Glennon Neubauer, Program Chair
One of the hallmarks of the Westwood mission has always been offering a hands-on, career-focused curriculum. That’s why we work directly with the business community and industry experts so they can shape and mold our education programs based on the skills they seek and people they need to hire. We help our students establish connections on- and off-campus to begin to build their networks long before they graduate. One of these opportunities is the annual Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities (APSCU) Policy Forum Hill Day event, where we can put our students front and center.
During this year’s Policy Forum and Hill Day held in Arlington, VA, Glennon Neubauer, Game Software Development program chair (are you as jealous of that title as I am?) at the Westwood College Anaheim campus, brought four students with him to meet some of these industry leaders to begin building their own networks. Glennon sat down with us recently to talk about what Hill Day means to him and why he makes the extra effort to embrace a broader community of employers, political leaders and community members.
Tell us about your involvement in Hill Day.
I’ve been involved in four different Hill Day events over the last six years. We invited all of the qualifying students in the LA region to submit an application to participate in the trip to Washington. The only requirements were that they had to have a minimum 3.0 GPA and be enrolled for at least a year. We asked applicants to respond to a few questions: what they’ve experienced at Westwood, what their volunteering activities have been, etc. Based upon their responses, four students were selected: Michael Kemski and Corey Thomas (now an intern for Rep. Loretta Sanchez) from the Anaheim campus, Michael Logan from the South Bay campus and Carlos Klee from the Los Angeles campus.
What was the experience like for the students?
The students had a sense of ownership because they got to talk directly with their district representative to initiate the conversation prior to Hill Day. Not many students get an opportunity to make this sort of connection, so it was a big deal for them. For Hill Day itself, we let the students do the talking first because we wanted the members of Congress to focus on them — they spoke for two to three minutes about who they are and what their program focus is at Westwood. That was followed by the Anaheim campus president, Lou Osborn, speaking about the “face of Westwood” being an employer in California. And Rick Yaconis and Norm Blome talked about Westwood Works! and our new mission statement to give the members of Congress a good idea of who we are. We were also able to load up the schedule and meet the two California senators and seven additional members of the House of Representatives, which was great.
What kind of relationship does your campus have with members of Congress in California?
I first invited Rep. Loretta Sanchez to our campus six or seven years ago, and she has already visited our campus five times. I’ve also known Rep. Gary Miller for about 20 years because he was the mayor of my town while I served on the committee for our historical society. And I had met Rep. Ed Royce at various community functions. During the 2012 election, we invited Reps. Sanchez and Royce to our campus, as many of our students live in their respective districts. Both came and spoke with our students in the same week.
What motivates you to reach out and foster these kinds of relationships? Do you see these types of efforts as an extension of your role at Westwood?
Well, you think about what’s best for the students and sometimes you have to be a bit demanding. As far as it being an extension of my role, I do think that our program chairs have a responsibility to promote our students by reaching out to whoever is in the community and connecting them with our students.
It’s said that there’s a phenomenon known as the “Glennon effect,” meaning your students tend to get hired. What do you think of that?
I think that’s more of a marketing tale than anything. But, I do think that reaching out to employers does take some extra time and commitment. For example, when we first rolled out our gaming programs, I sought a unique group of gaming industry experts to serve on our program advisory committee. These committee members advise us on whether we’re doing the right thing for our students with our courses and curriculum. After realizing a few of these contacts knew each other, I thought it would be fun to invite them all to our campus to thank them for what they’ve done for our students. We offered them a venue to sit down together and shoot the breeze without anyone bothering them, and they had the chance to interact with our students in an informal setting. It became an annual event we call the Gathering of Video Game Legends. So that was a matter of just looking at what’s working in the contribution of individuals and then giving them an opportunity to get together with others they haven’t seen in a while.
I really try to foster a pre-alumni culture — allowing students to get to know each other’s talents so they can recommend one another. It’s all about being connected and encouraging that relationship.
The Westwood Works! Q&A series highlights success stories across Westwood College that support the mission, values and strategies of the Westwood Works! vision.