On Thursday, Nov. 17 the St. Thomas Board of Trustees voted in favor of establishing St. Thomas’ first two-year college on its Minneapolis campus.

The new two-year college will be called the Dougherty Family College, named after lead donors Mike and Kathy Dougherty and is set to be open for the 2017-18 school year. Students with high financial need would be paying about $1,000 for the estimated $15,000 tuition, the other $14,000 covered with the help of state and local grants, scholarships and donor support.

“It’s historic for our university,” said Buffy Smith, professor of sociology and criminal justice and the newly announced associate dean for the Dougherty Family College. “I’m filled with excitement and joy in terms of providing opportunities for low-income, first-generation students regardless of their racial, ethnic background.

“We just want to give students who come from under-resourced communities the opportunity to pursue their bachelor’s degree and first path in terms of earning their associate’s degree.”

Students attending the two-year college will be organized into cohorts with 25 students in each. Together, with the rest of their cohort, they will attend two-hour classes focused on teaching with a hands-on, project-based learning. Since many of the students have family and work obligations after school, part of the class period will be dedicated to getting a head start on homework, Smith said.

“We don’t want them to go home, look at the assignment and go, ‘I thought I understood it in class, but I’m completely confused now,’” Smith said. “They’re going to have a chance to actively engage in that assignment during class so they have full confidence and momentum so that when they leave, even if they have a long evening of family and work responsibilities, they can still reemerge in that project and feel comfortable and feel that they can do that assignment well.”

Amaris Holguin, a first-year student, said that she has met many students through work and College Possible, a college-preparatory program for high schoolers, who she thinks would benefit from the two-year college.

“I know (for) a lot of students, money is the big thing that prevents them from applying or even thinking about going to a university like St. Thomas, so having a cheaper option that they can really afford while also getting the perks of seeing what university life is like is amazing,” Holguin said.

The two-year college is a direct result of the Flexible Pathways initiative, which looks to improve students’ transition into college, through college and after college.

In addition to creating a two-year college, the Flexible Pathways committee is working on creating a new student success center, most likely in the Murray-Herrick building. The center would be a one-stop shop for academic counseling, career counseling and tutoring.

Carol Bruess, professor and director of the family studies program, co-chairs the committee alongside Vern Klobassa, director of communication and training for student affairs.

“We’ve been charged with looking at all the ways that St. Thomas can do a much better job creating more flexible pathways, or opportunities, for all of our students at every level,” Bruess said. “At times, to be honest, it’s overwhelming and exciting because in so many ways, higher education has to become more accessible; we have to be more nimble and be more flexible, because the world demands it.”

But despite their successes, the committee’s path to achieving their goals hasn’t always been a smooth one. The Flexible Pathways task force was originally co-chaired by former St. Thomas professors Michael Jordan and Kendra Garrett. Last January, Michael Jordan died from pancreatic cancer, and over the summer, Garrett decided to take leave in order to care for her husband who was recently diagnosed with cancer as well.

Bruess keeps a copy of Jordan’s funeral program in her office as a reminder of why her work is important.

“I often look at him and think, ‘(I) gotta keep on doing this work, he’d be so happy,’” she said.

Danielle Wong can be reached at wong0031@stthomas.edu