like this, because they don’t see that.
They don’t get to see that. we’re kind of hiding behind the windows a little bit, and it’s not on purpose. It is just, you know, when you look at the website, that’s just kind of how it [00:23:00] goes. And, again, there’s no shade on the university. I think they are doing a much better job of being intentional with diversifying the portfolio of our leadership, not even just age, gender, race, different statuses, those types of things. I think we’re heading in the right direction. Probably five, seven years ago.
Megan: Yeah. So, it’s interesting that you say that, considering that we recently had a new policy, whatever you wanna call it, where, within our state, a lot of the DEI initiatives have been cut from education, higher education, and, you know, across the board I mean, I was blown away at that. Blown away. and we work a lot in the government contracting space and for the Department of Defense. you hear a lot of that being a huge focus with a lot of these federal agencies.
Absolutely. And then you have something like that come down and it just cut. So, talk a little bit about that. Yeah. and I’m, I’m very, enlightened to hear that you think it’s gone in a positive direction Yes. Over the last couple of years. But how has that impacted, you know, your [00:24:00] ability to kind of ensure that that’s a consistent path that maintains itself at
Fathia: so, I will tell you, when it first happened in Florida, actually me and my team, we had this conversation. We were like, oh boy, let’s buckle up. because we knew that. We would probably be on the chopping block coming soon just because of the political climate here and most of the time if Florida does it, then it just kind of trickles up, and then there’s a stopping point.
But it kind of bleeds north. and so, we were like, okay, buckle up. And then, you know, it took a while and I was like, well, maybe we might be in the clear. and then when it happened, I will tell you that day I was very emotional. I’m gonna get emotional think about it right now.
very emotional because I’ve got friends who work in those spaces. I was worried for their jobs.
Megan: Yeah.
Fathia: I have an individual in my department who, is gender neutral and. [00:25:00] he could no longer use the bathroom that he was comfortable in. Hmm.
and it’s just not, it wasn’t fair. For, you know, him to be able, he has to walk buildings over to use a single stall bathroom. nobody ever thinks about that. then we’ve got our disability services department to where we have students, both traditional and non-traditional, who need that extra level of assistance or extra time, just because after CID you just won’t believe
That the new space of students that we get Yeah. their anxiety is higher. Mm-hmm. I, you know, and they just, the time limit, they need that. Yeah. And so, we’re cutting support for them as well. it was a lot, you know, it was really hard to navigate that, but we navigated what we could within our office, and within reason.
And then the university did a really good job of making sure that the people in [00:26:00] department, their jobs were secure. they did change the department name to the Office of Access, Connection and Engagement. And they’re really focusing on first generation students in underrepresented communities, trying to give them a pipeline to come to the university.
we were actually already planning on putting a single stall restroom. it’s gonna actually be right outside of our suite. we’ve been going through renovation since April, but that was already the plan because there was no single stall restroom in that building. Yeah. And so, you know, things that we can do just on our level, on, administration, the higher administration’s level, they’re doing what we can within reason.
and you know, we offered diversity equity inclusion course courses for the community because that’s what we do here. OPC, we do training and so now. It’s kind of a little bit of a roadblock because I can’t help the companies here in Research Park specifically on those initiatives. On [00:27:00] Specifically on those initiatives.
When they’re trying to build that initiative for their organizations, they’re coming us for asking us for training, and unfortunately, we just, we can’t provide it because we can’t support that effort, which is really unfortunate. so, what we try to do now is we’re looking at different things.
We’re talking about, customer service skills, how to deal with different types of people, looking at change management, kind of looking at it, still trying to help them, but looking at it from a different lens. And not actually. Thinking about diversity, equity, inclusion. Right. Gotcha.
Megan: addressing a lot of those needs. Absolutely. Which I love to hear. within Huntsville, you know, for anybody who knows anything about Huntsville, I mean, our economy is huge.
And just fueled by the Department of Defense. Government contracting and all of that. And that’s one of the big things that you guys do is really bridge, the gap between academia and industry. And really identify the need where you guys can come in and help equip.
Future workforces. Absolutely. And you know, it’s interesting because, you know, we work a lot [00:28:00] with clients who support the army, and the modernization needs of the army. And you see there’s this huge cliff, you know, where our workforce is kind of tail, you know, and so really trying to skill them in appropriate ways.
And then you factor in something like the pandemic. And to your point, it is not a, oh, we’re just gonna hit pause for a second and then just continue doing what we were doing. It’s a completely different environment. It’s a different landscape where everybody, you know, was impacted in so many different ways personally and professionally.
And then you also layer on things like ai mm-hmm. And how you can take that and, you know, be able to modernize the workforce. Right. To be able to adapt that. So just talk a little bit about how you identify some of those skills gaps. And really how the role that UAH plays in that and really what you kind of envision.
That effort in Huntsville kind of looking like in the future? Absolutely.
Fathia: So, after the pandemic, the biggest thing that we were getting tasked with from organizations was leadership development programs. What we saw during Covid is all of our leaders who had been leading for. 25 [00:29:00] plus years, they were like, you know what, I’m not gonna deal with this.
it’s time I can retire. It’s time for me to go ahead and, bow out, let somebody else step in. no one’s had the skills to be able to know how to handle it. Like how you manage a remote workforce. it’s exhausting. I mean, we kind of know now, but while we were going through it, we’re like, we just gotta keep people sane at this point.
Megan: their jobs. ‘Cause this is their livelihood. Yeah. The amount of money I spent on a Zoom subscription.
Exactly. Not knowing like what, anyways, it was just, and we are a small business, it was still a big impact financially. Absolutely. I could imagine for some of these bigger
Fathia: companies. Absolutely. so, you know, we saw that, and we know there was a skills gap. You know, there are people who are really, really good at their skilled job.
Engineers, however, they were not provided opportunities to develop their leadership skill. And so, at this point they’re like, oh, you’re really good at your job. Hey, here’s a whole team of 30 people. Hmm. Now go lead them and manage them. And they’re like, whoa. I mean, I know how to handle like my own job.
How do I go and manage people? But it’s just [00:30:00] because the workforce kind of either left. And then that was kind of the opportunity. So now we have, companies who were suffering because they needed people to step up, but they didn’t know how to step up. They didn’t have those skills.
And so, what we did is we did an assessment. We’re like, well, if the companies are coming to us asking us for leadership development program, why don’t we just start our own? And so that’s what, we did. It took us about two years, and we created the Leadership Accelerator Academy. For entry level and mid-level.
Leaders, and we had our first cohort last year, and we graduated them back in May. We’ve already started our second cohort. They’ve already been through their first semester of coursework. Is it a yearlong course? it’s on the academic schedule. So, we say nine to 10 months. they just finished their first semester.
They’ll have another semester in the spring, and then applications are now open for our third
Megan: cohort of the Leadership Accelerator Academy. So how does that work? Do companies sort of come to you, you put the word out and they kind of cherry pick individuals [00:31:00] to then join that?
Fathia: we, a marketing manager is fabulous, but, we, she has a whole marketing strategy to where, we, she puts all the information out there and people can apply.
Okay. So it could be that companies wanna send a couple of their folks. We’ve had that happen. and. They’ll just apply, and we review the applications and then there’s an acceptance process. and then there’s a tuition, and then we have a nice kickoff. Oh, that’s great. And then they go through their coursework reminds me of leader leadership, but more leadership focus.
Yes, yes. It’s a very, very similar application process. Yeah. as leadership, greater Huntsville, but, just different curriculum. Yeah.
Megan: mean, you offer a variety of different curriculums.
Fathia: we have foundation courses, which you have eight foundation courses that you have to take, at least you have to take and successfully complete at least six of those foundation courses.
Then we have the option that they have to. Pick two electives out of the four elective options.
Megan: Love [00:32:00] Jason Parks. He kicks off our program. if there isn’t a better way to kick off Exactly. He, his energy.
Yes. I can watch him speak all day long. Jason, you’re amazing. he is great. Which church is he
Fathia: at?
Megan: Refuge. Refuge? He’s a senior
Fathia: pastor there. so, he kicks it off and he kind of does the foundation level of leadership. they do a disc assessment that’s part of their program.
And he walks in through what does this mean? what does your letter mean? How do you work well with the other letters? And then kind of start some off on their foundation So then we move into other, we’ve got team building. We actually just did the team building workshop with doc Rock a couple weeks ago.
we did Strategic Communication, our VP of Strategic Communication at UAH, Christina Hendricks. She teaches that she’s amazing, help her love her. so, they have that, they already had two, two electives to choose from. Critical Thinking and Financial Literacy for Leaders.
Megan: a,
Fathia: Pretty full semester. And it’s very well rounded too, it seemed. It’s not just like, you know, hyper focused in one area. Exactly. and [00:33:00] then in the spring they’ll have, strategies for hiring top talent, project management course a lean six Sigma course, you know, processes and procedures and things of that nature.
And then we will end with kind of how you manage employees and provide that leadership. and then there’s also two electives in the spring, so effective business writing ’cause Yeah. People need to learn how to write and not use ai. yeah. And then we also have a public speaking, elective as well.
Megan: And how many people do you guys have in the cohort? so we have 21 in this part, this cohort,
Fathia: We had 18 in our first cohort, and it’s actually a mix of both, UAH folks and off campus in the community.
It’s really interesting when I talk to the people in the community, they love learning about how UAH is. Extremely different. As far as operations and things of that nature. And our folks say the same thing about our industry people. So again, we’re bridging that gap. Between industry and academia.
Megan: [00:34:00] single leadership program. Wow. Yeah. and what does that look like as far as the collaboration and partnerships you guys have here, if any, with some of the local companies that are here? Yeah. I mean, there’s so many different companies here that are so influential. Within the Department of Defense. And then you’ve also got, the FBI And what’s out on the arsenal. I mean, there’s just so many pockets you could kind of Dip your toes into. So, what does that look like from your perspective?
Fathia: I think the opportunities for them to be able to send their entry level and mid-level leaders, if they want them to continue to grow and their organization, provides them that opportunity without them having to have a customized option or a commercial off the shelf option just for their organization.
now we can do that as well because there are some organizations who are like, okay, I got a group of 10 people. Can you come in and do this, you know, x, Y, Z For this group of people, and we can do that as well. But this also provides an opportunity where they don’t even have to think about it.
They don’t have to review a proposal, they don’t have to put it in their budget, you know, if they’ve already [00:35:00] got, training dollars in their budget, they can just send their folks over, to the leadership academy. And that goes for any of our courses. I mean, we have different partnerships.
We work with Bright Horizons, edis, it used to have all these different names. but that’s where companies work together and they’re a third party, so they kind of help. Fund pay the bills, basically. They’re that third party revenue stream. For between the company and the university.
we’re not the only one that utilizes it, but we have that partnership, and we offer a 5% discount on our non-credit courses because of that partnership. it’s really a streamlined process. All they have to do is they come, they register, they say they’re a bright Horizon, edis partner through their company, and depending on the company, we either send them a bill or they pay up front and then they get reimbursed after they finish their course.
So again, streamlining the process so that way individual learners can come and continue growing their [00:36:00] skills. And the companies are investing in their people. It’s just people gotta know to go ask, go to your HR department and say, Hey.
Megan: Yeah.
Fathia: I’m lacking in this, this area. Or it can even be a supervisor looking at them and saying like, they did, like my supervisor did for me.
Saying, hey, I see potential, but in order for you to continue to grow, you need to go do X, Y, Z. And so, them seeing. That potential in the individual and sending them it, that, that’s where our partnership kind of comes together. we also, launched a partnership with Iron Mountain Solutions to where we’re doing something similar with them, where we offer them a discount and a streamlined process to where they can pay for their employees to come and take some of our courses and our training.
Do they sort of pick and choose some of the courses that they want their team to take? Yeah. We’ve got a whole catalog of over a hundred, courses, whether that be online, asynchronous, or in person. And then we are also. Occasionally we’ll do kind of like that live virtual format.
But we’ve kind of pulled away from that because companies are really starting to bring their people [00:37:00] back in. And so, we’ve kind of pulled away from that, but we do have the technology to do it if a company does need it. we’ve had instances to where companies like, well, I’ve got folks in Colorado and Alaska
Megan: all
Fathia: Yeah. And then home Base is here. So, they’ll send their home base folks here in the classroom, and then we’ll have, the folks who are, not local on Zoom or Microsoft, teams, whichever, option is available. That way they can learn in a live format and be able to ask the subject matter expert the questions that they need to
Megan: So, I’m gonna ask you one last question about the program.
How do you, how do you guys’ kind of do that with industry? The way you’re maintaining that consistent pulse, whether that be through annual assessments or do you have an advisory board of local influential leaders to kind of come together? How do you determine that?
Fathia: so, we don’t necessarily do actual like survey or anything like that.
That actually is not a bad idea. We have to figure; I’ll have a marketing manager handle that one. there are several different things. we have. [00:38:00] Over 15 plus research centers at the university,
Megan: which is huge, by the way. I mean, UIH is known as one of the biggest,
I don’t know if it’s the largest, research universities or just has as so many different research institutions going on. so, they
Fathia: work directly with industry as well. so, I meet with the directors, and I say, hey, what are you seeing? what are your industry partners looking for?
And they’re like, okay, X, Y, Z. Now I can see where we need to shift our focus. I did that this past summer and. I got digital engineering, which I was just gonna ask, are you deep, do you
Megan: focus on more technical side of things?
Fathia: Yes, yes. We do try our best to support the fields at the university and their mission, and so that a lot of engineering, cybersecurity, data analytics
Leadership. and we have some professional skill types of courses, but we do try to support the university. You know, I don’t think anybody would come to us and ask us to do anything on [00:39:00] hospitality management because that’s just not what we’re known for. Right. so, we try to support what the university is doing.
So, I did, so we had digital engineering, so I’ve been working on a digital engineering certificate. We’ve got. Different pieces already ready but trying to put it together as a full curriculum, kind of like how we had the Leadership Accelerator Academy. and then the other one was an AI certificate.
And that, I tell you, every time we get started on it, it’s like the next meeting. It’s like it’s already changed two weeks later. So, it’s known we’re trying to figure out how do we keep up to date, with the current trends and times. And so that’s been something that has kept me up at night.
Megan: That would be a hard thing to keep your finger on the pulse of just with it constantly changing so much. Yeah. And there’s so many unknowns too. Absolutely. So, it’s like we don’t wanna go down this path. Yeah. You know, if we don’t know necessarily what that may yield or exactly. Or what gaps that may cause
Fathia: Well, it takes time to build a program.
Megan: Yeah.
Fathia: time you build a program. it’s almost outta date at that point. Right. And so, we’re just trying to figure out what the happy [00:40:00] medium is gonna be for that one. So that one may take us a little bit longer to figure out. but the digital engineering certificate, I, hope we’ll be able to launch that next
Megan: fall.
Fathia: It should be ready to go.
Megan: So, I’m excited about that. That is very exciting. I know that that’s a big hot topic, especially here in Huntsville. And it’s been a topic of discussion with multiple. But that’s definitely one of the tactics.
Fathia: I do have an advisory team.
I report directly to Dr. Jason Green in College of Business. We, that’s where we landed after the transition with the college, he has an advisory board as well. So, he kind of talks with them they’re all. Small businesses, large businesses here in Huntsville. And so, he leans on his team to help us out as well.
So, we don’t really have a formal process other than me putting my ears to the ground. Attending networking events, networking with individuals, asking them what they need. I also have friends in the industry and call ’em up and say, hey, what are you seeing in your company?
Those types of things. That’s great. So really kind of informal. there’s no formal process, but that’s the best way to [00:41:00] do it though. I mean, that organic outreach, I mean, you’re gonna get
Megan: the reality of what’s going on Yes. In industries that you don’t necessarily get exposure to you.
Exactly. Like what challenges are you having on a day-to-day basis. Where we can kind of, you know, create a solution for so Exactly. That’s awesome. Dr. Green’s amazing. I agree. A fun fact. I, he, so he was in my leadership class. We are in flagship L 35. And I learned, an interesting fact about him is that he is a professional cake decorator.
Fathia: he does film. Did he tell you about that? No. Okay. Yes, he is multi-talented.
Megan: But I was like professional cake decorator.
Fathia: film. So, like this photography or cinema? Well, he does videography, and he edits, and I think he has a film out, like he has a documentary owl.
he does curl.
Megan: amazing. The cake decorating. That was amazing. Yeah. And Dr. Green is the dean of the College of Business. Yes. Right. Yeah. he’s been one of the nicest people ever. I agree. So, kind. So, kind. I agree. So, let’s switch gears just a little bit.
Yeah. Because, I know you talked about, you know, beginning your [00:42:00] career. You started off as a theater Yes. Theater junkie. Yeah. And really found your place on stage. Yeah. And now you’re heavily involved with the Fantasy Playhouse. I am. Which is such an amazing organization. We are huge fans of Karen and her team.
Fathia: her,
Megan: I saw her, episode. Love her. Yes. And that was a really fun one that Gracie got to do. which was a little bit different. We figured if there’s anybody to spice it up with, it’s Karen. Right. Absolutely. so, talk to us just a little bit about your involvement with fantasy.
Yes. And they’ve got some exciting things going on right now.
Fathia: Yes. so actually, I got involved with fantasy because of leadership. our project for Connect was, we had to pick a nonprofit and we did a project it was during Covid, so they had just purchased that NX building that’s right next to it.
they wanted to spice it up a little bit to be able to have a technical theater lab there. that was our project. we painted walls, we filled holes in the walls. shampooed carpet, put in new blinds, fixed up the bathroom, cleaned out the little shed, fixed up the area kind of [00:43:00] around it.
That was just. Our little project. And so, I was kind of, I kind of unofficially took the lead on that with my group.
Megan: You seem like a natural born leader
Fathia: where you’re like, that’s what people say.
Megan: what
Fathia: people say. but towards the end, we had just wrapped up everything and I was in the restroom, and I was talking with Karen, and she was like, hey, have you ever been on a board?
And I was like, yeah, I’ve been on a couple of boards. And she was like, what would you think about being on our board? And I was like, well, I didn’t think about it, but you know, I love theater. I’ve enjoyed my time with you all. Sure. And so, she connected me with Peggy. who was the president at the time of the board.
of course we hit it off. it was a great talk. And she was like, yeah, come on. So, the board voted on me and I joined the board in July of 21. quickly thereafter, their secretary was rolling off. They needed a secretary. Nobody raised their hands. I was like, hey, I’ll do it. Didn’t realize I would still be there four years later.
Are you still in the same role, the secretary role? [00:44:00] Yeah, they’re like, nobody else is gonna touch that role until you have to roll off. It’s kind of good when you have your niche at things. But then it’s like, I am so terrible about saying no.
I’m like, sure, yeah, why not? And then I’m like, oh my God, how am I gonna handle all this? Right? Yeah. but that’s how I kind of got involved. And, my daughter started doing classes there. she’s a theater lover like her mommy. I asked that question. I was like, hey, you know, I’m getting my stage itch again.
Can board members audition? And Cameron? the first audition I did, I tell you I was rusty. I mean it had been over 10 years since I’ve done audition, been on stage. And I was like, what are you thinking? actually me and my mom, ’cause my mom’s a theater person too.
Yes. that’s where I get it from. she actually has two degrees. I bet holidays
Megan: at your house
Fathia: We had a pretty interesting Thanksgiving.
Megan: Oh,
Fathia: wow. it’s very interesting. me and my mom, we auditioned for, they were starting their first series of Niland, with Steven Tyler Davis.
So, it was Sleeping beauty, not sleeping beauty. snow white. And the seven littles. I had auditioned for that because [00:45:00] way back when I got my theater debut in third grade, we did Snow White and I was the wicked queen and everybody was like, oh my God, you’re gonna be a star.
So, I was like, oh, maybe I can pull that laurel back. Right? And so, I, I auditioned. Unfortunately, I didn’t get cast, but you know, I knew it was gonna be like a hit or miss ’cause it had been a long time. and then my daughter, you know, was like next season rolled around. She was like, mom, I, let’s do a Christmas carol together.
And I was like, okay. So, we both auditioned for a Christmas Carol, and we got cast. So that was our first show for fantasy. It was her very first show. so, we got to share that experience together. she was an urchin, and I was Mrs.
Fred.
Megan: That is such an amazing memory that you have to kind of cherish with your daughter. And something that she can look back at. that is so special.
Fathia: it popped up in my memories. it was showing me my Google phone memories of last year.
how sweet. So sweet. and then it didn’t stop. So, I then auditioned for the second [00:46:00] installment, which was Rapunzel on the Beanstalk, and I was cast as Wanda. And that was kind of the wicked witch aunt, role. Steven Tyler Davis wrote, space Monkeys Adventures of Bacon Abel to pair with the six fifth anniversary.
Yeah. And he was like, Hey. You want to assistant direct with me? And I was like, I mean, I haven’t done it in a while. I’m a little rusty, but Sure. So, I assistant directed that show, and then my daughter was in it, so I got to be her director and a choreographer. Oh my gosh. she does not like that. She said she doesn’t want that to happen ever again.
she said she much rather perform with me or be on the tech side with me. she does not. Like, she was like, mom, you were harder on me. And I’m like, well, I mean, that’s kind of how it goes. When your parent is the coach or director, you get a little bit harder. Gosh.
Megan: Yeah. what role have you played that you feel, represents your alter ego a little bit? Is there any specific character that stands out to you?
Fathia: Was in high [00:47:00] school in my senior year. It was in, original work by our, director at the time, Roy Hudson.
And it was called, the Draper Caper. And it was kind of like a Sherlock Holmes meets all kinds of different things. And it was a musical. And I was the Dolly mama because she was a belly dancer that, one of the characters had met in the heels of Nepal. I really love that role, and I embraced that role because it kind of showed the other half of me. So, what a lot of people don’t know is that I’m actually half Middle Eastern, my father’s from Cartoon Sudan. So actually. the family originated, it’s actually Turkish and then they migrated to Egypt and then crossed over to Sudan.
That’s where they kind of settled. well actually now they’re back in Egypt after all of the things that happened in Sudan Within the last year. but. that’s kind of the other half of me that a lot of people [00:48:00] don’t know and don’t see. And so, I got to kind of showcase my heritage through that role.
Oh, that’s neat. Did you find that coming natural to you? Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. I had already had a costume and everything. They didn’t have to build me a costume because I had one, an authentic one.
Oh, wow. From, the Middle East, so, yeah. That’s amazing. Have your kids
Fathia: No,
Megan: Wow. what a what a rich history. To be able to bring to light in a unique way that’s just so, I don’t know.
Just so special for you. Yeah. Well, we’re going to end on this. I wanted to ask you something, if you can just elaborate for me a little bit. And your story has been so beautiful to you hear, and I bet your kids are just so proud of, of seeing your kind of just blossom into the.
Where you say life is like photography, you use the negatives to develop. Yeah. What do you mean by that and how does that really resonate with you on a daily basis?
Fathia: People still say I’m young, even though I feel more seasoned. I’ve had a lot of life experience in my short number of years.
I’ve encountered a lot of challenges, a lot of [00:49:00] roadblocks, but. Every single one I’ve learned from it, and I’ve used it to help me grow and to keep me motivated and keep me moving.
It was right after I had my son, and I saw that quote. it was on like a. You know, one of those at, hobby Lobby. Yeah. One of those little wall accent things. Yeah. and it didn’t have an author, like, it was just like, anonymous. And I was like, man, that’s my, that’s me, that’s my life.
And so that’s how I make moves throughout my personal and professional career. And also try to inspire other people. Like, you got knocked down, but hey, I’m here. Let me pick you back up. Let me be your village. Let me help you get back up on your feet and keep you moving and growing.
And I think that speaks volumes about kind of where I am in my career as well with continuing education. It may be that somebody. Is in a current role and they want to keep going up, but maybe they’ve had some roadblocks cause they don’t have those skills. Well, hey, come see me.
let’s put together a plan for you. You know, don’t let that knock you down from [00:50:00] accomplishing your goals. Let’s learn from it. Let’s keep moving. Or it could be that somebody’s in a career and they’re just not liking it anymore. And they want to switch careers, but they don’t want to go back and get a full degree.
Maybe they want to dabble a little bit. And so that’s what, in our coursework, you can kind of take, maybe you want to think about project management. come take our project management, the foundation class. low investment. And you can see if you actually like it Before you either go get a degree or go through the certification to get your p and p.
just see if that’s something that you like. It’s kind of just followed me as I’ve gone through,
Megan: You know, I also love the point about, making a mid-career pivot. Yes. I think that a lot of individuals think, okay, I’ve gone to school, I’ve gotten my degree, and that’s it. when let’s just be real. I mean, you look at, and I’m not, you know, this isn’t a fact by any means, but I would imagine probably 30 to 40% of the career fields that were offered when I was in school are probably no longer even a thing.
Right. So, making sure that you’re always. [00:51:00] Dipping your toe in and trying new things and pushing boundaries the way that you can be, that constant learner, I think is just awesome. And you guys are definitely making that more adaptable.
Fathia: we’re here to help. We’re only as good as the people in our community. So, if we’re not building them up, then what are we doing? Our community is not building. so that’s, you know, not even just here in Continu Ed, but the whole university as a whole with our research centers, with our degree programs, all the outreach that we’re doing in the community making, providing access to everyone so that way they can continue to grow.
That’s awesome.
Megan: That is awesome.
Fathia: our companies. It does help bring us more business
Megan: Bring us, bring us more companies down here. Absolutely. And knowing now that Ollie is open to everyone Yes. I’m totally on board. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for joining us.
This has been amazing. It’s such a beautiful story to tell. Thank you. we’re just excited to have you as a chief boss. Just keep doing what you’re doing. Be cheering you on from the sidelines. I’m trying. Awesome. Thank you. Appreciate it. You bet. Alright, that was great. What an amazing story.
Your mom and you.