May 2005

UMUC Says Thank You to the “Heart” of the Mannheim Campus

By Alita Byrd
Special to FYI Online

Mary Fiedler (left), dean of the Mannheim Campus, receives a special recognition award from UMUC Provost Nicholas Allen (center) and John Golembe (right), director of UMUC Europe.

Mary Fiedler was the “heart” of UMUC’s Mannheim Campus, according to a long-time colleague. During her eight-year tenure as resident dean, the sense of pride in the Mannheim Campus, shared by students and staff alike, grew each year, and the campus’s reputation grew with it.

On April 30, 2005, the members of the final graduating class of the Mannheim Campus—34 students dubbed the Omega Graduates—threw their mortarboards into the air, marking the end of an era for UMUC and for Fiedler, who first came to the campus in 1972 as the new director of admissions.

She had a degree from Wisconsin’s Marquette University and just three years’ experience working at American universities, but it didn’t take her long to become an indispensable part of the campus, which was then still located in Munich.

“When I arrived in Munich in 1975 to become the seventh resident dean, Mary Fiedler was in charge of admissions,” said Bill McMahon, who worked with Fiedler from 1975 to 1992. “The outgoing dean told me about her: ‘If you ever need ideas, just call Mary—she has an inexhaustible supply of them.’

“During her time as director of admissions, the enrollment for the campus more than doubled, even as student SAT scores rose,” McMahon said. “The campus community seemed to be trying to live up to her standards and ideals. She was the one who arranged for the campus to enter into a national honors fraternity, Phi Theta Kappa, and designed an honors scholarship program to match.”

Later, Fiedler became the director of student services for the campus. She earned a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Boston University and a doctorate in educational administration from the University of Nevada.

Meanwhile, the campus thrived. From its humble beginnings in 1950, the residential, two-year program grew to enroll almost 700 students. As a full-time degree program, the campus mostly served military dependents—the sons, daughters, and spouses of military men and women serving in Germany. But then the number of U.S. forces in Europe began to dwindle.

So, in 1992, the campus moved to smaller quarters in Augsburg, and Fiedler moved with it. Just two years later, in 1994, the campus relocated again, this time to Mannheim.

“When the campus moved to Mannheim, it was fitting that Dr. Fiedler would become the ninth resident dean, using her talents to ease the problems of downsizing and eventually closing that unique institution,” McMahon said. “As always, she provided a touch of class.”

Working as a dean at Mannheim has had its own special challenges. “It’s a very unusual program,” Fiedler said. “It’s a major state university offering only lower-level courses—in a foreign country. It’s located on a closed American military base with its students protected by German soldiers. Many parents of our students are active-duty military, and are involved in fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.”

Being in such a unique environment requires unique handling of problems and an extra dose of sensitivity.

“While the students look and act like typical American freshman and sophomores, they do differ in important aspects,” Fiedler said. “They are all military dependents, and most of them have lived in a military environment for most of their lives. Most move an average of every three to four years. Finally, most of them are unsure of their future plans. Helping them make plans to transfer to stateside colleges and helping them make career choices has been a continuing challenge.”

One task Fiedler embraced while shaping the program at Mannheim focused on immersing students in the cultural riches that Europe has to offer, ensuring that students didn’t wall themselves into their “little America.”

“She was acutely aware that the students’ most unique ‘classroom’ was Europe, and she wrapped them in culture whenever the possibility arose,” said Christine Leche, UMUC’s stateside director of arts and humanities, who worked under Fiedler in Mannheim. “She used her imaginative, creative spirit to provide more than book knowledge for students by offering experiential courses that, in many cases, changed lives.”

According to the campus newsletter, Mannheim’s students took no less than six field trips during the campus’s final semester. They visited a nearby broadcasting studio, the Eberbach Monastery, Berlin, Switzerland, Spain, and Prague.

But Fiedler’s influence was not limited to students; she has inspired staff and faculty as well.

“The qualities that allowed her to function so well in Munich and Augsburg and Mannheim for so many years include a deep concern, a strong commitment, a steady competence, and a deep loyalty,” said Joe Arden, director of UMUC Asia, who has known Fiedler for more than 30 years. “I know with certainty that more than one generation of students, faculty, and staff were most fortunate that Mary Fiedler cast her fate with UMUC.”

“I sometimes think of the faculty and staff more as family than as colleagues,” Fiedler said. “I think it is because we are such a small organization and we’re living outside the United States. We have tended to band together more closely.”

Through it all, students remained her primary focus.

“They energized me and kept my priorities in place,” she said. “The very best part of my job was standing on the graduation stage and handing the students their AA degrees. It doesn’t get better than that.”

“Mary Fiedler has been an outstanding leader for many years,” said UMUC President Gerald Heeger, “Her leadership of a very special campus, her concern for students, and her emphasis on academic quality have all brought renown to the University and success to our students. For all that she has done, we are most grateful.”