In the Lounge with Katrice Quitter

In the Lounge with Katrice Quitter

Dominic (00:16):

Hi everyone, and welcome back to "In the Lounge." On this podcast, we meet with experts from higher education to share ideas, learn from their experiences, talk about new trends we're seeing, and get an unseen perspective of what's going on in the space. If you have any questions for me, my email is dominic@lounge.live. Please feel free to reach out, and we can also put you directly in touch with our guests.

Today I'm in the lounge with Katrice Quitter, a dynamic leader, educator, and advocate for belonging and equity in education. She currently serves as the Chief Belonging and Experience Officer at Mount St. Joseph University, where she's helping to shape inclusive, transformative experiences for students, faculty, and staff. Before stepping into this leadership role, Katrice spent many years in education, serving as a Care Partnership Manager at Stand For Children, an Education Consultant and Gifted Coordinator at Hamilton County ESC, and earlier in her career as a Gifted Intervention Specialist.

Across every role, she's brought a deep commitment to social justice, professional development, and the empowerment of others to reach their fullest potential. Katrice's work is all about creating spaces where everyone feels seen, valued, and inspired to grow. And I can't wait to dive into her story today. Katrice, welcome and thanks for being here today.

Katrice (01:17):

Thanks for having me, Dominic.

Dominic (01:18):

So first of all, I just want to see if I missed anything. Would you like to give a little background on yourself, maybe in your own words, how you got here and what your journey has been like so far?

Katrice (01:25 — Career Journey Through Education):

Sure, for sure. It's always nice to hear someone else talk a little bit about you. And there's also a kind of brief period where you think when someone else is talking about you, you think, "Oh, that's me. I've done all those things." I don't think that you left anything out. I think you really captured it very well when you talked about me being a career educator. So prior to my role here in higher ed, I've spent the majority of my career, which has been about two decades, in PK-12 education.

So I've taught first, second, and third grade and then found myself into a gifted education position where I supported students that had exceptional abilities. As we know, it's very much a continuum. So I found myself in that role supporting not only in the classroom, but then supporting educators really across multiple school districts here in our area to provide support and challenging resources, curriculum, things like that inside the classroom.

I think you captured it all. I've been in education my entire career and that's probably what I will retire doing as well.

Dominic (02:23):

Amazing. And through that time, has there been anything that has really stood out to you as like a highlight for your career or something that's just been a special moment for you?

Katrice (02:30):

Oh goodness, that's so hard. You're putting me on the spot, Dominic. I think every, you know, honestly, as I think about it, every year is special, right? So one of the gifts as an educator is that you have the opportunity to impact lives and impact lives, not only your current students, but your families and then for generations to come. So I think as an educator, you have an incredible opportunity to support young people and whatever, whoever fits in that box of a young person, right?

So whether I'm talking about a five or six-year-old, or currently in my role as I support college students, you really play a special part in their lives if you're doing your job well. So I think it's hard to pinpoint one, a particular point or a spot, but really I just, I'm very grateful for the opportunity that I've had to impact as many lives as I've had an opportunity to do so. And just thinking about what students will go on to do as a result of having an interaction or being a part of an experience or a class or something that you've done. I think that that is fulfilling in itself. So I feel like every day potentially it can be transformational.

Dominic (03:42):

I totally agree. And I think this is one of those spaces that is so unique in that regard. For myself, I think everyone remembers those teachers or those special sort of roles that took a big part in their education. And they still think back to them many, many years later. So being able to have an impact is such a, it's sort of a, it's a responsibility, but it's also such a nice part of the job, so to speak.

Katrice (04:05):

Yes, absolutely.

Dominic (04:06):

Are you working on anything right now in terms of initiatives or special projects that are standing out to you or things you're particularly proud of or excited about either at the university or outside of the university?

Katrice (04:17 — Current Initiatives & Revamped Orientation):

Yeah, for sure. I mean, it's a day that ends in Y, so that means we're doing really incredible stuff no matter what day of the week that it is, right? So here at the university, we just recently launched our new strategic plan. And one of the things that we are really focused on is really creating an unsurpassed student experience here at the university. And what that really means is making sure that all of our students, each one of them feels seen, valued, heard, welcome, that we create experiences that are going to meet their needs. Not only from an academic standpoint, but then also from a career standpoint is really important, making sure that we prepare them for what their workforce will be.

And kind of wrapped up in there, I co-lead here at the University, our Center for Mission and Belonging. I've got a co-counterpart who is our Chief Mission Officer. And together we lead the center. And one of the things that we really have an incredible opportunity to do is to carve out and create those humanizing spaces where students can really bring their full selves to our university.

Most recently, this academic year, we overhauled our orientation and Welcome Weekend program and process. And what I would describe probably is a short amount of time, but what we really have seen is we've seen tremendous results in terms of students really feeling connected, students feeling like they can navigate and know what to do as first-year students or also as transfer students coming in from other universities. It's really been all hands on deck. So it's not just me that leads this team, but really we took an opportunity to create a collaborative experience that worked across departments and schools all across the university to make sure that we welcomed our new students, families, and with all hands on deck and making sure that what we described as a hospitable experience, really thinking about hospitality in every single thing that we did from picking the colors to things, to picking the foods, to really thinking about the experiences. We want it to be a place where they tell other people about it and it's a place that they always want to come back to.

So while we revamped orientation and Welcome Weekend, we know that the true work begins multiple weeks into the semester and here we are kind of at that midterm semester break and it's nice to walk across the quad and check in with students by name. We're fortunate because we have a small university to check in with students by name, say, "How are things going? How's mom? How's dad?" We've had these personal interactions. It very much, for our students, it feels like a family here. We're genuinely invested in their success. We're genuinely invested in their well-being, their mental, their physical health, really seeing them excel academically in the classroom and then also outside of that. But it collectively takes a team to do that. And we're really proud of the work that we're doing.

Dominic (07:06):

Now it's really interesting because it kind of shows not just so much about the what or the why of what you're sharing when it comes to belonging, but it's kind of the when. When are you introducing these ideas? When are you introducing that moment to point things out that are going to make an impact for the rest of their journey? So that's really interesting. I think Welcome Week, everyone, first-year students, I think that's exactly the place to be doing it. Is that going to be a program that you continue onward for the next few years? What's your feeling so far?

Katrice (07:34):

Absolutely. Yeah. So of course, every year, you know, there are things that are great and wonderful about it that we will keep and there we will make adjustments every year because every class that comes in is going to be different. Every class that comes in is going to have unique needs. But in terms of like the skeleton of it, I think that we have, I think that we have something that is great and really leads to helping students to feel connected.

I mean, it's a transitional part of their lives as well as their families and their parents' lives. So making sure that not only they have the tools and resources and supports to feel connected and comfortable. And I think a huge piece of that is when they are lost or when they are stuck, letting them know that they're not alone, that there is an entire team of folks that are here to kind of help and guide them along the way, I think is really, really important.

So the collaboration that we've done across campus to ensure that they know who their resources are by name and depending upon what they need or who their go-to people are has really been a major focus.

Dominic (08:34):

I can resonate to that personally somewhat. We have a running joke in my family that I drove myself to college and you know I think there's literally a you know expectation I think some parents have where it's like, "Hey, drop your kid off at college, it's a big moment." Well, I got in my car, drove myself off and set myself up and I was like, "This doesn't—" you know, you're looking for those people who might be there instead of parents who were supposed to drop you off and didn't, but yeah.

Katrice (08:57):

Yeah, well, and you know, part of it for us, the part of the thing that we built in is that, you know, we have opportunities. Obviously, students need certain types of information to be successful. But we built in pathways and opportunities for families and guests. We were really intentional, speaking of belonging, about choosing the language that we use. We know that whoever is dropping off might not be a parent. It might be a guest. It may be a best friend. It may be a sibling. It may be, you know, a grandparent, you know.

So we provided opportunities and pathways for them to learn about what our campus was. We had, you know, a presidential social where they got to hang out with the president and our first lady and talk about the experience here because we want people to feel good about dropping their young folks off here, right? We want them to know that they're going to be cared for in the same way that they would be cared for at home.

Dominic (09:44):

It kind of leads to my next question, is something I like to ask all universities, just to see what's happening and what's working. What do you think right now for students is working when it comes to belonging? What is something that you've seen they resonate with and something that you'd like to kind of maybe double down on or just keep doing?

Katrice (10:03 — What's Working: Building Authentic Relationships):

It's a good question. You know, my best thinking right now, and I'll probably say that for many of our questions that we talk about today, I think relationships. And I think relationships not only with the adults that work on this campus, you know, faculty and staff, I think relationships in terms of building peer relationships as well so that they have a network to reach out to, to reach out to for support or in times of celebration, I think that those pieces are huge. Because what we know about retention of students is that we don't want them to be isolated. We don't want them to feel like they are here alone. And when they do run up against a barrier, or they run up against or run into an issue, we want them to be able to have someone that they can reach out to.

But that relationship can't be superficial. It cannot be surface level, right? So you have to take time to build that relationship and get to know who the students are at the core, where they're from, their background, their experiences. And that means sitting in the dining hall and eating with them, opening up your door, letting them know that they can drop in at any time, going to their events, supporting them at sporting events, or going to things that are happening in the evening.

It's not an eight to five or nine to five job. It is, "Hey, I'm staying late because I'm going to Family Feud that's being hosted by our Black Student Union." It's putting on the jeans and the tennis shoes and hanging out and asking how things are going. It is authentically being, I think, present and available for our students because then when they do run into something, they know that you're a trusted source. They're gonna come to you. They're gonna come to you for advice. They're gonna come to you to help figure things out. They're gonna come to you when they're in trouble. And then part of it, more than anything, is you want them to see you as a support and to reach out not only during those moments of when they're having struggles, but then also those moments of celebration. You want them to see you as an extension of their support system.

We talk about, we have a group of first-generation scholars and one of the things that we're having them work on this year is building their personal board of directors. We all have them as professionals and colleagues of people that we reach out to when we need advice or if we're thinking about X, Y, Z, fill in the blank. So we're having them to build their personal board of directors. Who do they go to? Who's their cheerleader? Who's gonna give them the tough advice? Who are they gonna go to for various things? We want them to see us as a member of their personal board of directors, really invested in their success.

Dominic (12:27):

You reminded me, there was a very visual image of the professor or the faculty member who's in jeans and sneakers walking around. I feel like you always gravitate towards that person who you feel like, "I can—" It's a huge icebreaker just making you feel like, "You can come and approach me anytime and whatever you need." And I feel like I remember vivid experiences of that. And I think it's a huge carry through that university experience.

Katrice (12:38):

And you want them to know that you have cool sneakers on. You want them to check out your kicks.

Dominic (12:51):

We talk about those methods and those concepts that no doubt you're kind of curating with your team, what does the collaboration look like across different departments where you're helping other departments understand those things that they can do? And how do you, I guess, who do you work with? How does that work? And what would you say is something that really kind of makes it all click?

Katrice (13:13 — Cross-Campus Collaboration for Student Success):

Yeah, I would say that it's always and I think always should be a work in progress. So as we think about what collaboration looks like across departments, there are lots of people at this university that keep the lights on and keep things going, right? So most closely, I think related or directly connected to us will probably be our admissions department. And that also connects to campus tours. And when we have prospective students that are coming through or, you know, coming to visit, that is somewhat of like their first touchpoint here at the Mount.

I also think about our close relationship with our social media team, our social media and marketing team. I think about athletics, of course, the Office of the President. I don't think that there is not an office that we don't directly collaborate with. I think about our office of first-year experience, academic advising. All of us all really work in concert together because a huge piece of it is that if I have a student that needs support or is celebrating something, who is the trusted person that they're connected to? And that might be someone from our buildings and grounds crew. That might be someone that is a part of our campus dining crew.

It does not matter. I think for me, it's just who knows this student by name, by need, and by strength, right? It's important for us to have all three of those pieces to really think about how we support them and see them walk across their graduation stage.

Dominic (14:43):

And that goes to, you know, basically the university experience is not a singular or fragment experience. It is a holistic—

Katrice (14:48):

No, it doesn't happen in a vacuum.

Dominic (14:48):

What do you think, I guess, on the flip side and maybe not specifically to your university, but maybe in the space, what do you think students are in need of, or maybe asking for? What's something that they're looking to improve or maybe something that they need support with?

Katrice (14:48 — Meeting Post-COVID Students Where They Are):

Yeah, I think one of the things that we are frequently talking about in higher ed is how students were different post-COVID, right? So a huge piece of that is engagement looks different. One of the things here at our campus is we have a significant portion of our campus of students that are commuters. And as we think about engagement, that means that we have students that come and possibly go to class and then they go back to, you know, wherever home may be. And as we have events, it really forces us to think differently about not only the timing of it, but the space and what exactly those needs might be.

And collectively as a university, and I think with the university, our school deans and just university personnel as a whole, we are really thinking about how, as I talked about in the beginning, that unsurpassed experience, how do we meet the needs of who students are today? How do we meet them where they are versus yearning for who students were 10 years ago? Who are they today and what are their needs? And how do we shift and adjust our practices? How do we shift and adjust how we show up? How do we shift and adjust to meet their needs? How do we meet our students where they are versus really thinking about wanting them to be who they were in the past? We essentially have a new customer. We've got new folks that are in town. Yeah.

Dominic (16:26):

That's really good perspective, honestly, because I think a lot of the rhetoric right now is, "Okay, we're coming out of COVID." Like, I think we've come out of COVID and, you know, I think people had a huge transition to make there. And we're seeing this sort of, "Let's try to get back to what it used to be." But it's really not about what it used to be. It's about like, I think there, I ask often, like, "What opportunity do you see in the space now? Like, what can we work towards?" And I think that is potentially the opportunity where we now have this kind of blank slate. We have different behaviors. We have different activities that students want to get involved in and very much a lot of excitement being back on campus. And that might be just the opportunity right there. So that's—

Katrice (17:08):

Yeah, that's an opportunity to really reimagine, right? So that doesn't mean that we throw all traditions out the window, but how do we nurture what those traditions were, who those traditions served, and who our new students are? How do we meet in the middle, and how do we still continue to move the needle to provide those experiences that what is new, what is a new breath of air post-COVID meets our needs, our population meets our needs.

Dominic (17:37):

Yeah, and it's something that keeps coming up, I think. And I know we're now almost five or four years past it, but it's like, it really has changed this in a way that, yeah, people are looking at what can we do? How can we take advantage of this? This is exciting. So it's certainly a breath of fresh air into the space. I want to give us an opportunity. So I want to either give you a chance to share an interesting statistic, or I can share one and get your response to it about—

Katrice (17:43):

Okay, I'll let you share and then you can get my response.

Dominic (18:06):

Absolutely. Okay, so I have, let me just pull this up for a second. So this was published from an MIT study and this might sound obvious, but I just kind of want to get your feedback on it. The quote is, "Having a greater sense of belonging was positively associated with better academic performance, persistence, and was protective for even into the third year of college." What do you think about that? How do you react to that?

Katrice (18:29 — Stat Chat: Belonging & Academic Performance):

Okay, so my gut is yes, that completely makes sense, right? My initial thinking is I am not necessarily shocked, but I'm good to see that even into the third year of college that it's got a long-term effect. You know, I think in connected to higher ed or even just connected to any type of educational experience, if you feel like it's a place where they value you and they authentically see you for who you are, the good, the bad, and everything that's in between there, right? It's a space where you are likely going to be psychologically safe. It's a space where you, because you are psychologically safe, are going to be able to take more risk. You're more willing to potentially fail.

And we know that failure is good. It's a first attempt at learning, right? And because you know that you're going to be supported. You know, as we think about learning and as we think about mastery of learning, we know that not every time you don't always get it right the first time. And that's the purpose of education, right? It is to make some mistakes and have some hiccups along the way, but then you learn on your journey. So for me, it feels good to know that that statistic is out there.

And the thing that I hope happens is that students experience that early on so that they know that they can fail, but then attempt again. They might be able to fail and attempt again, because then I think at the end of the day, it feels more rewarding when you have success. You know that you've got some people that are helping you along your way, and you also have persevered. You've kind of navigated through those challenges. You've navigated through those failures so that when you come up against a hardship again, and maybe that's professionally, maybe it's not in school, maybe it's professionally, maybe it's personally, like you're more likely to pick yourself up and go, "Okay, well, I've failed nine times, but I've succeeded ten."

Dominic (20:21):

Yeah.

Dominic (20:38):

How do you define, I guess this is, it could be a tricky question. You can pass on this. But how do you define the relationship between belonging and student engagement? I think like those two spaces are almost hand in hand, but I think that in there, where one almost relies on the other to make sense. So what is there, like how would you define that relationship?

Katrice (20:38 — The Relationship Between Belonging & Student Engagement):

Yeah, so for me, as I think about belonging and student engagement, student engagement is that there's something for everyone here, right? So when I think about something for everyone, I think about the complexity of our identities. There are things that you see on the surface level visually that you can see, but then there are also parts of our identity that are invisible or parts of our identity that we maybe can hide unless we have a space where we can really fully be ourselves. And as we think about student engagement, that often comes out here at our university through not only clubs and organizations, but then opportunities and learning experiences outside of those clubs and organizations, things that we host here on our campus, opportunities that we provide for students to come and learn and be in community with one another.

And I think as I think about belonging, and I can speak specifically for myself, I feel the most connected when I feel like my ideas and my perspective and my identity is not only seen, but it's planned for in an experience, right? So as I think about that, I think about, you know, our students who maybe have disabilities and maybe those disabilities are visible or invisible or maybe a combination of the two of those.

So as we're planning experiences in terms of student engagement, how are we making sure that we're planning for all of our students, not just students and in terms of like-minded interests, but then also thinking about the complexity of identities of students who may be coming to me? So we've talked a bit here at our university. So say we host an event where we offer food. And then just a really simple example. How do we ensure that whatever we offer is labeled with ingredients? So people that may be with food allergies know what they can and cannot have. As we plan experiences, maybe we always encourage people, not maybe, we always encourage people to use microphones. As we think about audible disabilities, folks that maybe need to have the microphone, or it's even good for all of us. Thinking about ways in which we can build in inclusivity into our practices that everyone benefits from accommodations is really as I think about belonging and the student engagement piece of it. We're not just planning for one type of student. We're really planning for all of the facets of students and who they are, whether they're visible or invisible.

Dominic (23:04):

When you name some of those out, I'm sure everyone will kind of agree that I think it's easy to take it for granted. Some of those things that are there for us when we're in an experience or it could be everyday life, but that is, you know that might feel like a certain level of impact. It's great. My, you know, I can easily get on this bus I'm taking downtown, but the feeling that you get when it's really not planned for, or it's something you need that isn't there is almost 10 times worse than, you know, it makes a huge, a very negative impact if you're somewhere where you think, "Hey, this should be here and it's not," and that can be kind of a tough situation to deal with for somebody. So yeah, I think it's important for everyone to realize like, yeah, we take for granted all sorts of things every day. So making sure that we're putting that in front of people.

Katrice (23:38):

And those were just, I mean, those were small examples, right? So, I mean, way beyond that, you know, as a religious institution, you know, we've got, you can plan for experiences for people to experience other cultures or religions or, you know, there's so many different ways in which we can look at it. It's just, you know, it is not a single, we are not single factors of our identities. They really are complex and there's intersecting factors of how we get to experience the world and what opportunities are available to us.

Dominic (24:15):

Amazing. Well, I want to shift gears just for a little bit and talk about you. Can you give advice to anyone who might be getting started in the space or maybe in the format of just giving yourself advice when you started off? What would you say to somebody kicking their career off, maybe hopeful to get into a position like yours?

Katrice (24:18 — Advice for New Professionals in Higher Ed):

Oh my goodness, Dominic, that is such a hard question. You know, I think I would say at the core for me, and this has always been kind of my why and my go-to, if you put the students first, everything else will fall into place. So, you know, I've spent the majority of my career in PK-12 education and shifting and transitioning into a higher ed space. There was somewhat of a small learning curve for me. And I think the learning curve is higher ed operates obviously different than, you know, a K-12 setting, but really at the core, my why has always remained the same. It's really been about students and helping them to be successful. So whether I'm talking about a kindergartner or if I'm talking about a student that is in grad school, my why has remained the same.

There is a learning curve in terms of the language that we use. Also, I think one of the largest differences for me is, you know, in higher ed, we have FERPA. And in a K-12 setting, you deal with not only students and also you work directly with their families to really see, you know, and help to carve out that pathway for success. And for as I thought about that and as I think about what I wish that I would have known, I think I would say keep at the core what your why is. The experience will come. And I think I would tell myself, you know enough to be dangerous and dangerous in a good way to advocate for students, to advocate on their behalf, to be in rooms and in spaces and be invited to tables that you can make sure that their perspectives are not only seen, but we plan for those perspectives. We make sure that we create experiences that are meeting their needs.

Dominic (26:31):

Amazing. I love that. I think that's going to resonate with a lot of people. I like that. It's a mission driven, it's a mission driven kind of goal. I think we're all here for the students at the end of the day. Like that's what the space is for. And as long as you remind yourself of that, like that's, you can probably get through any challenge or any question.

Katrice (26:34):

Yeah, absolutely. And we have to, I mean, we have to nudge, we have to nudge and push not only ourselves, because I think that, you know, when you get to a particular point in your career, you can kind of become, it's almost like what I would describe as like a hamster on a wheel. Like I've done this, I know what to do. And we should pause at that moment where we become comfortable. Like, how do we make ourselves just a little bit uncomfortable so that we do things a little bit different?

Dominic (27:14):

Yeah, that's good. When you're not working, what do you do?

Katrice (27:14 — Beyond the Job: Life Outside the University):

Yeah, Dominic, but I'm not working.

Dominic (27:21):

When you have five seconds to yourself, what are some of your hobbies? What do you do? How do you spend your time? Tell us a little bit about Katrice.

Katrice (27:27):

We don't not work in higher ed. We work 24/7. It's like 7-Eleven. We're always open. So outside of the Mount where I spend the majority of my time is I do have another full-time job as a mom. That job really pays a special kind of bill, a special kind of love. I'm a mom of two girls. They are eight and ten. Outside of that, I love to travel, spend time with family, with friends. I do like to read quite a bit. I'm a big nonfiction reader. I've abandoned way too many fiction books to name them. I love to read. I like to cook. I like to work out. And I like to sleep in between all of those things every now and then, which I don't get a ton of time to do.

Dominic (28:15):

I think a lot of people are doubtful that you're able to actually fit all of that in to a single day. But we'll take it.

Katrice (28:22):

Yeah, we draw straws in terms of what gets the less hours each week.

Dominic (28:25):

Exactly. You can't do it all. In terms of your projects coming up or anything you're working on, what is something, is there anything that people can kind of follow along with you? Are you doing anything special you want people to kind of be aware of? Are you writing something? Are you doing some research? Is there anything you want people to tune into that they can follow?

Katrice (28:45):

We're building out some really great programs for students, really digging deep into our first-generation scholar programs, thinking about how we really support all of our students that are part of our belonging scholar programs that come out of our office. So stay tuned. Yeah, stay tuned.

Dominic (29:00):

Amazing. For the next episode of The Lounge, who would you like to participate if you could tag anyone to join me? Who would that be?

Katrice (29:08):

You know, I always want to invite students to the table. I'm always interested in building a longer table with accessible seating. And as I think about building a longer table, I don't think we hear from young people about their experiences enough. We can learn a lot from them, even if we spend five, 10, 15 minutes talking to them about the direction of things and where things are going and how we can, what we should continue doing, what we should start doing, and what we should stop doing. I would certainly invite some of our students to be a part of, I would invite them to the table. I'd invite them to the lounge.

Dominic (29:40):

Let's do it. Yeah, that sounds amazing. Okay, thank you for—it's been amazing to have you. If anyone would like to get in touch with Katrice, just let me know. You can drop me an email at dominic@lounge.live. Katrice, thank you so much for the time today and looking forward to chatting soon.

Katrice (29:54):

Thanks for having me, Dominic. This was fun.

Dominic (29:56):

Amazing. Talk soon.