President Fitzsimmons Appears on ‘Isn’t She Amazing’ Podcast
She discusses how women are dealing with sending students off to college and more
Shenandoah University President Tracy Fitzsimmons, Ph.D., appeared on the Isn’t She Amazing podcast on Tuesday, Aug. 8, focusing on how to support and launch college-bound students.
During the podcast, Dr. Fitzsimmons talked with hosts Marianne Clyde and Lorna Magill about how thousands of mothers, grandmothers, big sisters and more are sending students off to college this year in a host of different circumstances, while other women are in the process of preparing young people in their lives for the college application/decision process.
During the 35-minute conversation, Fitzsimmons talks about supporting your child’s dreams (even if their path isn’t what you envisioned for them), helping them find a “Plan B,” if their initial ideas don’t work out, and letting a child work through being unsure about their future career. She also touches on how to support both commuter and residential students, how to invest in yourself as a parent and how to encourage your student to make the most of their time on campus by being fully engaged with the experience.
Additionally, she suggests that parents should also encourage their students to work while at school as well as over the summer (this includes internships) to support themselves and to develop empathy and other professional skills they’ll need once they graduate.
Fitzsimmons’ insights are unique, as she has a background that reaches across the higher education landscape. She’s not only the president of a university that works closely with its community college partners but also a previous chair of the accreditation review for six universities and the former president of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, which represents 900+ institutions nationwide. She is also the presidential sponsor for the Virginia Women’s Network. And, she’s a mother, with children in high school and college.
The Isn’t She Amazing brand, which includes the podcast, events, blogs, workshops and coaching, focuses on topics of interest for women 50 and older.
