JWU’s winning recipe for keeping students in school

ALL THINGS EQUAL: Marie Bernardo-Sousa, senior vice president of student services at Johnson & Wales University, said the school hopes to achieve “the same level of opportunity for young men and women on our campus.” / COURTESY JWU
ALL THINGS EQUAL: Marie Bernardo-Sousa, senior vice president of student services at Johnson & Wales University, said the school hopes to achieve “the same level of opportunity for young men and women on our campus.” / COURTESY JWU

Known best for its culinary-arts program, Johnson & Wales University offers degrees in the arts and sciences, business, education, nutrition, hospitality and technology. Not typically considered a school for athletes, the university in fact has 22 varsity athletic sports at the Providence campus. Three programs debuted in 2013 –- women’s field hockey and men’s and women’s lacrosse – while women’s hockey was added as a club sport this year. This past year, the university also completed construction of the school’s first athletic fields.
As senior vice president of student services, Marie Bernardo-Sousa has helped nurture growth in athletics and explains why.

PBN: How old is the JWU Wildcats athletics program and which sports does it promote at the varsity level?
BERNARDO-SOUSA: The program is celebrating 19 years. We had a program in the 1960s when we were a junior college. In the mid-’70s and ‘80s the board made a decision to reallocate funding to other areas of the university, but brought [athletics] back in 1995. All of the established programs are offered at the varsity level.

PBN: The commitment to athletics appears to be growing with the addition of new programs and athletic fields. Why is the university expanding this way?
BERNARDO-SOUSA: We’re committed to ensuring our students have a valuable and holistic experience at the university. Athletics complement the educational program. When [a company is] hiring, you’re looking for someone who exhibits teamwork, who can communicate clearly, who is disciplined and able to manage multiple projects. That’s a skill set students learn inside and outside the classroom and athletics complements that.

PBN: How does the athletics expansion fit in with your strategic plan?
BERNARDO-SOUSA: It is part of our strategic plan, under enhancing student engagement. Athletics not only supports the efforts of our students but supports our student body, our fans and spectators. It provides commonality. It helps our students learn skills in terms of good sportsmanship, winning and losing gracefully. And it allows us to develop and embrace Wildcat Nation.

PBN: Are there other benefits to the university having a fully developed athletics program?
BERNARDO-SOUSA: It helps us make connections outside the campus community and link to our alums. Our alumni are amazing supporters of our strategic plan. They’re giving of their time and donating at a much higher percentage than previously.

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PBN: Is there a correlation between athletics and retention?
BERNARDO-SOUSA: On our campus, student athletes are students first and then athletes, but student athletes retain at a much-higher rate. We measure that. When a team is in season we measure their academic performance. Our coaches work very closely with our students to ensure what’s happening with academics comes first, and what’s happening in the field or on the rink comes second.

PBN: Do you have statistics to back that up?
BERNARDO-SOUSA: This past year our student athletes’ average GPA was 3.2. For retention, student athletes typically retain higher than the nonathlete, which here at the Providence campus was 86.3 percent in 2012. The overall rate in 2012 was 79.6 percent and is a significant improvement from where we were in 2006, which was 67 percent. Our strategic plan is focused on recruiting the right kind of students who can be successful inside and outside the classroom and I think we’ve done that.

PBN: Which sports programs are benefiting from the new athletic facilities?
BERNARDO-SOUSA: The programs tied to the new facility are baseball, softball, lacrosse, field hockey and soccer. In addition to the fields, we’ve also remodeled the indoor practice facility, which also provides a place for our golf team to practice.

PBN: How are you justifying the $7 million expense?
BERNARDO-SOUSA: We know that it benefits not just our student athletes but also the university community and people who use the field for intramural and recreational activity. It begins to create a level of financial sustainability – the capacity to run camps and clinics for the external community. It creates a culture of stronger alumni donations and it allows us to pursue corporate sponsorships when appropriate.

PBN: Your men’s and women’s programs are almost equivalent. Is that a conscious choice?
BERNARDO-SOUSA: It is. We want to make sure we provide the same level of opportunity for young men and women on our campus.

PBN: What does the university aspire to in the divisions in which it competes?
BERNARDO-SOUSA: We are a Division 3 program and that is focused on student athletes. There are no scholarships in Division 3. Students come to play for the love of the game. Our equine team won two national championships in 2013, one as a team and one as an individual. And our wrestling team is doing very well on the national stage. We have four wrestlers ranked at the national level. •

INTERVIEW
Marie Bernardo-Sousa
POSITION: Senior vice president of student services at Johnson & Wales University
BACKGROUND: Originally from Seekonk, Bernardo-Sousa joined the registrar’s office at Johnson & Wales University in 1988 and earned her undergraduate degree at JWU in 1992. In 1993, she moved to admissions as director of special events. In 1999, she had oversight in admissions for the College of Business, The Hospitality College and the School of Technology. In 2002, she became executive director of student academic and financial services, and then served as both vice president of student services and registrar. Since 2011, she has held the position of senior vice president of student services.
EDUCATION: Bachelor of science degree in marketing from JWU, 1992; master of science degree in human resources from Emmanuel College, 2007
FIRST JOB: bakery-counter help
RESIDENCE: Seekonk
AGE: 46

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