Marie Bernardo-Sousa is the president of Johnson & Wales University’s Providence campus. She recently announced that she will retire in August after being with the university since 1988, the last six leading the local university campus. Bernardo-Sousa spoke with Providence Business News about her time at JWU and the future of local higher education.
PBN: What led you to decide to retire from JWU, and why now?
BERNARDO-SOUSA: I’ve been with the university for more than half my life. I found myself at that crossroads that so many of us find ourselves at. It was a moment to be present in my own life right now. I thought to myself that now, I’m going to do a professional pause and rewire. Maybe not retire, but rewire.
PBN: In your time at JWU, what would you say has been the biggest evolution that came to fruition within college academia?
BERNARDO-SOUSA: The greatest change in higher education was trying to navigate COVID-19. As every institution had to navigate that, we had an opportunity to look at our work very deeply and determine if we’re providing our faculty with the appropriate resources so they can take their skill set and navigate to different mediums in educating students. That advanced work significantly because learners clearly learn differently and some people are better suited for an online environment than an in-person environment. It also opened the door to a hybrid environment.
We were really fortunate as an institution because in 2013, we started our College of Online Education, so many of our faculty had already been trained on that technology. They transitioned to teach those [online] classes without much difficulty.
PBN: What is your greatest accomplishment in leading JWU’s Providence campus?
BERNARDO-SOUSA: Our focus on community. Every presidency has these moments and mine began with the death of George Floyd [in 2020]. That introduced some interesting conversations to our campus community. It gave us a chance to be very transparent with our community members, faculty, staff and students to talk through to ensure that our campus provides a climate where everyone can be their authentic self. I think we’ve achieved that, and every year we continue to make strides in that arena.
PBN: There are concerns in higher education about an upcoming “demographic cliff,” plus schools are working on evolving curricula. What does the future hold for local higher education?
BERNARDO-SOUSA: What I think is going to happen is institutions have to be very intentional with planning and be mindful of their institutional missions. This is the most fluid and dynamic environment we’ve ever operated in. There are pressures coming with the enrollment cliff and political pressures. Institutions have to be in a position to respond appropriately.
We’ve introduced programs that match up with the needs of our state and local geography, ensuring that students can be trained and stay within our state borders. Also, we need to ensure education remains affordable, so figuring out how to use streamlines and ensure you’re using resources in the best manner possible so we can provide an affordable education for the students.
We have to continue to be creative and take new approaches where we’re reducing costs by reducing the number of years a student would be attending the institution but receive the same results. We have to continue to see more partnerships between private and public [schools] so students can have a pathway from receiving their two-year associate degree and finish their third year here at Johnson & Wales for a bachelor’s. Time to degree matters to families.
PBN: What are your plans post-retirement? Will you remain involved in academia?
BERNARDO-SOUSA: I’m going to remain involved [in education] in some form or fashion and do some adjunct teaching. I’ve been in the classroom for a little bit, and I like to go back. Every year, I like to try and teach at least one class. Usually, in the College of Business, I teach human resources and organizational behavior. This will give me the opportunity to spend more time doing that and being more present with my family.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on X at @James_Bessette.
