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? We have someone born and raised in West Michigan. He's a self proclaimed farm boy. He moved to Lansing area to attend Michigan State University to pursue a degree in psychology. After earning that degree, he stayed in the Lansing area and worked at community mental health and volunteered with a crisis helpline. He returned to Michigan State to earn a master's degree in rehabilitation counseling. For the last 20 or so years, he has assisted persons with disabilities in the Lansing area. He teaches graduate level students through online distance learning. I get the opportunity to collaborate with him on different activities our department hosts for, so I get a chance to see him up close and personal. He's someone who is easy to talk with and quite entertaining. All right, everybody, are you ready to meet this week's star? Come on. And put your hands together for Frank Taylor. Yes. Frank, the audience loves you and. And I do too. I'm so glad to have you on the show. I know you're a busy man and so you taking the time to do this is really appreciated. So, Frank, I'm ready to dive right in. How are you feeling?

I am feeling great. Lisa, how are you feeling?

I am a little nervous. I'm still getting used to this, Frank, so bear with me. But I'm so glad to have you here. You're easy to talk with, so I know this is gonna go great.

Well, we'll be nervous together.

We'll be good. Okay, great. So, well, let me start out with asking you about your role at the college.

Well, Lisa, I'm an academic success coach and I'll take care of the inevitable question. What the heck is an academic success coach?

Yes, thank you. Because that's exactly what I was going to ask.

My job is to be basically a case manager for college students. So all of those things that can influence how well a student does here at LCC that aren't what classes do I take or how much financial aid do I have. Things like issues with a family or my car died or how do I talk with my professor? What's the best way to study for an exam? Those are all things that I work one on one with students with, to try to help them overcome their barriers and. And to really be successful here at LCC.

Yeah, you I had the pleasure to be a part of when they instituted success coaches. I was on the interview committee, so I got to be a part of hiring some of the newer of the older ones. Excuse me. So I always believed in the success coach program. A lot of times people get confused with success coach and academic advising. And so how do you explain that difference to your students?

If they ask what I tell them is that my job is to know a little bit about a lot of stuff around the college. So if there's a quick question or if it's something that's on our website, I'm the go to guy. But my other job is when we get to the place where we need some specialized knowledge and some people that really know what's going on, like academic advisors that can tell you what classes to take, that's where my job is to find the right person to get that student to that person so they can have that conversation.

Right. You, you kind of have that wraparound support where you're making sure that that student is connected to faculty and staff. If they have any goal that they want to work on, if they need any outside resources or assistance, you help them to figure those things out. And I think that's a great service. I need my own success coach, so I definitely envy the students and glad that they have that opportunity. Well, tell me a little, Frank, how you got started at LCC.

Oh, well, I was at our local community mental health working with folks with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities. And I had the opportunity to retire from that job. Wow. So I had a chance to actually go and do something I wanted to do rather than I need a certain amount of money to make my house note and pay for the car and stuff like that. And right about that time, LCC had started their academic success coaching program. And I thought that was a good fit for not only the skills that I developed, but I really liked the idea of working with a bunch of bright, eager, driven, competent students. So that sounds like a good fit. And I applied for the job.

Right. And so how lucky and wonderful I won't say lucky, but I'll say how wonderful it is to be able to retire from a career and to go into a career that you're passionate about. That's such a wonderful thing. And I think a lot of people strive to do that. So did you plan like you knew you were strategic and okay, I'm going to retire at this time so that I can live my best life, or how did you do that?

Well, there came a point where I could retire financially, and I decided that at that point, I was going to start looking around for something that instead of compensation, I was looking for some passion, something that really felt like it resonated with me. And I just kept looking and kept looking until this opportunity came up.

Wow.

And I really feel like I've made a good choice. LCC is not only a good home for me, but there are a bunch of really, really competent and caring folks that work here, and they're really dedicated to having students first and having students get their goals. And I like working in that kind of environment.

Well, I definitely agree with you. I enjoy working in that environment as well. And I think that we do have a great group of people work here. What do you like most about what you do here at LCC?

My biggest passion with this job is that I get to give people the tools they need to get their goals, to get to the places they want to be. And just the idea that, you know, here's someone who's really working hard, that wants a better life for themselves, and all they're missing is a couple of pieces to make sure that they've got those pieces and they can get on with their tasks and their life,.

It.

Is just incredibly satisfying.

Yeah. That is rewarding. I can imagine that. You know, and to see the success, right. To see them reach those milestones that you help them plan to get to. And that's why I like that program. I think you can get to see the rewards of your work. You get to see students achieve great things, and you get. Get to play a small part in assisting them with that. And that's just. That's great. So my next question is, what is your special contribution? Something you feel that you do very well, that you think really makes a difference here at LCC, there's a couple.

Of things, but probably the biggest one is I've got a special passion for working with students with disabilities.

Okay.

Just with my background in rehabilitation counseling and working in the mental health system, I've got a good understanding of what some of those barriers can look like. And sometimes finding a way to work through those barriers requires kind of a deeper level of understanding than what most folks would have. So I feel like kind of my special skill I'm bringing there is that deeper understanding of the disability community and what some of those barriers can look like for a student and being able to give them the tools to be able to overcome those barriers and be able to graduate. One of my proudest moments was being at graduation, being a marshal, helping students along, and seeing a couple of my folks that are wheelchair users roll across that stage and get their diploma.

That's right. That's wonderful. It is wonderful. Because, you know, a lot of people think that persons with disabilities may not be able to come to college. Right. And that's false. But we have a program, and we have people here that are able to assist students. And so I'm so glad that that's something that you're part of. And is there any big projects surrounding that? Is there anything that you want to do that you're going to spearhead or lead the way on?

I am so glad you asked. So one of the things that LCC is always working on is making this a community college for everybody.

Right.

And one of the ways that that work is happening right now is to try to make this campus a more friendly place for folks that are neurodiverse, that look at the world differently, that experience the world differently. A lot of folks call that being on the autism spectrum, but it can be bigger than that, too. So I'm currently working on a project to try to look at both the physical space of the campus and the things that are here and what the experience is like for those students in interacting with faculty and staff and being able to go to class and learn to make sure that we're not putting artificial barriers in front of some absolutely brilliant students that have the chance to really succeed and have great careers, except for all of those preconceptions that other people might have about their abilities.

Right? Yeah. And that's. That's the thing. The preconceptions that others may have doesn't have to impact that student. And we have people here that can help them to reach the goals that they want to reach. And that's another reason why I like my point of pride with LCC. I think that we're always looking to try to improve our services and help our students get that much farther along. I commend you on that, Frank, and I thank you. And I know that you're going to do a great job. But I heard you mention something that I want to ask a little bit more about. What is neurodiversity? What does that mean?

Neurodiversity means that there are people out there that experience the world a little differently. Sounds might be different. There might be things that we wouldn't notice that could be really distracting for a student. It could also mean things like understanding social cues could be different. So we're not talking about people that can't handle the intellectual work of going to college. We're not talking about people that can't get to a classroom physically. We're not talking about people that you look at and you might say, I don't think they're disabled. There's no wheelchair. There's no white cane. But still, these are folks where there's barriers to them fully participating. And sometimes that could be as simple as, hey, let's put lights in the room that don't buzz. So if you're really sensitive to sounds that can be distracting so you can't hear the instructor, it could be as simple as, you know what? This can be really stressful for me. Let me see if I can find a place to just chill out for five minutes. I can get myself together, get back in class. Neurodiversity encompasses a lot of those types of things, folks that just experience the world in a different way than we do.

Wow. Okay. Thank you for that explanation. It was new terminology for me, and so I am always trying to learn. So thank you for explaining that to me and maybe a few other people out there who wasn't aware of that term. But it sounds like, Frank, you do a lot with LCC in your role as a success coach. But tell me a little bit about Frank. Outside of LCC, what makes Frank go. What are you passionate about?

There's a couple of things I like to experience new people and new places and have new experiences. Sometimes that is as simple as opening a book and reading a story and learning some information about a new place or getting involved in a novel where the characters are doing things I've never done. Sometimes it's getting on an airplane and going somewhere. Sometimes it's getting in my camper and getting away from everybody.

Okay, so it sounds like I'm hearing you are a reader and you like to travel.

Both. Yes.

And. But, you know, I was doing a little research, and I had read that you like to cook.

I do like to cook. That's another way of exploring new people and new places and new tastes. So I like to learn how to cook new dishes. I've been working on Roman pasta recently.

Okay.

And yes, I'll bring some in for you.

Thank you. You seen that look in my face? Like, how come I've never tried this?

Yeah, I like to bake. I really like to bake bread.

Really?

Yes.

Okay. So, yeah, you know, we have. Well, before the pandemic, we had our chili cook off, which I'm the champ, and then we had our cupcake wars. And so I think hopefully we'll be able to bring those back. So I'm gonna look forward to Frank, seeing if you can bake some good cupcakes. Even though I know. Did you participate in the cupcake wars before or.

No, I didn't do the cupcake wars. That's a kind of a different baking. That's more kind of cakes and things like that. And that's one of those areas that I'm going to be working on some skills. So. Yes.

Okay.

Expect me.

Okay. Okay. Okay. Yeah, I just. I definitely am interested in that. And tell me about your travel. Where have you been? Name some of the places that you've been.

I've been to a lot of places in the US I've been to the Grand Canyon. I've been to San Diego. We just finished a trip out east, going to Acadia national park, seeing all the wildlife there and all the cool stuff. Went to Boston recently. Been down south a lot.

All right. So are you flying? What are you doing? Are you on the camp? Taking the camper. Where are you going? How are you doing this?

Yes, to all of the above.

All of the above. So you are an avid traveler?

Yeah, we will road trip and do hotels. We will take our camper and go to different places. We've jumped on planes and flown to lots of cool spots. We've been to Greece recently. We've been to London. Been to lots of places in the U.S. puerto Rico was really, really cool.

Wow. So you say we. Who is this we that's traveling with you?

The other half of my consciousness. The best person I've ever met in my life, My spouse, Sharon.

Okay. Hey, Sharon. Shout out to Sharon. So I'm glad that you have a ride or die, as they say. Somebody that's with you and that's Sharon and that's your partner, your wife. Yeah.

Yep. We spend our days together in Lansing working. And we spend our nights planning our next trip.

Your next getaway.

Yep.

Wow. So, Frank, I really am thankful that you came today to talk with me about your role at LCC. What you do I think you bring so much to our campus and what you, your goal and what you want to do to help students, I think is so important. And we leave nobody behind. And that's the thing about it. And your role here makes sure that the students, all students are served. And so I appreciate that and I thank you for coming. Do you have any parting words for your fans out there?

Yeah, all three of them. Well, actually a couple of parting words. I mentioned it before, but this campus to me is a special place. It's a special place for a couple of reasons. First of all, the people that work here, the faculty, the staff, the people that are here not to get a paycheck or not to get through, but that are here for the students. And then the other group of people here that makes this place special are those students. People coming from all walks of life, not just 18 year olds graduating high school, folks doing a second career, people coming back to take a class because they're interested in it, but coming here with purpose and a passion and being ready and willing to learn stuff that's going to be important to them. And I am proud and honored to be someone who can maybe help them get a little farther toward that goal and really shine.

Yes. And I think you do an excellent job of that. You are a wonderful representative of our college and just a good, nice person, you know what I mean? Someone that's easy to talk with, someone that it's going to greet you with a certain smile and someone that's going to care about what your, what your goals are and what you want to do. So I thank you again, Frank, for coming and I look forward to working with you, you know, as we do our other project. So people make sure that you look and listen to see what the success coaches and academic advising will have for you next. Okay, so. So thank you. I will see you next time on Who's That Star? 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. Time to find out Who's That Star.