Julie Richardson, MS '04

Julie Richardson, MS '04 Management Program
Department of Organization & Management

Dean of Enrollment Management, Traditional Programs

Bay Path College
Longmeadow, Massachusetts

Padding around her on-campus housing, a mission-style mansion overlooking the San Francisco Bay, Julie recounts the intense competition she survived to land her current position. After three national searches, Mills College is already celebrating Julie's success - a stunning 79 percent increase in applications, totaling more than any year in the school's 152-year history.

Julie quickly credits others. “Even though I had always been a strong individual performer, I learned at Antioch to embrace complexity: to play a role, to listen to others and get their best thinking, to think creatively and let things percolate, and, contrary to my nature, to let things get messy. I learned that as the dust settles one can better seize upon the most opportunistic and promising ideas. That has made all the difference.”

While a senior administrator at Marlboro (VT) College, Julie knew she would need a master's to advance in higher ed. “I looked at programs from Michigan to Harvard to UMass. An MBA seemed wrong for me. Antioch offered the most meaningful degree. Every class made me view my organization through a new lens, a different perspective that I had never considered or explored.”

She entered the O&M program expecting smooth sailing. “My first class, Group Dynamics, stripped away all the superficial and unproductive patterns I had been coasting on. I didn't expect to be stretched so far.” But she also liked that she could choose how far she allowed herself to be stretched. “That latitude is what differentiates Antioch, knowing how adult learners learn, and making lots of room for that. It's not cookbook... they meet you where you are and help you take it from there.”

With an impressive debut at Mills, Julie sees herself as better manager. Her one regret? “I wish I had done it sooner. I didn't just get a degree, I got an education.”

Last Updated: 11/10/09