After nearly three decades of 'problem-solving' for OTC students, Joan Barrett to retire

For nearly three decades, Joan Barrett has worked to make it easier for students to enroll in college, figure out how to pay tuition, and find support when life takes an unexpected turn.

Barrett, who will retire in June, was first hired by Ozarks Technical Community College in 1996.

She started as a financial aid adviser and then assistant registrar but as the Springfield-based college expanded, so did her duties. Each position involved working with, or leading, a team to improve access to higher education and career training.

As the vice chancellor for student affairs since 2015 — and assistant vice chancellor for five years before that — she oversees recruiting, admissions, financial aid, career services, personal counseling, academic advising and student life.

"She is probably the most caring, supportive person I've ever seen leading in student affairs," said OTC Chancellor Hal Higdon, who promoted her into the current role. "She really cares about everybody who works for her. She is a crier. Somebody has a baby, she is going to cry. Somebody loses a loved one, she is going to cry.

"She is really empathetic and looks out for her folks."

Higdon said she entered the job at the right time, changing the culture of student affairs amid a "generational shift" in the approach to serving students.

"We are more attuned to the verities and challenges of students today than 20, 30, 40 years ago," Higdon said, noting a shift away from the idea of "let the student figure it out, let them fail a couple times and then they'll be better for it."

"She was much more of the mind that students need a clear path, clear guidelines and setting people up to fail is not a way to learn," he said.

Higdon said Barrett's long and vast experience will make her impossible to replace. But, the college has started to look for a successor.

"She started at the bottom of the organization and worked her way up and she also knows how to do everybody's job. If somebody comes in and says 'I'm having this issue' she has probably been there and done that," Higdon said. "She has also watched other people come in and helped them grow. She is a nurturer."

'Service is a theme in my family'

Barrett, the daughter of a career U.S. Army officer, was born in San Antonio, Texas and moved 10 times, including a three-year stint in Germany, before high school. Her family settled in northern Virginia.

In the early 1990s, she met and married husband Michael, who was just exiting the U.S. Navy. He worked in power production and accepted a job at City Utilities, where he worked for 27 years.

They have two children, Ben, 26, and Madie, 21, a student at Kansas State University.

Barrett started her higher education journey at George Mason University but earned her bachelor's and master's degrees at Missouri State University. Her doctorate in instructional leadership is from Lindenwood University.

She applied for the job at OTC after seeing a help wanted ad in the newspaper. It was February 1996 and the college was less than a decade old.

At the time, her office was at the Cox North Hospital and classes were held at the former North Town Mall, which is no longer standing at the corner of Kearney Street and Glenstone Avenue.

She took a short break from OTC in 2000 and part of 2001, when her son was young, and worked as a graduate student at Missouri State while completing a master's degree.

As the college grew, Barrett grew with it. She earned degrees and start to take on more responsibilities. She became an academic adviser in 2001 and moved up the ranks, becoming the dean of students and registrar in 2008.

"I didn't see myself as a learned faculty member but I knew that I was good at helping. Service is a theme in my family," she said.

She added: "I've built my career on problem-solving for students."

Changing the way students apply, access services

As vice chancellor, Barrett oversees a division with more than 100 full-time employees that serve students on the main campus as well as other locations.

"My role isn't just Springfield. When we're making financial aid decisions about what we are going to require of students and how we are going to do it, it has to make sense everywhere," she said, noting there are six locations. "We are not replicating all of our departments everywhere but we are replicating all of our services."

She said the beauty and challenge of OTC is that it serves a wide range of students, including those who struggled in high school and those entering college after years in the workplace.

As enrollment grew and the demographics of students changed — the average age of students entering OTC is now much younger — Barrett said OTC had to figure out ways to streamline the admissions, financial aid and other processes.

"We had to really step away from our current processes and say 'OK, let's just forget what we know.' That is really hard ... We've tried to put ourselves in the position of the person out there," she said. "We think we are emoting care but what are they really experiencing? And so we've turned things over. We've broke some stuff, we've built some stuff and now we feel really proud of the experiences applicants have."

More: Ozarks Technical Community College has big plans for 2024. Here are 6 changes in the works

Once students apply and register for their first semester, with help, they are "warmly handed over to a navigator" who proactively assists with the next steps, answers questions, and troubleshoots any issues.

She said there used to be a larger gap between the number of students who apply and the ones who enroll. While some gap is to be expected, OTC has been able to largely close the gap because students get less discouraged during the admissions process.

There are big changes, like making sure each prospective student who shows interest in applying can talk to a real person in whatever way they prefer to communicate — phone, text or email. Other changes are smaller, like allowing a student who needs to verify information for financial aid to submit a document electronically instead of bringing a copy in person to a campus.

"It is just so different the way that we serve students now," said OTC provost Tracy McGrady, who is vice chancellor for academic affairs. "It almost feels like we were in the Stone Age before. Now it feels so much like, 'Why weren't we doing this all along?'"

'It's always about the people'

McGrady, who has been at OTC for 23 years, and Barrett have worked together closely and are friends.

The assistance only intensifies when students enroll and start taking classes. There is way for faculty and staff to quietly and respectfully alert the college if they see a student is struggling or has an unmet need. There are staffers who can connect students to resources.

"There are so many things I think about in terms of Joan's contributions but one of the most significant is Eagle breakfast," McGrady said.

Started on the Springfield campus and now available across the OTC system, the program provides a free breakfast to students each morning. They choose from a range of food and drink options, take it to the counter, and swipe their student ID. There are no questions asked.

"We've known for a long time that we had students that were hungry but we didn't have the tools to do anything," McGrady said.

Barrett said it was the right thing to do. "You don't have to tell us that you're hungry. We just said 'Mornings are hard, breakfast is easy.'"

McGrady described Barrett as "just sunshine" and noted she approaches problems with a positive spirit.

Barrett said her leadership style is open-minded. She likes to work with creative people and never wanted to have a "chilling effect" when one suggests an idea.

However, she does not like to wallow in the negative. If a staff member brings a concern, she wants them to also help her brainstorm ways to fix it.

"She has led with such a wonderful sense of humor and such compassion but she is also firm and is...not going to suffer grousing," McGrady said. "She is very warm and that comes across not only to people in her division but just collegewide. Faculty love her."

More: Lost & Found Grief Center hires Mark Miller, longtime OTC spokesman, as its new director

Barrett said the work has been rewarding and while she is retiring from OTC, she is seeking a new challenge. She plans to stay in Springfield, where she has developed deep roots. "It has been our home base for so long."

This fall, she will teach a class at OTC, as she has in past years, and look for the next career.

Asked what she will miss most, Barrett said: "Being involved daily in the mission of OTC and certainly the people. It is always about the people."

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: After nearly three decades of 'problem-solving' for OTC students, Joan Barrett to retire