Personalized Learning Journeys: Terry's in the MSM Program

This episode of the Lear Lounge podcast features interviews with students in the MSM program at Ohio University, discussing their diverse educational backgrounds and experiences in the personalized master's program. Student Terry shares how the flexibility of stackable certificates and passion of faculty inspired him to pursue his degree, while also highlighting disruptive changes in education and importance of community support. The interviews provide insights into personalized learning journeys and how data analytics can impact careers. 

For more information about the Ohio University MSM Program, click this link!

Check out the Robert D. Walter Center for Strategic Leadership program here.

OnBrand Podcast Studios produced this episode. Special thanks to Audio Engineer Alex Winnenberg, Producer Nick Winnenberg, and Marketing Specialist Cori Stokes.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02: 0:00

Welcome back to Leader Lounge Podcast. We're here today at an LDC recording talking to all kinds of students about their experience in the MSM program. My name is Nick Wittenberg, joined by... Amy

SPEAKER_00: 0:16

Taylor Bianco.

SPEAKER_02: 0:18

Doctor Amy Taylor Bianco. You've got a doctorate. I feel like we always have to encourage you to say that, but that's fine. And also... Terry Halbert. Perfect. Terry, what's been your experience in the MSM program so far? Well,

SPEAKER_01: 0:32

it feels like I just started and it went by so fast. I actually started as a certificate student. I took Dr. Chimeli's class first and that went by fast. Then I took Dr. B's class and really decided at that point that, wow, this is... two out of three, I've only got one more. And, you know, when I was taking Dr. B's class, like you encouraged, there was a couple people that were certificate students, and you really encouraged us to think about actually finishing one, you know, and getting your master's degree. And one of the things that you said, it's only nine more classes. And I said, well, this has kind of gone by quick. But I really looked deeper into that and your encouragement was really what led to it, right? And what made the entire program really appealing to me was the fact that you had stackable certificates and you could really customize your program. I've had the luxury over 20 years now of working in higher education publishing. I've been to hundreds of college campuses, seen a multitude of many programs across science and when I came to school here which kind of seems odd at my age to say that again but you know I really was encouraged by you know just how personal this program was and how much they you and your faculty your colleagues really made us all feel like peers and not just students and it's really unique you know i i've had that luxury of talking to so many i talk to faculty every single day around the world but The faculty here really truly make you feel special. They make you feel important. And the passion that all of you have, I mean, you know, many of you are world-class researchers, right? And so the fact that you bring your research in and you're passionate about it, but yet you personalize it to make you feel it really included, that's a unique program and you can't find that at many schools across the country.

SPEAKER_00: 2:59

I have to say, Terry, when I first met you and you were first taking the class, I thought, oh, he's going to be a hard one. I thought, he's really, he's a good consumer. He really knows what he's looking for. He knows how this, many different ways that this is done, but how this should be done. And I thought, oh, this is going to be kind of a fun challenge to see because you have such an extensive background already. Could you tell us just a little bit about your background and even your undergrad, like how you got started? What got you here?

SPEAKER_01: 3:30

Well, my undergrad, I was on the seven year program. So, yeah, I started out at North Dakota State University and decided that I didn't want to be a zoologist, whatever that was going to be. And what I really liked at the time was genetics. And that program was just really starting to take off. There were very few schools in the country that offered an undergraduate in genetics. So I applied to UCLA and got in. I applied to Ohio State and got in UCLA. told me hey it's a year and a half wait to start your program and I I felt like I was old at that point I was 22 already right and so I went to Ohio State and earned my degree I actually earned three degree undergraduate degrees I earned my bachelor's in molecular genetics in zoology I finished that degree and then I picked up a BA in psychology along the way went into research and really loved research I started out out at the dental school doing research there, moved over to the James Cancer Center and had a child and said, ah, this might not be the most stable environment to raise a family. Grain to grain is not a great funding cycle. Right. So I made a career change and went into business and ended up over in higher education publishing, which most people don't go there. They kind of stumble their way there. And I did. And then I spent the last 20 years now working in predominantly science, undergraduate science for 18 years at Pearson. And then the last two years at Wolters Kluwer in medical education.

SPEAKER_02: 5:18

Can I ask a personal question?

SPEAKER_01: 5:19

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02: 5:20

So you're in the education for the textbook side. What kind of disruption are you seeing right now in that segment? Where do you think the market's going as things are getting more virtual, more online?

SPEAKER_01: 5:29

Yeah, so it's really moved to, you know, the business model was print textbook for 400 years, right? Right, exactly. And now everything is digital. And what does that really mean? And the disruption is working with faculty like Dr. B., to really help them excel at what they're doing, but to provide a whole host of materials. to really enhance what they've already been doing. And so what I've been doing the last two years is really focusing on medical education software at Wolters Kluwer. I create, help me and my colleagues, my nursing colleagues especially, really what we did was we took their platform, we cloned it, and put our medical education materials into it. And you know, I've really had the luxury over the last 20 years of working with incredibly wasteful smarter people than myself, right? And so it's just fascinating to learn from them and the collaboration that you have and to be able to work with faculty that are truly passionate and they pour their hearts and souls into creating these courses. And the amount of hours that most students never see what they're doing behind the scenes, the amount of hours that they put in and to be able to partner with them and help that process make it easier, that's been really rewarding over the last two decades.

SPEAKER_02: 6:56

Gotcha. So it's different, but also the same, right?

SPEAKER_01: 6:59

It's different. It's just the shift. Everything's digital now. And it's really how do we help students focus on the time that they're spending? Because, you know, students are way more busier today than we were. Yeah. And they have limited time. And if you could help make their world easier by being able to focus, they don't have to go out and search for things. They have everything that's vetted. It's try and their faculty have already went through that process say if you use the things that I provide you you're gonna have more than enough to succeed and that's really what your program has done

SPEAKER_02: 7:38

That was just a

SPEAKER_01: 7:39

personal

SPEAKER_02: 7:40

question.

SPEAKER_00: 7:40

Go ahead. That's fantastic. One thing I've noticed is not only have you gotten more comfortable in the program, and I don't think the material is particularly hard for you, but you bring your all to it, and you find some nuance or some interesting part. But one thing I've seen a lot of is you helping other students. So I can't tell you how many students are like, let me call Terry. I'm having a problem with this. I know. But what is that about? Like, what is your desire to keep helping and keep giving to the other students?

SPEAKER_01: 8:17

Well, I know it's like to struggle. So I'll tell you, I, you know, I took predictive analytics. I tell everybody this. Don't follow my path. Don't take predictive analytics first. While you can do it, I highly recommend you don't do that. Descriptive first. Descriptive first. Yeah. And, you know, I just know what it's like to struggle. I was never a great student as undergrad. If you look at my undergrad transcript, it's very clear. But, you know, just learning is it can be hard for people. And I think it's OK to reach out for help. Right. And that's what we're all here for. And that's what I like about this program is, you know, the personal touch from faculty, but also the students. I just the biggest part of this program has been being able to connect to so many incredible people. Right. And, you know, being in this program, you have a huge, diverse pool of talent and people are doing amazing things. You have people on these on our calls that are from all over the world. Like you never know where somebody is calling in from. They may be over in Germany or wherever. Right. yeah exactly he's crazy in a good way yeah yeah and then you know you have people like keegan and cj what they've been doing and still being able to do this program just fascinates me i'm like i just go to work for eight hours get on here you've got all this going on too so you know you can learn so much from everybody and when anybody wants help you should just lend that hand right it just it you learn while you're doing that too and and that's what's been fun about this is just the connections that you make and the con the continued connections once people leave here they still want to help you uh you know one of the biggest things that i liked was when you would bring alumni in who had gone through the program, and yet they're still so passionate about reach out, I'll help you. And they want you to succeed. You know, I went to school at Ohio State. It's massive. And they have a great alumni program too. The alumni program here, I feel, is a little different. It's a little more personal. And in that, once they see that you are a Bobcat, it kind of elevates you. your attention to them and they really want to make sure that they're there for you. And so it's that component of the close-knit community that you get that extends beyond just Athens.

SPEAKER_02: 11:17

Bobcats hire Bobcats. Bobcats help Bobcats. The thing. No, I love it. And I think that you hit the nail on the head when it came to, like, that's what kind of differentiated the program. But what was the original, I mean, so you did the certificate program. Eventually, take it back one more step. Why did you even think about the certificate program? Why did you even think to go back into that space? Are you preparing for something? What's your next play,

SPEAKER_01: 11:37

Terry? Who are you, Terry? My next play, that's a great question. You know, when I started, when what I wanted to do was, well, part of it was just that curiosity. I've been creating materials to help students for 20 years. And now it's like, well, let's go be a student and get back in that world and really see how much this has changed. And so that was part of the motivation to get the certificate. The other part of it too was I really just, I felt this need to make a potential change, a potential career change. And really what happened along the way after I got the first certificate, I took Dr. Liu's class and he and Dr. Wanlis, they really kind of ignited a spark in me around analytics and data. So I'm a science guy, right? two degrees, two BS's in science. And so I can be a bit analytical, a very straightforward, very curious though too, right? It's kind of that yin and yang side of me. That's why I got the BA in psychology too. But really, while I kind of dabbled in data and analytics, You know, those two really kind of opened a whole new world for me on how you could use this to really change your life, not only at work, but in your personal life too. And just watching them after I left their classes and looking at not only the research that they've done, but their presence on LinkedIn, the key people that they're following and they're talking to and they're exposing you to, has really helped me to really start thinking about, you know what, maybe my next move might be somewhere in data and analytics. Whether it's working at Wolters Kluwer, we have a data and analytics community that just kicked off a little over a year ago. We're a 20,000 employee company, but, you know, global company, but we have 2,000 people just in this community. They bring in amazing speakers. In fact, after this, I'm going to hop on a Power BI seminar right after this, right? Back to

SPEAKER_02: 14:05

predictive

SPEAKER_01: 14:07

then. Back to predictive. For me, it is about, you know, how can we use data and analytics to make our world better, right? Because you can collect all the data you want, but if you're not looking at it to make positive changes, what are you doing? What's the story behind it? What's the trend? What's the impact? Yeah, and I really think that's the next move for me is moving in that direction to be able, you know, to be that data influencer, whether it's at my current company, where, you know, future companies I may end up. In my community, with my children.

SPEAKER_02: 14:43

There we go. Now they have spreadsheets for your kids, right? That's

SPEAKER_01: 14:46

right. Well, the data says you were home after. That's a

SPEAKER_02: 14:52

trend if you compare that over the last couple of weeks. It's always Thursday nights.

SPEAKER_00: 14:57

Yeah. It's kind of neat, too, because the stuff that you did here, and I will say did because Terry's graduating. Congratulations. The kind of stuff that you did here with Hal and Liz and so forth, there we're rolling out two other, two more certificates, kind of in the AI and data side. It's so much fun. And you could see like, Hal was gonna retire a few times, but it got too interesting, you know? It was just not, he just didn't want to. Because he likes teaching so much and he's just fascinated that his dissertation was on AI in 1985. And to see it come around, you know, and to see like what's happening. So it's neat that you see people's excitement and yeah. So how are you going to stay involved in the program after you graduate? Do I join the

SPEAKER_01: 15:51

alumni

SPEAKER_02: 15:51

council,

SPEAKER_01: 15:51

Terry?

SPEAKER_00: 15:52

Is what she's

SPEAKER_01: 15:54

asking. Yeah, I mean, I'm happy to stay involved and to, you know, continue to connect with students, to be able to just give them my experience and advice around that. It's so exciting to watch people grow and to do different things. I had a conversation with Jess here last week and we may have to edit this part out because I don't know if she has permission, not that she's given me permission to say this. This is going to be six months in the future for this episode. But just to hear her excitement about her new job that she landed based on her experience here. Just watching that, you know, that makes you feel happy for her and to see that she's really applying what she learned immediately and in a new career and to see how that's going to launch her life, right? Those are the fun things. And, you know, We all want to see what happens with Keegan, where he's going. Right. Right. And so just, being in touch with everyone, and then continuing to watch yourself. The amazing program that you've launched here, I don't think you realize how drastically you're affecting not just the students in this program, but like Solomon said, you're really affecting the whole community, and then that's gonna branch out and truly affect globally, right? And you know, all of the great faculty, Dr. Reynolds, right? What can you say about that guy that hasn't already been said, but it's so inspirational. Just to continue to keep in touch and to be able to help people out, I'm happy to do that.

SPEAKER_00: 17:46

And what would you, I just thought of this too, because you just went through it. What would you tell people about the Capstone Project? People are always a little nervous about it, but you just

SPEAKER_01: 17:54

led. I will say I was a little nervous because I'm like, okay, I'm going to take two classes at once. I've never done that. I'm going to do Steve Musser, wow, that guy. What he did was he brought his experience and brought really applicable case studies that helped you think differently. We were fortunate because we had a small group. We had four people in our class, but we were tight-knit, and we got to learn from each other and to be able to hear everybody's take. That's the great thing about this is no matter how open-minded you are coming into this you become even more open-minded and realize wow i didn't even think about that so things like what cj and keegan and cassie would bring up just brilliant ideas that never occurred to me and and steve was able to you know weave that all together and then to work on that project at the end it was a lot of fun true team effort

SPEAKER_00: 18:58

Phenomenal. You saw everyone rise to the occasion, everyone present, everyone. It was incredible.

SPEAKER_02: 19:04

Yeah. Anything else? Awesome. Well, thank you so much for your time, Terry. Really appreciate all of you helping the MSM program, and you mentoring some of the other students, and also your time today to join us in the Later Lounge. I think that's a wrap. Unless you have anything else you want to add on?

SPEAKER_00: 19:17

Congratulations. Oh, thank you very

SPEAKER_02: 19:19

much.

UNKNOWN: 19:22

Congratulations.