GSU staff donate $20,000 to help nontraditional students stay enrolled

Governors State University student Nina Watts completed four midterms last week and has her eyes on becoming a lawyer down the road.

She is 48. Fellow GSU student Rosa Harris is working on a postgraduate degree and hopes to become a school psychologist soon.

She will turn 60 in June. Older students studying at the school in University Park are common, and many of them might not have been able to continue their education during the coronavirus pandemic if the school didn’t help out. It helped out big-time. In February, the school’s faculty union, the Governors State University Chapter of the University Professional of Illinois Local 4100, delivered checks to students to provide them with emergency funds during the pandemic.

Chapter President Sandy Estep helped secure a $5,000 Fast Fund Grant from the American Federation of Teachers, and the GSU chapter raised an additional $10,000 through fundraising. Two teachers who didn’t want to be identified donated their stimulus checks to the cause, according to Estep, and new GSU president Cheryl Green donated an additional $5,000 for the students.

While GSU has its fair share of younger students in the 18-21 age range, Estep estimated that 50% are graduate students and the average age of students is 29-30. By that math, for every 18-year-old, there is an adult, such as Watts or Harris learning at the school as well.

While the younger students have suffered through the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and 2021, some of the older students have lost jobs, support families and struggled to stay in school.

So the staff did something about it.

“Since I became president of the union six years ago, we have co-sponsored projects that show our support for our students and the community,” Estep said. “The AFT grant inspired us do even more to demonstrate how deeply GSU faculty cares about our students during these hard times.”

Estep said the union received more than 300 applications from students in need of the funds and provided money to nearly 100 students. The original idea was to give more money to fewer students but when the applications rolled in, the focus changed.

In a letter to recipients, Estep wrote “We realized the money was less than you requested. We were overwhelmed with applications that far exceeded our funds. We decided to give many of you a little help-out rather than give just a few students higher amounts.”

Watts, who lives in Crest Hill, was grateful.

“It came when we least expected it,” she said. “Oh, my goodness, it was a blessing. I know it was for me. They didn’t make us jump through hoops. They told us ways how to use the money and they tried to help everybody who applied.”

The Marshall High School graduate worked in the Illinois Department of Corrections for several years before returning to school and earning a bachelor’s degree in 2015 from GSU.

“Once I got that, I thought ‘why stop there?’ ’’ she said.

She said some of the newfound money will be going toward books. She hopes to attend law school in the future.

Harris, a Richton Park resident for more than two decades, said over the years GSU has helped its students financially and in her case, has lent her laptops to use for classwork.

“The instructors, the guidance and support that Governors State is providing at this time is wonderful,” she said.

The King High School and Kennedy-King College graduate took time off, having a family and working in a real estate management company for 30 years, and has been driven with a passion of being a school psychologist.

She isn’t worried about her age affecting her job prospects.

“There is a demand the field of school psychology, especially with the pandemic,” she said. “Our children are going through depression and other problems and they are going to need my assistance whether I am 60 or 70. I’ve really worked my butt off for this. My GPA is 4.0 and I look good. I don’t look 60.”

It’s these type of students that caused Green, who became the school’s sixth president in July, to part with her money. She is also proud of her teachers.

“I continue to be inspired by the dedication and commitment to student success and persistence that is shown by our faculty and academic support professionals,” she said. “Their contributions to the Emergency Grant Fund provide yet another example of their generosity, selflessness and spirit of humanity for the most vulnerable members of our campus community, our students.”