They are bus drivers, school support staff, parents, immigrants and other working adults. Some of them dropped out of college, while others never went at all. For many, earning a college degree is a seemingly unreachable dream.
Seemingly unreachable, until Joleen Voss-Rodriguez steps in.
As she sits with prospective non-traditional college students, she discusses class options, tuition reimbursement plans and financial aid. But beyond laying out the logistics of earning an associate degree, she pushes them to see that they can be successful college students.
“Some of them have imposter syndrome and feel like they don’t belong in college,” Voss-Rodriguez said. “They’re thinking, ‘Is this really for me?’ I try to help them understand that, yes, you can do it, yes, you can achieve your goals.”
Voss-Rodriguez is the director of the Program for Accelerated College Education (PACE) at Pierce College, which provides working adults with the opportunity and resources to go to college. She has led PACE for eight years and previously chaired the Child Development Department, where she focused on mentoring aspiring elementary school teachers.
“I really liked supporting new and upcoming teachers so that they would best serve the needs of young children to make their lives better,” Voss-Rodriguez said. “I was really trying to infuse relationship-focused teaching practices.”
Voss-Rodriguez started teaching full time at Pierce in 2001. Although the types of students she serves have varied over the years, she has remained steadfast in her focus on support for non-traditional learners.
“We had a lot of returning students in child development, as well as in PACE, and it’s a similar population in that way,” Voss-Rodriguez said. “It’s always about helping them.”
Beyond work, Voss-Rodriguez is an avid watercolor painter and mixed media artist. In high school, she was known as the artist of her classes, and even considered attending art school. Although she ended up studying psychology, she continued to create art.
Primarily focusing on bright floral and natural subjects, her recent work features intricate sunflowers and sun-kissed lemons. She posts her art on social media, and it has even been displayed in two galleries in Arizona.
It was her passion for fostering interpersonal connection, which is central to her job at Pierce, that also spurred Voss-Rodriguez to teach an art group during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The group, which met over Zoom on Friday nights, was composed of about a dozen amateur artists, most of whom are Los Angeles Community College
District faculty.
“Art is truly a stress reliever, so that really combines with my background in psychology,” Voss-Rodriguez said. “It was a time to let your problems fall away and be zen and create art. We were all cooped up at home, so it was a really nice way to have community building.”
Throughout each week, the group frequently sent photos of their progress on various art projects in a text chat. Voss-Rodriguez focused on encouraging free-flowing creativity, and letting her art students grow at their own pace.
Communication Studies professor Jennifer Rosenberg was hired to teach at Pierce at the same time as Voss-Rodriguez, 24 years ago. They bonded over being young, up-and-coming professors, and Rosenberg was struck by Voss-Rodriguez’s “genuine warmth and fantastic sense of humor.”
“She’s very passionate about getting resources to students who may be overlooked in the system,” Rosenberg said. “We’re not all dealing with the same deck of cards, and it can be difficult for some students.”
Although Rosenberg did not participate in the pandemic-era art group, despite more than a few pushes to try it by Voss-Rodriguez, Rosenberg said she heard many positive comments about it.
“I hear from people that it doesn’t matter what your skill level is in terms of your artistic ability, you will progress on your own journey,” Rosenberg said. “She gives people the opportunity to express themselves on an individual level.”
Voss-Rodriguez’s commitment to students is what Lupita Narkevicius, PACE’s student services assistant, said is the highlight of working with her.
“Since we both believe that the PACE program is really important, we get along and have a good rapport,” Narkevicius said.
As Voss-Rodriguez continues at Pierce, she finds joy in the growth of her PACE students and in sharing the positive impacts of art. Once PACE students get acclimated to college life, many of them refer their friends, coworkers and family members to PACE, paying the program forward.
“I’ve always been in the field of helping people, and I want them to achieve their goals,” Voss-Rodriguez said. “I really love those students saying, ‘Oh my gosh, I did it. I can’t believe it. I’ve always wanted to do this.’ That just is very rewarding for me.”
