Catholic Higher Ed offers flexibility, choices, spirituality

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Corpus Christi Police Chief Michael Markle gave the commencement address to 46 local graduates at St. Leo University on June 24. 

Contributed photo

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Corpus Christi Police Chief Michael Markle said he was working nights at Christus Spohn Memorial Hospital in 1988 after he finished his service as a hospital corpsman in the U.S. Navy when he decided he wanted to become a police officer. He credits the Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice he earned from St. Leo University in 2010 with helping him to advance through the ranks in his police career, eventually to the chief position. 

St. Leo University, the third largest Catholic University in the United States with its main campus located in St. Leo, Florida, is one of two nationally known Catholic universities that offer classes in Corpus Christi and have helped a number of local professionals achieve success in their careers. The University of the Incarnate Word, based in San Antonio, also has a local campus.

Markle’s classes were accelerated and available at night. He finished the program at St. Leo’s local campus—located at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi—in 18-months and says that the university helped grow his values.

“At face value, the degree served me well. I learned how to learn, write, communicate and complete tasks. A college education helps tremendously in those aspects,” Markle said.
Because it is a mandatory part of the degree program, he also took six hours of religion classes.

“This is important. We should stay grounded and shouldn’t learn just to learn, but learn with an objective and core values. St. Leo does a great job of instilling those values,” he said.

Markle gave his very first commencement address to St. Leo’s 46 local graduates on June 24. Several of his officers were in the audience. He told the graduates to know and understand their values going into their professional lives. He told them “to know where they stand going in with their virtues. Life presents challenges and your virtues will guide you and give you a good base,” he said.
 

Priscilla Johnson.

For Priscilla Johnson, the flexible accelerated programs at the University of the Incarnate Word’s Corpus Christi Center were a Godsend as she raised a family and worked full-time. 

Johnson, now the academic counselor at the UIW Corpus Christi campus located at 5350 S. Staples Street, worked full time at the school’s campus as a clerk in the front office when it was located on the Del Mar College campus. She started out taking one class at a time after she finished working at 8 p.m.

“I was in my thirties and I was watching people graduate very quickly at UIW,” she said.
   
She earned both a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in Information Systems in 2003 and a Master’s degree in Business Administration in 2006. Johnson said she really loves her job, advising undergraduates on classes and curriculum.

“I like to watch students grow and blossom from start to finish. They reach a totally different level at the end and it’s awesome to watch,” she said. 

She is quick to say that when a student makes a commitment to attend classes at UIW, it sometimes means foregoing family events and even children’s functions because of study or class time or projects. She had to explain to her children she would often be very busy for a few years. But the struggle was worth it in the end.

“When I graduated with my BBA, I could hear my son whistle,” Johnson said.

Both Coeta Montgomery, Director of Operations for the Corpus Christi Center of the UIW and Sarah Heydon, who is the Director for the Corpus Christi Education Center for the St. Leo University, say their schools offer flexible schedules and accelerated degree plans designed for working adults who have other commitments in their lives.

“Our students are mainly veterans and Corpus Christi Army Depot workers,” Heydon said. Civilians may attend, but must be cleared through base security, she said. 

The classes at St. Leo University incorporate six core values: excellence, community, respect, personal development, responsible stewardship and integrity. “Our faculty and staff are expected to uphold these,” Heydon said.

The University students and staff perform community service and work with several local nonprofit associations, including Mission 911, a homeless organization.

Both schools offer eight-week terms instead of the traditional 16-week semester and have smaller class sizes so the instructors and students get to know each other well. Both also say that the costs are comparable to attending a public university.

“There are no fees and no costs for books. We subtract $85 off the total tuition cost and e-textbooks are offered to students for free,” Montgomery said. 

The $85 comes off the top of each tuition bill from a scholarship provided by UIW. The textbooks are free because administrators approached publishers and bought the electronic textbooks to give to students, Montgomery said.

At St. Leo University, while students do not pay the extra fees, they do pay for their books.
Markle said he is proud of his degree from St. Leo University and that they are a good school.

“We are very blessed to have the University of the Incarnate Word, St. Leo and TAMUCC here,” he said.