Regis partnerships open doors and forge relationships
Adapted by Kristen Walsh
At any given Regis graduate orientation, students might look to their left, then to their right, and note that, were it not for an innovative partnership program, one in five of them might not be there.
Partnerships between Regis and various employers extend substantial discounts toward attaining graduate degrees. More than 60 corporations, health systems, school districts, government entities, and professional organizations offer employees discounts on bachelor completion, graduate, and doctoral programs. That number is growing every month—and for good reason.
“The program is a win-win-win,” says Amy Etheridge, executive director of institutional partnerships. “Students save thousands of dollars annually, employers gain a valuable recruitment and retention tool at no cost to them, and professions from health care to education benefit from a more highly trained workforce.”
Tuition breaks are just one of the benefits the partnerships provide employees and employers. Every agreement is customized to meet the needs of the organization. At some participating hospitals in Greater Boston, for example, Regis created customized cohorts with on-site “classrooms.” For an organization like Boston Public Schools (BPS), with a staff of more than 10,000, one goal included assisting the school district in becoming more competitive against other employers to recruit and retain a seasoned and diverse workforce.
“The sheer fact that we’re able to offer that opportunity to obtain a degree at a discounted rate, which could be necessary to the advancement of their career within BPS, goes a long way to bring potential recruits into the fold and to retain the talent we currently possess,” says Rashaun J. Martin, Retention Specialist for the Office of Recruitment, Cultivation and Diversity Programs at Boston Public Schools. “Not only does this help us with retention efforts, it also can be used as a recruitment tool as well. Our partnership with Regis allows BPS to hone the skills of our human capital further than they may have been able to on their own. And that is something we are incredibly proud of.”
Far-reaching Impact
Jacqueline Rodriguez,EdD ’23 has spent two decades with the BPS system as a bilingual psychologist working with K–8 students in BPS.
“When I think about the work I’ve engaged in for the last 20 years—being the marriage of therapy and education as a school psychologist—I think about the next 20 years and an EdD in higher education seems like a natural next step,” Rodriguez says.
It was through a BPS Women Educators of Color executive coaching leadership program that she learned about the partnership between BPS and Regis; and her long-term career plan became attainable.
“Not everyone can afford to leave their jobs for a whole year to complete internships, but the Regis EdD program allowed me to work and study while pursuing the degree,” says Rodriguez. “Because of the BPS partnership, it became financially feasible for me.”
Like Rodriguez, Mariano Humphrey, EdD ’23 learned about the Regis partnership at a BPS program (Men
Educators of Color) and is pursuing an EdD. As program director in special education at Community Academy Alternative High School in Jamaica Plain, he works with students who have disabilities and have experienced race-based and other forms of trauma, including anxiety and various types of depression. In addition to the Regis EdD program’s affordability and flexibility, he values the far-reaching impact of the degree.
“I see this as my calling and passion, to work with individuals with disabilities and those who have experienced trauma,” says Humphrey, who has worked at Boston Public Schools for nearly 18 years. “This commitment to continue to serve urban communities at the district level and gain additional knowledge and resources through the EdD course work at Regis will make me a better educator and practitioner.”
An Opportunity to Shine
It was by chance that Rachel Briden, BSN ’20, MSN ’22 learned about Regis’ partnership program. While attending Regis’ annual Let It Shine Gala in October 2019, she and Etheridge struck up a conversation. At the time, Briden was a senior undergraduate nursing student at Regis and considering next steps.
“Amy was excited to learn that I had been working as a patient care associate at a major Boston hospital throughout my Regis undergraduate nursing studies and she told me that it was one of the hospitals that Regis has a partnership with,” recalls Briden. “We continued talking and I told her about my dream of working as a nurse while attending graduate school.”
It turns out, Briden is doing that now through Regis’ partnership with Saint Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, Massachusetts, where she landed a full-time job as a nurse in the Intensive Care Unit after graduating with her undergraduate nursing degree.
“Between Regis’ online Family Nurse Practitioner program and working night shifts in the ICU at Saint Anne’s, it has been a rewarding semester,” says Briden, who expects to complete her graduate degree in May 2022. “When I look at pictures at the gala, I am reminded of how much has changed since then, not only with the pandemic, but also in the way that we as a society value online education and the work of nurses. I look forward to mentoring nurses to show my gratitude for all at Regis who have assisted me.”
To learn more about Regis partnerships, visit regiscollege.edu/admission-and-aid/strategic-partnerships.
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