Glynis Fitzgerald, President, Alvernia University

In an interview with Invest:, Glynis Fitzgerald, president of Alvernia University, emphasized the institution’s commitment to community-centered innovation and workforce development in higher education. “We’re demonstrating how impactful a university can be when it opens its doors and genuinely asks, ‘What does our community need?’” said Fitzgerald.

Over the past year, what changes have had the most significant impact on the university, and in what ways?

It’s definitely been both an exciting and challenging time for higher education. Alvernia has had a remarkable and purposeful year. We’ve seen major progress in our CollegeTowne initiative located in downtown Reading. We’ve also expanded our programming in Pottsville, PA, which has been very promising.

Another significant milestone was the acquisition of Total Experience Learning — a nationally recognized model for K–12 experiential education. It helps teachers rediscover their passion for teaching, which in turn creates more engaging and effective classrooms. Student performance improves significantly, and we have the data to back that up. Attendance is up, tardiness is down, and many students are even considering careers in education as a result. The positive ripple effects have been inspiring.

We’ve also continued expanding our healthcare programs, housing them within the CollegeTowne initiative, and added new engineering programs there as well. All of this reflects a broader trend in higher education: the need to be more innovative, collaborative, and workforce- and community-centered. I truly believe we’ve excelled in meeting that challenge.

When I speak with peers at other institutions across the country, they share that interest in teaching is so low that some are considering shutting down their teacher education programs. That would be a devastating loss for our society. At Alvernia, we’re committed to empowering future educators. We’re helping teachers view their classrooms through a project management lens, enabling them to manage the environment and the learning more effectively. It rekindles their passion and restores joy in both teaching and learning.

What makes Alvernia a catalyst for both education and economic growth in the region?

To start with some concrete numbers: our university, powered by the CollegeTowne initiative, has created 970 direct jobs and another 184 indirect jobs. Altogether, we have $185 million in total annual impact  — direct, indirect, and induced — across the Commonwealth, not just in Reading. But more than the numbers, what we’re demonstrating is how impactful a university can be when it opens its doors and genuinely asks, “What does our community need?”

Through that approach, we’ve identified new workforce pathways for students and developed academic programs that align with employers’ needs. We’ve also worked to close the gap between what students need and what the workforce demands. Our goal is to create communities where students want to live, learn, grow, and eventually raise families.

One of the most meaningful parts of this is the ability to work with entire families. While a student is attending Alvernia, their parents might enroll at Tec Centro for workforce training, uplifting the entire household. This collaborative, community-centered approach strengthens both the individual experience and the broader community.

Can you speak more about the workforce development opportunities CollegeTowne is creating and how they connect to student success?

There are several key aspects. One major component has been our partnerships with local employers. In fact, some of them urged us to launch new engineering programs and even funded our labs. That support allowed a small college like ours to offer state-of-the-art facilities we couldn’t have afforded otherwise.

These companies outfitted our labs with their own equipment and now use them to teach students the very tools they’ll encounter in the workplace. These students are being hired by the same companies after graduation. This year marks the first cohort to graduate from our engineering program, and it’s been incredibly rewarding to see those students, who started with only our promise, walk across the stage and step directly into jobs aligned with their education.

It’s worked exactly as intended, benefiting our students and the local business community by establishing a direct talent pipeline.

How have Alvernia’s social mobility efforts influenced future growth and regional partnerships?

We were recently awarded the Carnegie designation as a “High Access, High Earning” institution, which we’re incredibly proud of. It validates our focus on not just providing access to higher education, but also supporting students through their academic journey and into high-potential careers.

One example of this is our Apprenticeship to Degree program. We know that many first-generation students struggle to take on traditional internships, even when paid. They might already be working to support their families or lack reliable transportation. To address that, we’ve partnered with Berks County, B. Braun, and Custom Processing Services. These partners pay students from their sophomore year through graduation. Students take on progressively advanced roles as their skills grow, and we house them during the summer to remove additional barriers.

It’s a model designed to provide not just financial support, but meaningful job experience and career development from early in their college years.

In today’s economic climate, what strategies are you using to navigate potential headwinds?

There are definitely challenges, especially around price sensitivity and families’ increasing focus on outcomes. We’re very aware that higher education is a significant investment. So we’ve worked to provide more transparency in financial planning.

We have financial planners on staff who work with students and families from day one to project the total cost of their academic experience, including multi-year programs like those in healthcare. That foresight helps families prepare and make more informed decisions.

We also have an initiative called SOLAR — Support, Opportunity, Love, Access, and Resources. It’s a holistic system that addresses each student’s unique needs. Whether it’s purchasing textbooks, finding transportation, or choosing between job offers after graduation, SOLAR ensures students are supported at every step. Our goal is to see every student cross that graduation stage, regardless of the challenges they face along the way.

How is Alvernia using technology to enhance student experience and operations?

Technology is evolving rapidly, and we recognize there’s still a lot we don’t know. That’s why we ground our students in a strong liberal arts education — to prepare them to adapt and thrive, no matter what comes next.

We’re intentional about aligning training with the latest technologies in students’ target fields. Our board of trustees, who represent industries our students enter, help us make strategic investments. Our simulation labs, for example, are so advanced that even local hospitals request to use them. That speaks to the quality of preparation our students receive.

So, it’s a balance of foundational learning and cutting-edge technology that ensures students are ready for both immediate employment and lifelong adaptability.

What are Alvernia’s top priorities over the next few years, and how do you see the university shaping the region’s future?

We’re preparing for the widely discussed “enrollment cliff.” But we’ve been proactive, guided by our board and faculty, by expanding experiential learning and aligning closely with industry needs.

We’ve secured nearly $70 million in public-private redevelopment funds and are fostering collaborations with other independent colleges. Just as you’ve seen consolidation in healthcare and banking, higher ed will likely follow suit. Collaboration and resource sharing will be key to long-term sustainability.

Our commitment remains clear: providing high-impact, affordable, experiential education for our students.

One additional point is our work with local nonprofits. Beyond workforce and government partnerships, we’re deeply committed to strengthening the nonprofit sector.

Our newest project, the American House, will be a healthcare hub in downtown Reading, serving over 3,000 residents. It will also serve as a living lab for our students. In the same building, we’re partnering with the John Paul II Center for students with disabilities, who will run a café, and with GymJam, which supports families with children with autism.

This initiative provides invaluable hands-on experience for our students while offering meaningful services to the community. We’re currently fundraising and hope to begin construction next year.

Could you elaborate a bit on the partnership with Brentwood and how you managed to launch the engineering school so quickly?

Brentwood is a great example. They funded our fluid lab for mechanical engineering and provided their equipment. Their staff helps with training and teaching, and they’ve already hired our first engineering graduate — a young woman, I’m proud to say.

When I first arrived as provost, the president and I met with local employers and asked what they needed. They said, “You need to be doing engineering.” We were a small Catholic institution with limited resources, but we developed the curriculum, and our partners funded the labs. Through private and Commonwealth support, we bought and renovated a large, underutilized downtown building.

What might take other institutions years to accomplish, we did during COVID. That building now represents a $50 million investment and serves as a powerful learning hub for our students and the local economy. I was once told I have a “bias toward action”— and I take that as a compliment.