MANY VOICES, ONE CALL
MANY VOICES, ONE CALL
Many Voices - One Call: Season Four/Episode Four: "From Struggling to Succeeding: ASAP and the Secret Sauce of Student Success"
The mission of community colleges is to open access to opportunities, to help students achieve their dreams, and to offer the kind of career and academic guidance that transforms lives! But at community colleges nationwide, only 27% of students graduate. For Pell Grant recipients at SUNY Schenectady, that number drops to a mere 20%. What is behind these devastating statistics?
"It's not so much the academics," explains Kevin Dean, SUNY Schenectady’s Executive Director of Advancing Success in Associate Pathways (ASAP). "It's usually the other stuff—jobs with incompatible hours, family responsibilities, not enough time or energy to study."
This “other stuff” can derail individual career plans, deprive communities of needed talent, and perpetuate social inequality. But Kevin Dean knows from personal and professional experience that statistics are not destiny. Students in ASAP, the program he leads, are graduating at a rate approaching 50%. And on this episode, we will discuss what “secret sauce” makes possible this astonishing success.
Guests on this episode include the students Zhya Codrington, Willow Donaldson, Mekayla Da Silva, and Heather Miller, as well as local culinary entrepreneurs Jamie Ortiz and Tyikea Mclean. They joined Assistant Professor of Hotel, Culinary Arts & Tourism Rain E O'Donnell, TRIO Academic Specialist Maura Davis, ASAP Executive Director Kevin Dean, and podcast co-host Dr. Babette Faehmel in the studio.
Archer Abbott, student-cohost and production assistant, had to miss the recording but provided needed research assistance.
If you're eligible for Pell grants and pursuing an associate degree, visit SUNY Schenectady's website to discover how ASAP could change your academic journey and career trajectory.
A note on this episode’s production quality: Student support professionals are always on call. If you hear a cell phone go off or a background noise it is a reflection of how closely our learning specialists are working with their students!
The views voiced on this episode reflect the lived experiences and uncensored opinions of the guests; they do not necessarily capture the full diversity of attitudes within a larger community, nor do they express an official view of SUNY Schenectady.
Welcome to Many Voices. One Call, SUNY Schenectady's Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Civic Podcast. I'm your host, Babette Faehmel, and I teach history here at the college. My student co-host, Archer, can't be here today, but Archer helped me plan and of course Archer is with us in spirit! So we are here today to talk about a fairly new and fairly amazing new student support program, and it's the ASAP program, and we have Kevin Dean here, the executive director of ASAP. Hi, Kevin, can you just briefly say what ASAP stands for?
Kevin Dean:Advancing Success in Associate Pathways.
Babette Faehmel:All right. Well, that's quite a mouthful, and we will get back to that and talk about what you guys do. But first of all, we also have a lot of students here and we have some local entrepreneurs. So about 15% of the students who are being helped by ASAP are culinary students and therefore we invited a bunch of them to join us today and we have two local chefs, local entrepreneurs, who are representing the culinary industry. But of course, asap doesn't just serve culinary students, so we also have some other representatives here and other student ambassadors. So let's go around the room, around the studio, and see who's here. Karen, you already introduced yourself. Maura. What brings you here?
Maura Davis:Hi, I'm Maura. I actually work with the TRIO Student Success Services program here on campus, but it's a sister program to ASAP and we've been working together since ASAP got established here at SUNY Schenectady and I'm so proud to be involved with it.
Babette Faehmel:All right, and then we have Willow.
Willow Donaldson:Hi, my name is Willow. I am a double majoring student here and I am in hotel restaurant service management and culinary arts, with a concentration in baking.
Babette Faehmel:And then there's Chef Rain.
Rain O'Donnell:I'm Chef Rain O'Donnell. I work in the Culinary Arts Department and I'm an alum of the program as well.
Babette Faehmel:Chef Jamie Ortiz.
Jamie Ortiz:Hi, my name is Jamie Ortiz. I am the owner of Primary Food Group, which has multiple restaurants throughout the area. I'm an alum at Escanectady County Community College and I used to also be an adjunct teacher here.
Babette Faehmel:Ah, all right, how about you?
Zhya Codrington:Hi, my name's Zhyahe and I major in criminal justice, but I'm also an intern in the ASAP program.
Mekayla Da Silva:My name's Mekayla and I'm a psych major,
Babette Faehmel:Okay
Heather Miller:My name is Heather and I am in the craft beer brewing degree program.
Tyikea Mclean:Hi, my name is Tyikea. I'm a local chef here and I'm also an alumni from the Schenectady program.
Babette Faehmel:All right, well, welcome, it's great that you are all joining us. So, Kevin, let's start with you, because I just said that there's this new program and it's pretty amazing. So can you tell us more about this ASAP program and what you guys do?
Kevin Dean:The ASAP program was started in the CUNY program about 15 years ago. The idea was to kind of offer maximum support through comprehensive academic advising. There's some small stipends that are available for students, and we tie in career focus, so career transfer, which is why I'm so grateful to see some local entrepreneurs here. It's super important that when the students not just graduate. T hat's our goal is to get them to graduate. If you look at the CUNY research, it shows that they graduate at about 50% or higher and we're on track to be higher than 50%, which is pretty stunning, if If you look at community college graduation rates, they're somewhere around 27% nationwide. However, if you look at, like SUNY Schenectady connectivity, our Pell graduation rate students that are Pell and that's the entrance requirement for ASAP, ASAP is around 20%. So us graduating above 50% is pretty amazing and what's really cool about that is we want them to have either know that they're transferring somewhere and have that set up, or to have that career path set up not just a job but a career path. So I'm so grateful to see people here that have that career path and understand what it takes to get there. That kind of next step is so important for students to be able to tie the learning to that portion of it. So thank you.
Babette Faehmel:So just to highlight what you were just like, how relevant it is what you were just saying: Students in community colleges they have a large, unfortunately a large how do you say, not completion rate or at least a delayed completion rate, which sometimes gets us like bad press. But usually also people do not consider how many of like, how many challenges and obstacles are there for community college students. So how does ASAP address that? And I mean like like, for instance, you, I think you mentioned that our across- the- board graduation rate is like 19% and ASAP brings that up to almost 50%?
Kevin Dean:For Pell students yes, for Pell students. So how we do that is providing that kind of maximum level support. So first-term students in ASAP will be required to meet with an academic, there, an ASAP academic advisor once a month, and that's pretty easy to do. What we do is we give a $50 stipend once a month. We just have the students come in and then we do a little check when they come in and say how are you doing? And then kind of follow it up with like how are you really doing?
Kevin Dean:And I think what you mentioned is a critical component to community college education and that is we're looking at adult students, non-traditional students, students who are working, students who have kids, students who have a lot of obligations outside of here.
Kevin Dean:So I'd say, primarily, what ASAP spends a lot of time doing is working with the students to understand what those challenges are and how to overcome them. And what I always say to the students when they come in is you know, there's going to be a lot of challenge. There's going to be a challenge when you're going through this. It's going to be probably the first time that you've seen this challenge, but I've been doing this 26 years. I've seen these challenges thousands of times and I have some solutions that are available for you. You'll have to do the work for it, but we know what they are to help you get it done. So super critical. It's like a guide on the side, really being there for the student, being in their corner. It's interesting because it's not so much, and I always say this to the students it's not so much the academics that take students out of the college realm.
Kevin Dean:It's usually the other stuff, like the job doesn't work, the hours don't work with their college schedule, they don't have enough time to study, they don't have enough battery left to study because they're taking care of family, extended family. So trying to create that room and that space for students where they have that ability to graduate, and so far we have increased retention, higher GPA, so we're really doing the things that we said we were going to do.
Babette Faehmel:Okay, well, can we maybe hear from the students because it sounds great when the director talks about it but how did you experience the ASAP program the three of you who are here and Heather? By comparison, when you hear them talk about what they are getting from the program, what does it mean for you? Why might that actually be really helpful? Okay, willow, do you want to start?
Willow Donaldson:Sure.
Babette Faehmel:.. . talk about how you experienced that program?
Willow Donaldson:So, um, I have a lot of home issues and I live an hour away from the school and it's kind of hard not to have that support, and I am in TRIO and in ASAP, so I kind of look for all the support that I could get.
Willow Donaldson:You know, my mom and sister are severely disabled and it just makes it like a little bit harder with me having that on my plate as well as coming to school and wanting to be, you know, a restaurant owner, and it's just very helpful for me to have this output where I can get the support that I need, whether it be through money, whether it be through just talking to people like you can even ask Kevin I'm in his office every week, um, but I it's just good to have that support and when I need it the most.
Babette Faehmel:Cool, that sounds great. How about you?
Zhya Codrington:Um, honestly, I feel like the ASAP program helps me because, in a way, because I want to major in criminal justice and I want a certain type of experience as a certain type of like a boost, so when I get out of college. So I told Kevin, I went in his office and I said I want to work here and then he referenced me in the career offices and then now I'm an intern there. So it's just like helping me build up to my career. So I feel like that's how it's helping me grow into the career I want to have.
Babette Faehmel:Yeah, yeah, Mikayla, right?
Mekayla Da Silva:Mekayla
Babette Faehmel:Mekayla
Mekayla Da Silva:ASAP has been like really helpful for me because... Kevin especially I, have like a lot of trouble with like jobs. So, he's been helping me a lot. He helped me like rewrite my whole resume and Lakota is such a big help with my classes too, and it's like like having that extra support with um just living with my dad and my sister and I'm mainly looking after my sister and school and a job all at the same time. It's just like really helpful to have that extra support.
Babette Faehmel:Heather, I don't think you um you. You said, when we talked, like a week ago, like you were not aware of the program right?
Heather Miller:No, I actually just did a little bit of research on it once you mentioned it to me, but I don't have any personal experience with this program specifically, but I love what you guys are doing. When I initially went to college about 13 years ago now, we didn't have anything like that around and I had no idea what I was doing. I had no support and I was the first one in my family to go to college, so it was kind of like going into it blind and without having resources like that. It's really hard to get through that.
Heather Miller:I ended up dropping out.
Babette Faehmel:Yeah, yeah, exactly, Jamie and Tyikea, I assume, um when, when you, when you were here, um the what ASAP already already a thing?
Tyikea Mclean:Uh, I'm not sure. If I knew about it, I would have taken the opportunity because I worked two to three jobs and full-time school and also extracurricular activities with the hot foods team.
Tyikea Mclean:So I would have definitely loved that program and I'm glad that you guys have that opportunity, because it sounds amazing.
Babette Faehmel:And how about you, Jamie?
Jamie Ortiz:So I had never heard of it before today. I think it's great. It sounds great and similar. I had a similar experience while I was in school here. I did my whole curriculum here during Tuesdays and Thursdays and then I worked two full-time sous chef jobs on the other five days during the time I was here. So I had an AM sous chef job and a PM sous chef job. And. I did that throughout the course here. So when I finished school here, I got crash course and just about all the experience that you could imagine. And also you know I was dead tired. It cost me a relationship, but I was very clear about what I wanted to do. My goal was set and everything else and all the other challenges around it were just a stepping stone towards my goal and that, I think, is the most important thing.
Jamie Ortiz:So when you guys are here helping these guys, helping you find that goal and be able to set it, everything else just becomes something to navigate once you know exactly where you want to go and I find this resource is going to help you guys find exactly what it is you want to go and set that goal.
Babette Faehmel:So, as an entrepreneur in the culinary industry, what would you say are the challenges that young professionals and also students who are trying to enter that branch of the economy want to enter? What are the obstacles?
Tyikea Mclean:There's a few the balance of learning the old school kitchen like regimen and then going into this new school where we can't be as harsh as we were brought up to be or taught to be like I was taught. You know the chef says that's what it says, that's it. You don't, you don't question it, you don't ask about it. But now you have to like work with your young line line cooks and learn from them as well and how to navigate, talking to them and also still having a firm hand.
Tyikea Mclean:So I think that is a challenge as well, but it's doable. It's a balance. I'm not perfect. I've done my fair share of yelling and stuff like that, but you know it comes with the job. I think that when you have these experiences, you learn from all of them, and this program teaches you the structures of that, and I've learned how to manage different types of people as well. So that's the main challenge is just learning how to manage different personalities.
Babette Faehmel:Yeah, yeah, I hear you. My brother is in the culinary industry. He's a chef and he has a temper, there's quite some turnover. Yeah, how about you, Jamie? What would you say are the bigger challenges?
Jamie Ortiz:Challenges into entering the industry?
Babette Faehmel:Retaining students in the industry, and also students who are trying to get a foot in.
Jamie Ortiz:So from the perspective of trying to get the foot in. I mean, you know, the restaurant industry is historically a kind of beginner job, a starting job for a lot of people. You know you have the parents that send their children off to go be a bus boy or bus girl as their first job experience. We get a lot of entry level. You know dishwashers, so we have a lot of those positions available to entry level with just about very little to no experience in most restaurants. So I think the entry to it is pretty easy. Now the advancement in it, I think, tends to be a little bit more difficult.
Jamie Ortiz:And, as we all know, the restaurant industry is very demanding and it requires a lot of sacrifice, a lot of hours, a lot of difficulty, a lot of non-gratuitous work and there's only a few positions that actually have some real like actually monetary return in the restaurant industry and those get to be very competitive and I guess the difference between the people that get to those levels and the ones that don't and you know, there's a lot of people in the restaurant industry but only a few that are at the top positions and that comes from you know, like Kia was talking about the understanding how to manage people, but also the confidence and the ability and all your knowledge to be able to execute on a high level every day.
Jamie Ortiz:So the entry is easy. The advancement is difficult, in my opinion, and not only difficult because of the way the system's set up, but also because of how challenging it can be, and not everybody can sacrifice what they need to sacrifice in order to get to those positions.
Jamie Ortiz:Not everybody can afford to do that because of children, because of family issues, because of their preference for quality of life and balance and I'm not going to sit here and say that there is much quality of life balance when it comes to the top tier of advancement in the restaurant. There's levels in other parts of food service that can be very lucrative and give you a quality of work-life balance. But if we're talking about restaurants here that operate during the evenings and then have a high level of expectation to their customers, it's a very difficult thing to advance. But if you're willing and you have the aptitude for it, it can be. For those who want it, I always tell people don't get into the restaurant business, don't do it.
Jamie Ortiz:When they tell me I want to be a chef, I say don't do it. And if they defy me and still do it anyway, then I say okay, they might not have a chance. Because I don't want to sugarcoat it for anybody. It takes a level of sacrifice that not everybody's willing to do.
Babette Faehmel:Yeah. So, Kevin, how does the program make sure that students get those kinds of I don't know soft skills, time management, maturity skills?
Kevin Dean:Yeah, I like what the chef was saying and that is, I think, a part of and it's it's ancillary but it's important. Kind of what we're trying to teach is resilience and grit. And those, those are things that are that are soft skills but are hard to hard to learn. And you mentioned something really important and it's important for the students as well and it's and it's very, it's a very hard lesson initially. It usually happens first term and that is there's a lot of sacrifice to get that degree, to get towards that career path, and particularly those you'd mentioned it when you said you came 13 years ago and then left that first semester. There's so much for students to learn. It's almost overwhelming because it's like you got to figure out your financial aid, how to log into these different computer systems, what the different expectations are, and if you're coming from high school there is a big jump.
Kevin Dean:There's a big jump from high school to college. So there's a big learning gap there where all of a sudden they're like okay, now I have to learn. The expectations are different, they're more internally focused, they're more on me, I'm going to have to sacrifice and get some grit and resilience. So I think, while we don't explicitly teach it, we implicitly teach resilience and grit, and that's why a lot of the students have mentioned that there's a lot of one-on-one counseling where we're just talking about, like, how to get through it, not necessarily a roadmap, but just that I believe in you, you can do this. People have done it before you. So we see people here who've done it. They know it can be done. So that's why I'm so grateful you're here today to show the students that like this can be done and you can be successful.
Babette Faehmel:So, Chef Rain, when I go to the Casola dining room and I look in, like through the glass window and the students in the kitchen and with the chefs around, they don't seem people who are lacking grit and resilience. I mean, it just seems like quite the challenging work environment. What would you say? Like, how would you wish that your culinary students, or all of our students, would be supported in order to like be on the right path towards finishing their degree?
Rain O'Donnell:So I would say it's kind of like this delicate dance, taking everything that people have said into consideration, because being an industry kid and like growing up in this, there's a lot of like, there's some disconnect, like there's glamorization of have you struggled enough, have you worked hard enough? Have you hustled or struggled enough to get to where you are yet? Have you hustled or struggled enough to get to where you are yet? And you see a lot of the times like coming into this environment, you have students who have worked in that environment before and in their mind they've done some of that, struggling already. And then you have people who've never been in that environment at all. So it's kind of this dance of how do we get all of these people in the same room and get them to understand that you're only as strong as your weakest link.
Rain O'Donnell:And we kind of have to get everyone on the same page and revisit mother sauces. We all have to learn how to do our knife cuts and concassé a tomato before you're ever even going to get in Casola Dining dining room. So I think, knowing that we kind of start at that like base level one and everyone starts there in order to end up there, we kind of force people to get all on the same page, which is why we're able to do something like that at all, if on week one we just threw everyone in Casola Dining dining room, I think it may burn down. So, yeah that's kind of my thoughts on that, I think.
Babette Faehmel:And Heather from like your perspective, as like somebody who came back. What's your perspective Like, how do you think we could support students better or differently?
Heather Miller:I mean I think this program is going to do a lot to do that. But I mean just kind of acknowledging like they're, like she said, like you are as weak as your weakest link. So you know, if there's struggles that are going on with different students and if we voice that and we can help them get through that, I think that would be huge. But my ongoing joke is that this industry is cutthroat and it's not for the faint of heart. But you get so many valuable lessons out of it too that if anybody was ever interested in doing it, there's just so much potential for like, just lifelong things. Like you learn how to multitask, you learn how to take criticism and you kind of grow a backbone a little bit. But I think you also learned that like what you're what you need to first support, and how to and how to give that to other people afterwards too.
Babette Faehmel:So our podcast is actually it's very oriented towards talking about issues of diversity, inclusion and equity, and what I found really amazing for the data that you can find for the ASAP program is that you really make all these little differences between cohorts and between male students and female students and students of different backgrounds disappear. So there seems to be something in the sauce here that is really lifting every student to a point where they can just like start off and can just like pursue their their plans. Is there, is there anything like what's the magic?
Kevin Dean:Yeah, I think one of the things is expectations. We've talked a lot about that and the expectation is that students will graduate in two years. So that's the expectation. Maybe the reality is it's 2.5 or it's three years, but we set an expectation that you're going to graduate in two years. So if you look at the statistics of the three cohorts of ASAP students we have, 70 plus percent are on track to graduate right now. So 159 students most of them, the majority are on track to graduate. But that takes some work and how we do that is we talk. We just sit, we talk to the students and have a realistic conversation and say you know, maybe you dropped a course this semester and that's okay, but now you should take a summer course or a winter course.
Kevin Dean:And I know when I got here a lot of people were saying to me well, those courses are really tough and they're shorter. And I'm like, yes, but if we put the expectation where it belongs, to the student, and say this is your responsibility and you want to graduate on time, and what I tell the students is you know, what's important about graduating on time is it saves them money and time, and particularly the money because it's going to put them into the workforce earlier and they're going to spend less when they're here and there's less of a time for that life occurrence to happen if they can speed it up. So one of the things we do is we speed it up. So if you look at a cohort of non-ASAP students, compared to ASAP students, asap students are earning more credits a year. We just put the expectation that you'll earn 12 credits a semester or 24 credits a year, so that they can graduate on time.
Babette Faehmel:Mm-hmm. So all of this is, of course, only possible because there was a massive investment into a program like the ASAP program. So I read that in 2023, the governor had announced a 75 million investment into the SUNY Transformation Fund. So, like I mean, right now especially, I think there's a lot of talk about whether or not these kinds of intense investments into programs such as this are worth it, and if the taxpayer should fund the bill, so to speak. From the perspective of the local entrepreneurs, what would you say is in it for well, the capital region of New York that we have this kind of student support that's bringing new people into the industry.
Tyikea Mclean:I think it's great because after obviously after after the pandemic, a lot of restaurants took a hit. So, um, knowing that there is support out there and that we can, there are still people more interested in this industry and going forward, um, it's a great thing. I think it's needed, especially with these newcomers. I think we are starting to finally get back to where we were before the pandemic, which is great but still needs a lot of help.
Tyikea Mclean:So any help is worth it yeah, any help works.
Babette Faehmel:Okay, any help. I mean considering the students who want to enter that industry, like what do they? Why should it? Or what would you say to a skeptical local resident, why they should really care about like setting up these students properly to enter an industry like culinary.
Tyikea Mclean:I would say. say see. Well, so I got into the culinary because I wanted to express my creativity and I and I can't sit down at all. I can't do a sit-down job. So I think this will help them instead of like just well, I'm just not going to do anything this is something that they can get out, their creativity get out there um being not being able to sit still and you know it'll teach them also some structure and stuff like that so I think if they're skeptical about funding towards this, like that is your reason right there. It's giving uh, students an opportunity to find themselves and whether it's they go towards front of the house, back at house whatever there's so many different aspects, like jane was saying earlier, that you can go into this industry. They can find their, their calling mm-hmm. It doesn't have to be specifically just a restaurant. It could be catering, it could be banquet, it could be event management, it could be party, is like it just different type of things.
Babette Faehmel:Yeah, yeah, and it's a it's a pretty big growth industry,
Tyikea Mclean:Yeah.
Babette Faehmel:Like health and culinary and tourism.
Tyikea Mclean:Yeah, yeah.
Babette Faehmel:Yeah, absolutely. And how about you, Chef Jamie? Chef Ortiz?
Jamie Ortiz:Yeah ... to the people that were saying that the funding could be spent better elsewhere? You know, restaurants are the beginning lifeblood of a community... of areas. Whenever you visit anywhere, you look at their restaurant scene to kind of judge whether or not they have anything going on there. I mean, at least I do, and that that stimulates, you know, the movement of people wanting to move to the area and people wanting to see themselves, people that can see themselves living there, and industries maybe wanting to come set up shop there. And so the restaurants we, we, we, along with the arts we lend to the life blood of communities. And, um, investing that on such a kind of distant level maybe it's hard for some people to see, but in my mind, investing in the people that are going to kind of be able to, to, to be employed in these restaurants and able to help these restaurants thrive and have other entrepreneurs come and set up shop there, could set off a chain of events in a lot of different areas that really bring up the community as a whole. So I think those people may be a little short-sighted. I remember when we first opened 677 Prime in downtown Albany the area was pretty desolate and just because of that giant building I guess it was a giant building with all these law firms that went in there the amount of growth that happened in that area. All of Pearl Street lit up with new restaurants. The Hampton Inn came in and there was like a little bit of a boom back when Jerry Jennings was there as the mayor and they were helping a lot of people get their businesses open and all. Eventually a lot of those restaurants faded out and turned out to maybe not be sustainable for some of those. But we did see a huge boom during that time, right when we opened, and I think we were the catalyst for that because people were like they can do this and we can open up our small shops all over the place. And it was a big risk and it paid off. But that just goes to show that restaurants can really stimulate a community.
Babette Faehmel:So it's a stimulation of the entire region and entire community. I mean, it makes perfect sense to me. I think, especially for community college students, it's also that when they graduate they tend to stay local and then like they are like people with the like, the grit and the time management skills and all these kinds of things. So what, what does that sound like from from your perspective? Like from the student perspective? Is that like how can you maybe talk a little more about the actual experiences of support programs like ASAP for you, like how they set you up and what you experience in terms of community? Yeah, anybody.
Zhya Codrington:Like the process?
Babette Faehmel:Yeah, more like the experience.
Zhya Codrington:Like well, for me, um, working in the asap office. It gives me like I'm trying to figure out how to word it, I don't know how to word it, I don't know I feel like it really just helps me with like the type of job that like I want when I get out of college. Like I feel like it's setting me up for like future success and I feel like also working with Kevin is really good because, like I get like an like an insight of what he does, everything that he does, everything Lakota does everything that like just moves and happens in like an office. I feel like.
Babette Faehmel:Yeah. Willow
Willow Donaldson:For me, community is such a good word to describe when it comes to these programs. Community is such a good word to describe when it comes to these programs Because, like again, yeah, it's great to have that support when, like you, have a bad financial situation. But I've had a bad couple first experiences in my first trimester here, or my first semester here and I was able to just sit in ASAP and just be able to talk because I really needed it. Like it was to the point where, like, I didn't want to go home, I didn't want to be anywhere but there because I needed that support and that's.
Willow Donaldson:It's not even just that program, it's, the school in general is so incredible with their support systems here the teachers, the programs, everything.
Babette Faehmel:Wow, and Mekayla, anything to add?
Mekayla Da Silva:Like Willow said, the support is amazing because when I first started ASAP I didn't like talk to Kevin or my at the time Evelyn much, but once like the second semester hit, I started going in more and I started actually like conversate and get to know them and it became like closer and I got the like, the support and the backup and the help that I needed in certain areas and sometimes if I just needed to talk then it's just there.
Babette Faehmel:Mm-hmm, that's awesome, Kevin. What ... The other thing that that I saw mentioned was that ASAP also encourages special opportunities like peer, mentor and ambassador programs. Do we have that yet?
Kevin Dean:No, we'll be starting the ambassador program pretty soon. But what we do have is we just encourage and I think you've heard this from a lot of the students. But what we do have is we just encourage and I think you've heard this from a lot of the students we kind of encourage them to spread their wings a little bit, to do those things, to search for work, to look at their resume, to move forward, and it's really about that career path. We're talking about return on investment.
Kevin Dean:If you look at the return on investment for ASAP and there's a lot of research because it's been at CUNY for 15 years, two things come to mind. One, it's a high return on investment because students graduate. I mean, if you're at 50 plus percent compared to 20 something plus percent, you're doubling the graduation rate. And the second reason is they graduate quicker, so there's less time that they're in college. And then the third thing that's interesting and there's some new research that's come out over a 10-year period ASAP students, compared to non-ASAP students, earn more over their careers because they're career-focused while they're here, as they should be, like you mentioned, at a community college where they're going to stay in the community, be a part of the community.
Babette Faehmel:Yeah, one thing that is... Another term that is oftentimes mentioned currently is diversity, and DEI especially. I was just wondering when I look around the room. I mean, Jamie Ortiz, you brought multiple different kind of culinary styles together in your own restaurant, as I read on your website, and Tyikea, you were just here. I think you were presenting a menu that was like Southern African-American cuisine. And why, would you say, is diversity in your particular industry important?
Tyikea Mclean:I think it's important because it gives the different types of chefs representation. I love that I can showcase and elevate a cuisine that not only I grew up with but that, um, my ancestors have have survived off of. So, like, being able to showcase that is a huge big deal and that can be for anyone. Um, I love that the, the capital region in general, has so many different aspects outside of just Italian and French cuisine, which is what the program starts you off with to learn the basics, obviously, but I like that you can showcase your type of food that you want and any type of food. It can be. Like I said, we have so many different festivals. We have the Greek Festival, we have Dingus Day, which is Polish-American. We have Jamaican Fest. We have all these different cultures in the capital region and it represents the people of the capital region so I think that's extremely important.
Babette Faehmel:Right, right, um and and um. How about others? Any, any other viewpoints here, Jamie?
Jamie Ortiz:You know the restaurant industry. It has always been pretty diverse, um just based off you know what I said before the entry level positions available to migrants, immigrants, um throughout, and you know, you see it a lot more in different areas than maybe the capital region. The diversity in in the, in the uh restaurants, um, but you name it, it's United Nations in most restaurants and it's a great representation of like you know the way communities should be a lot of times in these restaurants where people start learning each other's languages to be able to communicate better.
Jamie Ortiz:People empathize, they learn about each other's foods. So I don't think the restaurant industry has ever really had much of an issue with DEI. I think maybe nowadays it's more of the DEI at the upper levels of the restaurant business, both in the ownership, the entrepreneurship side of things and maybe, like you know, the top executive chefs at different large resorts and corporations and things like that.
Jamie Ortiz:I think the diversity is being represented a lot more today than ever and I think that's a good thing. I think it's because of all of the different efforts made throughout the United States with all of the different programs that have been addressing those issues.
Jamie Ortiz:I don't think our industry is the one that has the most issues with DEI as far as what their statistics look like, and I tread around DEI very cautiously because I do love the idea of people of a certain ethnicity, cultural background or color being able to see themselves in somebody else that's been able to do it before. I love that aspect of it, but I also don't necessarily agree with always pointing out the differences in people Right.
Jamie Ortiz:Because I think that's divisive. So I struggle a little bit with a lot of the initiatives because you know, fortunately I grew up in New York City and I was able to in Manhattan and I never felt different because everybody was different, and particularly in my pockets of the neighborhoods I I grew up, everybody spoke Spanish and we were all the same and then between my school experiences and everywhere we were, it was just a melting pot.
Jamie Ortiz:So, coming from that perspective. I can't speak to the perspective of somebody of color that grew up in an area that wasn't like that. But I grew up confident in not being self-conscious or worried about where I come from. I was very proud, so I took that into. Whatever and wherever I go, I never feel different. I feel me and I hate that. Some people don't have that experience in their lives. So I tread carefully. I know it's necessary in some instances and I love the idea of people being able to see themselves in others.
Babette Faehmel:I really like what you said, Tundefined, when you mentioned creativity as a big thing, because in a way, you could almost see the culinary industry as kind of like a metaphor for the nation or for DEI on a broader basis. Because I mean, Heather heather, you were saying that, that too, too right, you came from a, I think you mentioned the other day. You came from a fairly homogenous environment and then you entered a diverse environment and you just like realized that it's just exposure to so many different experiences and different viewpoints that just made your life richer, right? So I think, in a way, maybe this is also just something that makes a whole industry and the economy as a whole more rich, right?
Babette Faehmel:I mean, I'm not an industry kid, but I have a brother who is in the culinary industry and he does this fusion of north German cuisine with sushi and like some like Spanish influences. I know, right, it doesn't sound like it's like edible, but it's amazing. And it just like seems such a, like, a microcosm for what we could be if we just like opened ourselves up to like more diverse experiences and like real inclusion. Um, so, yeah, that sounds all pretty amazing. Um, Chef Jamie, you were already mentioning certain kind of like um well, I don't know bottlenecks, maybe in terms of diversity and inclusion when it comes to the upper echelon of the industry. Do you find that true, Tyikea? Are there equity issues still in the culinary industry?
Tyikea Mclean:I don't know if I personally experience it too much because, like I said, I'm still fairly young in my career, but I know what's out there, I know I, I see it, but me personally, um I was able to rise above in my uh in my career path pretty quickly in almost every job that I've had, so like it was easy for me to get up there. But I can see where it is hard for other people to get up there as well so.
Babette Faehmel:Okay, um Chef Rain any any insights there?
Rain O'Donnell:Um, just kind of from my own personal experience and just like thinking about the question of like why, why would the naysayers not want this, right? Um, just on a basic level, like don't you want to get the people that passionate w here they want to be? Because I feel like right now you go places and everyone's just like huh.
Rain O'Donnell:Like you don't even get a hello! Right? It's like a ... and you want people to be passionate about what they're doing. You want people to be excited. So it's like if we can give people the basic necessities that they need to get there and get them there, why wouldn't we do that? I don't know. That's the way I look at it. It's like the people that want to be somewhere. They're going to work their butts off to get there, whether it's working 60 hours a week, whether it's hustling, whatever it takes, they're going to get there.
Rain O'Donnell:If you don't have the resources, it's a lot harder.
Babette Faehmel:Right, right, right...
Rain O'Donnell:It's just that simple. So why don't we give people the resources to get where they want to go?
Babette Faehmel:Exactly.
Rain O'Donnell:And just have I don't know ... Utopia. That would be very nice.
Babette Faehmel:Utopia sounds amazing right now. Well, Kevin, in terms of bringing more people into the Utopia, can you, when we are finishing up here, tell everybody what are the entry requirements for ASAP and what are the eligibility criteria?
Kevin Dean:The eligibility criteria. The main one is that the students receive Pell, which is an income-based program, so it does capture a wide range of students. We accept all associate degree students. You have to have under 21 earned credits, exclusive of high school credits. So 21 earned credits, Pell students. If you have credits already, a 2.0 GPA. For a new freshman it would be that you receive Pell and you're going to be in an Associate's degree. And I guess just like to address quickly the equity issue. It's what gets me up in the morning. I aged out of the foster care system. When you age out of the foster care system, they literally open the door and say we're no longer getting paid for you, time for you to go.
Kevin Dean:No skills, no training, no career. My dream was to go to college. I showed up, I got the tuition bill. I had no understanding that FAFSA covered that in any form, that there was grants available, that there was any help.
Kevin Dean:There was no equity in that situation and what I now know is you know, if you're a foster kid and you age out of the system, you have a three percent chance of earning a college degree. So what I say to the students when I see them and I meet with them initially and they say I have a lot of challenges, I have a lot of external struggles is and you'd mentioned this, Chef Rain you may have to work harder than some of the other students here. That's a reality, that's true. You're. You may have to work harder than some of the other students here. That's a reality, that's true. But you're going to get to the same place and nobody's going to care when you get there. So you may have to work harder. Let's face that In order to make it an equitable situation. You may have to work very hard to get there. I'm really proud of the students that do that and you can see the successes in the program.
Babette Faehmel:Yeah, and so if a student or somebody thinking about applying to SUNY Schenectady listens to us right now, how do they apply to ASAP?
Kevin Dean:Super simple. There's an interest form on the website. Just type in ASAP on the SUNY Schenectady website. It's an interest form and we'll get back to you whether you're eligible or not. And it's that simple, that easy. We try to make it kind of a seamless procedure for the students so that they can just say, hey, I'm interested, okay, you're eligible, you're not eligible, and get busy helping them earn their college degree and achieve their vision.
Babette Faehmel:Okay, that is great. Well, and to meet you and your cuisine and like your skills, Chef Jamie and Chef Tyikea, where should people go?
Tyikea Mclean:I am working on my catering business called Kia's Catering. Okay, right now I'm at a local Italian restaurant called Canali's, but I took a step back from management to focus on my catering business.
Babette Faehmel:To express your creativity more?
Tyikea Mclean:Yes, so I can get more into what I want to do, which is catering, and I love that's what I want to do, so
Babette Faehmel:All right, that sounds awesome! And Chef Jamie?
Jamie Ortiz:As far as being able to experience my creativity?
Jamie Ortiz:much cooking nowadays except when we do specialty dinners or I'm in there with the chefs kind of formulating menus and like recipes. My life's completely changed. My creativity has happened at home. I cook a lot at home, we do a lot of events, we do a lot of entertaining. But as far as with the restaurants go, I have a lot of input with the menus, but it's our executive chefs at the different locations that have their thumb on most of the cuisine there. There's influences of the things that I know, that I do, the things that we've already tried and true. But you can check us out at 677 Prime down in Albany.
Jamie Ortiz:Sea Smoke Waterfront Grill in Green Island, overlooking Troy, and Toro Cantina on Wolf Road, and Primrose Cafe down in Albany.
Babette Faehmel:All right. Well, and for the students, as a last word, before you guys have to rush to class. Where are you seeing yourself go and where do you think you will be in three, four, five years from here? What are your dreams?
Mekayla Da Silva:I hope the scho ol I transfer to has an ASAP program and I'll hopefully have a job within my major because I wanted to be a child psychologist, so I hope I get the chance to work with kids and the bachelor equivalent of ASAP.
Babette Faehmel:That's ACE right.
Kevin Dean:Yep, there is a bachelor equivalent called ACE.
Babette Faehmel:A nd it's in CUNY and SUNY schools.
Kevin Dean:Yep,
Babette Faehmel:Okay, and it has a similar good record as ASAP, correct?
Kevin Dean:Oh yeah, and we're going to help the students that we've mentioned.
Kevin Dean:We're going to help them transition, because it's more than just kind of the well, you're going to get a degree and you figure out the transition or go to an office. We're going to work so that there's a path and a plan with each individual student so that they understand what that path is and how to get there and what it leads to, and so they have knowledge when they get there and, like we talked about, they understand what struggles may occur or may not occur.
Babette Faehmel:Okay, and Heather, how about you?
Heather Miller:So first, Kevin, I really want to commend you for this program because I've been in front of the house for 13 years, seven of them bartending, and I see everything and people that come in and they're like drinking their sorrows away and I think this program is really going to help people bridge that before they get to their adulthood and I think that's great. Me personally, I love what I do, I love the industry. So the craft beer brewing program. I've always been a science nerd so I know I'm not going to be able to bartend forever. I'm not going to be able to move that quick for the rest of my life. So I would like to own a brewery and make beer and run a successful front of the house team hopefully, yeah.
Jamie Ortiz:That's the truth. You're not going to be able to move as fast for that long.
Zhya Codrington:I hope to. Well, not hope, because I am. I'm going to be successful. I'm going to, you know, transition into my next school and yeah...
Babette Faehmel:Yeah! And that's That's that. Okay. So if we wanted to replicate the amazing success of ASAP across the board here at SUNY Schenectady, what should we be doing? What do we need to do differently? What should we do for our students, with our students as faculty and as peer mentors? How can we do this for all the students and as peer mentors like how can we do this for all the students?
Kevin Dean:I think one of the reasons that it's been so successful is the school was ripe for it. We had the food pantry already. We had a lot of the resources. It's a small community college, so you do get to know the people and professors here. I think we're doing the things that we need to do to provide those resources and access to students and to make it equitable. I'm really proud to be here running this program because the school really was set up for it and we're just going to continue to do it. We're going to build, we're going to make it bigger and we're going to graduate more students into the community.
Babette Faehmel:Yeah, yeah, I think, like forging community and connecting people with people in their, in their industry maybe, or with role models, might be the way to go.
Babette Faehmel:Chef Rain, last word?
Rain O'Donnell:Thanks
Babette Faehmel:All right, let's all. Let's all work on that super inclusive utopia. Thanks everybody. Thank you so much for coming and for sharing your experiences and for, like um, like I don't know enjoying what we learned about this amazing new program.
Babette Faehmel:All right, thank you!
Babette Faehmel:Many Voices, One Call is made possible thanks to the contributions of the S UNY Schenectady Foundation. The recording of the podcast was possible thanks to the School of Music, our student editors, Connor Shearer and Sebastian McHenry; Professor Sten Isaacson, Heather Meany, Karen Tansky and Jessica McHugh-Green deserve credit for promoting the podcast. Thanks also to the Vice President of Academic Affairs, Mark Meachem, College President Steady Moono, the Student Government Association and the Student Activities Advisor. Please stay tuned for more episodes like this one on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.