Hey, hey, hey. This is Lisa A. And you're listening to Who's That Star? On LCC Connect at Lansing Community College. Who's that Star? is a behind the scenes show where I sit down and talk with the employees at the college. This is an inside look at LCC where you will have a chance to learn about their passions, projects, what inspires them both at work and in their personal lives. I'm your host, Lisa Alexander. I'm so excited to get a chance to talk to all the people who make LCC great. This show is for you to get to know the people that work at Lansing Community College a little bit more and see what makes them tick. Are you ready? Okay. Let's go see who's today's star. Today on Who's That Star, you will get a chance to learn about someone who's in top administration here on the campus. This star has a Bachelor's of Science and a PhD from Wayne State University. Before coming to LCC in 2018, she worked for Mary Grove College from 1989, 1996 to 2018. I think that's 22 years at the same institution. To me, that's commendable. This star has a bunch of different positions in the higher ed faculty members. She's taught chemistry, math, physics, forensic science, environmental studies. She's co taught with a bunch of cool people. And she's led student trips to Greece, Costa Rica, Galapagos and New Zealand. She has been a department chair, interim dean, special assistant to the president, interim provost and provost. She grew up in Clawson, Michigan. It's a small town by Royal Oak and Troy. She says it's a two square mile radius. She's also a huge baseball and football fan. Are you guys ready to learn who's today's star? Drum roll please. Today's star is Sally Welch. Let's give her a round of applause. Welcome, Sally, to Who's That Star.

Thank you, Lisa. And I really appreciate the invitation. I'm honored to be here.

Yeah, I'm honored to have you. I'm excited because I'm gonna tell you, like when I got into higher ed, I didn't really know what your role was. I was like, what? What does the provost do? And so I think this is a good platform for you kind of explain some of the stuff that you do. So I guess we'll start out. Tell me about what you do here at LCC and like what that role looks like.

I think my biggest job is problem solving.

Yeah.

So how do I remove barriers for students how do I remove barriers for faculty and staff? And sometimes it works out great. And sometimes the answer is we can't do anything right.

When people talk about provost, you are the top academic person on campus, right?

Yeah, I'm considered the chief academic officer or the chief learning officer on campus.

So everything, like, goes through you. As far as academically wise, would I meet with you if I was doing a class?

Not necessarily. You would meet with your faculty member and then probably the division associate dean or dean.

What I'm getting you to understand is she's high on the chain, okay. And you guys don't know Dr. Welch, but she is a shy person, but bright as I get out, and I'm impressed because she's a scientist. And for me, that's something that I didn't ever think I could strive to. So I'm always curious to find out about that. What made you get into becoming a scientist?

High school chemistry teacher.

Okay.

Kind of. Growing up in Clawson, we had very strong science program, science curriculum through junior high and high school. I took biology and physics. I was like, eh, it's okay. And I got into this chemistry class, and he just made it come alive. It just felt like magic learning about chemistry. And I just. I fell in love with the subject.

Is that what you focused on mainly when you were in school in chemistry? But I know it says, like, sciences. Is it all the sciences or.

So when I went down to Wayne State for my bachelor's degree, I originally started in nursing because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I had no idea when I got out of high school what I wanted.

To do, like a lot of students.

So I got down there and then I decided double major in biology and chemistry because I liked both enough. I love chemistry. Liked biology. And then I had a horrible experience in a microbiology class, and I said, I am done with biology. I'm doing chemistry.

Right. Okay.

And I just kept pursuing it. I got into a really good research group when I got out of school, and they really helped you learn about chemistry and understand it. And so I just kept going until I finished.

What made you decide? Because you can make a lot of money in, like, those fields of science. What made you choose education versus going out there and securing the bag, as the kids say?

So the area of chemistry I like doesn't make money.

Okay.

I'm technically an organometallic chemist, which is a combination of an organic chemist and an inorganic chemistry. So if I wanted to make money, I needed to go into organic chemistry purely because then you can go into pharmaceuticals, you can go into the beauty fields, you can go into petrochemicals, all of those big research pieces. So once I finished my PhD, it was like, okay, now what do I do? I don't want to be the person that was in charge of my lab group because all he did was write grants. He was stressed out.

And.

And I applied to a bunch of different places. I found this tiny college in Detroit, and it was home. And it was like, oh, this is what I want to do. This is my calling and how I want to have my career.

Well, you can tell because you stayed there so long. You know what I mean? Like, a lot of people don't necessarily stay at one place and you put down roots there. It sound like you taught and then went into different administration there. So they mentored you well, huh?

Yeah, they let me kind of make my own career there because we were small, we did a lot of different things. So I wasn't just teaching classes. I got to get involved in a bunch of projects, and I found out what I liked and I didn't like, and I just kind of kept going from there. So we had a really awesome grant writer down there, and we went for a Title 3 grant, and basically we had to put somebody in charge. And so a friend of mine, and I flipped the coin. I lost. So I was put in charge. And it helped me realize I really like the problem solving aspect of academics in administration.

Yeah. And you can help a lot more people in that way.

Yes and no.

Well, I mean, I think some of the decisions that you have, it affects a lot of students, and so you can make those choices that that helps students. And I think you've led the way to help students, you know, to cut time in classes that they may not necessarily need. You've helped support that, and you want students to get educated, timely, but still have fun. And I think, you know, you brought a lot of different programs to campus. So for me, you get an opportunity to help people grow in their different areas by different initiatives that you start. I think that's pretty cool. We kind of touched on this. Why do you work at LCC and, like, what keeps you coming here and why are you passionate about it? I know you like the science, but what does it. Because you could be somewhere else.

So my old school, they ended their undergraduate program, and I wanted to find a place that had the same vibe that my school did. And I found the ad and I applied here. The first day I came, it was like, this is the Right place. And I feel like I'm home again. So that for me is the most important thing. When I try and get a job or look for a place that I want to work at, I don't want it to be a job. I want it to be my home. I want to work with my family, and I want to help my family grow. That's kind of how I think about it. So what comes helps me to come back every day excites me about getting up in the morning is what can I do to help people move things forward. So sure, there are tough days and there are hard things to do, but to see people smile on campus, to be able to call a student and say, hey, by the way, you can graduate. We are able to solve your problem. That makes my day. That energizes me.

And that's a good feeling too. That's the part about my job that I love, is that when you can help a student and help them reach that goal, whether it's an easy process or it's hard, it's a thrill, you know, it's fun.

So to see their smile.

Yes.

And to see them at graduation with their family and how proud they are, that makes it all worth it.

It does, exactly. Well, I was going to ask you, like, what really lights you up? What makes you excited in your life outside of LCC?

It's really family and spending time with it. I'm very fortunate. I still have both my parents, and to be able to be there for them right now they're older, and so to be able to help them navigate just fulfills me.

Yes.

And then love to travel and do things at home. Those things kind of give me that work life balance that I need to kind of move forward. So I have a very pleasant life. I'm very happy, Very enjoyable life.

That's good. I was gonna ask you about when you took the student trips. Cause you talked when you mentioned traveling, I was thinking about, like, how did you get involved with that? Like, were you a. What is that where you go and learn? But it's not that.

It's not study abroad.

Yeah. Okay. Yeah, it's not study abroad.

My old school had a study abroad program. Most of our students came from inner city Detroit. Never left the city, never been on a plane. And so our job was to give them experiences they could take with them wherever they wanted to go. So we would apply for running particular programs. So if you got accepted, then you would run your program and take students there. So I always co taught my courses. So My very first trip was to the Galapagos Islands and Quito, Ecuador. And I did it with an English professor.

Wow.

And so we did literature and a little bit of the science, mythology, and creationism and just fabulous time. And I talked about students smiling at graduation. Seeing them experience, you know, they're petrified to get on the plane.

Right.

In our first trip, we had to take these little tiny boats across to one of the places we were staying. Watching people be brave to get on there. I don't think I could ask for anything better in life.

I feel like I'm one of those students because I've never, you know, left the US And I really don't fly a lot. But I'm always interested in going and looking at different places and all the places like you've been. Like, I really wanted to go to Greece. Cause it looks just. The scenery looks so beautiful. And for you to get an opportunity to show people that. But you would probably send me home because I would not like getting on the boat. And all those firsts are so scary. And how you can get people to do that. That's a cool thing.

Yeah. When we taught the classes, so we would have almost a full semester of classes before. Before we'd go on the trip. And so students would hear about, okay, these are the things that you need to do. I think our biggest challenge my first trip was don't drink the water. Right. And I actually had a student pack a suitcase full of water, which is fine. I mean, it just was like, okay, you got to really worry about the words that you use. But if you were on a trip that I was going to take, you would feel prepared to do all of those things and know what you were gonna experience. Yeah, you might still be scared, but we would be right there with you.

Doing it and be prepared. And then, you know, sometimes that's how you find out some of the best things. If you get over, overcome that fear. And it sounds like you had the students well prepared, so that's cool. So maybe I'll have to hit you up when I get that trip to Greece.

I think once you're done, daughter graduates from high school, maybe you guys should take a trip.

Yeah. Well, that's in June, so maybe we can start a program because she's coming here to LCC. We need a pro. We need for you to teach a program and get us over there. Dr. Welch. I think that would be cool. What is a subject? I'm going to say, what is a subject outside of science that you geek out about or is a topic that you love to learn about.

To be honest, anything new, I'm really curious and interested about it. I like to watch the History Channel and learn about the different cultures and time periods. I like to know how things work and figure it out. Mythbusters, probably one of my favorite shows. Just to take those pieces and the scientists that put everything together and say, yeah, that's right. It's a myth or not a myth. Lots of fun. I'm very curious about the world. So I don't know if there's a specific subject, but all subjects you just.

Like learning, hey, that's good. I'm not that way, but I feel like there are specific subjects, but you're just interested in finding something new, learning about it, so that's cool. Well, what life lessons have you learned? The hard way?

I think probably the biggest one is earlier in my career, put more life in my work life, balance, and to pause and take time to enjoy things instead of I got to get this paper done and that done and I got to get these things graded. You're going to ask later on, what's my favorite saying or similar to that. The older I get, the more I appreciate life is short. And to experience as much as you can and take that time to just do different things and not just work all the time.

Right.

That's. That's a hard thing because I was sucked into the world probably for a good 10 years. And I taught. I taught probably 18, 17, 18 credits. I was a chair.

Wow.

Did other things. And so it was you get up at five in the morning and you come home at six at night, you're tired, you go to bed and you do the next thing, same thing, next day. So I try to work really hard on having balance now.

It sounds like it too. You know when you talked earlier about the travel and spending time with your family, that's important to you now. You know what I mean? Not that it wasn't before, but it's a priority and it's something that is important that you want to do. I think that's cool. Who do you admire most in the world?

So if we're looking at famous people, I really like Barack Obama and I like Michelle Obama better, but I like both of them. They always make you smile and feel good about you in the world when they talk. And I admire that capability.

Yeah, I admire them. I think I admire my mom. What about your family? You have any family member that stick out? Maybe.

Always the dad because, you know, he was always Steady. And he always made sure that he got his tasks done. And I know that's kind of worky in there, but he was always straightforward. He was honest in telling us what was good and not good about things in the world. And so I definitely admired my dad in that respect, but I think more so now my mom. I'm glad you brought that up. My dad has Ms. And so he is wheelchair bound. He's had Ms. Almost 30 years now. And he's gotten to a point where he has to rely on my mom. And she just takes so much of it. And she's just kind, gentle, wonderful person and takes it all in and is able to just continue to take care of him and give him the respect he needs in his life.

Right. And that's a beautiful. To be able to see that. I mean, that's real love. Right? That's that for better or for worse. Right? That's the. You gotta make sure you're there. It sounds like they're both cool people. I wanna ask you, is it go green or go blue?

Of course, go blue.

Oh, yeah. You are from the Detroit area, aren't you? I forgot that. Yeah. So when you. How does it feel being up here with all these things? Spartan fans?

It's actually. It's kind of fun. I know that for the most part I'm a minority here in terms of liking Michigan, but I have found some friends here.

Oh, there's a lot of them here. Yeah. Because there's a lot in my department too, so. Yeah.

But I think last week was probably the most solidarity I felt with MSU and actually went out and purchased some MSU swag and wore it right. Got teased quite a bit for wearing it. But it was for a good cause.

It was that support. You know, at the end of the day, we all live in Michigan and we support one another. So what are you most proud of that you did in the last year?

For me, I'm proud of the work that the people do below me. My job is to support and help people to fulfill what they need to do in their job. So I have big projects, but they're not my projects, they're our projects. And I would rather say that I'm proud of them and not anything that I might have done.

Hey, that's a good leader. I think you support the people that are making things happen and that's good. If you don't have support, it's a hard work.

We're in this together. You had asked me a question earlier about what I. I Like about or love about LCC. And it's the people here and the passion they have for each other, but also for students. The first year I was here, every time we came into a barrier or a problem, very quickly someone pulled a meeting together. We would talk it out. We try and find a solution and then move it forward. That togetherness and that ability to kind of. Let's collectively work on this, it's just. It's great. You just don't see that everywhere.

No, you're right. That's why I'm thankful to work here. Because you can disagree, but people will listen and will try to help come to a solution that is at the benefit for students. And so. And I think that's what we all focus on. And so that's a cool thing. Well, I'm glad that you were able to come on who's that starter day. Because this is my first time really getting a chance to talk to you and learn about you. And I think it may be for other people of the LCC community, maybe an opportunity for them to just to learn about what makes you tick a little bit and what you're passionate about. And then for me, it was interesting to learn all the different positions you've held. Right. You worked your way up through the ranks. So you know about college and the different areas. Yeah.

Thank you.

Is there anything else you'd like to say before we leave today?

I just again, appreciate the opportunity to talk to you. I admire this radio show and what you do. I've heard a couple other people on here, and it's just. It's a great way to learn about people.

It is.

I think I really appreciate the time that you spend talking to people.

Well, thank you. I'm glad that you guys allow me to do it. And I think. I just think it's important because I feel like it's easier to talk to somebody that you've, you know, something about. You know, it just builds a bridge. And LCC has been a great place for me and just given me a lot of opportunities. And it's been people like you that's trusted. Hey, let's give her a shot. And that's the thing that we do here at LCC and that's a part of the administration. If you want a shot, they'll give you a shot. You know what I'm saying? You just gotta be willing to put in the work. So I wanna again, thank you for coming on Who's That Star? And for everybody, we will see you next time.

Thank you.

You've been listening to Who's That Star? I'm Lisa A. And you can listen to this episode of Who's That Star? and other shows from LCC Connect anytime online at LCCconnect.org. Thank you for listening. Catch me next time to find out Who's That Star.