Higher Education Support

The Role of Support Specialists

Higher education and workforce development support specialists inspire, advise, and guide recent Milton Hershey School graduates as they pursue higher education; certificate/diploma programs, two-year associate degree programs, four-year bachelor’s degree programs, or apprenticeship programs.  Support specialists play a key role in guiding recent graduates through their post-secondary journey, helping increase college persistence and completion rates and supporting their career and life goals, so they become self-sufficient and earn their own livelihoods.  

Here are some examples of their work:

• Collaborate with higher education partners to learn about all resources available on campus, how to access services, and provide wrap-around student support to navigate barriers to increase persistence and degree completion
• Track and monitor progression through a graduate’s program, including academic performance, integration into their post-secondary setting, and financial aid status to ensure graduates remain eligible for the Continuing Education Scholarship (CES).
• Provide career services assistance such as resume review, interview preparation, internship and workforce opportunities
• Maintain an open line of communication with graduates through required campus visits, text messages, emails, and phone calls

Who is my Support Specialist?

Support specialists visit all college campuses on the GPS Partner School list and/or college campuses within a 3.5-hour radius of Hershey, Pennsylvania, that have a high number of MHS graduates enrolled.

There are three higher education support specialists and one workforce development support specialist who work with MHS graduates in the following areas:

• Shelly Wessner: Four-year institutions (West n)
• Unique Patterson: Four-year institutions (East n)
• Devon Fay: Community colleges and technical institutions
• Ashley Butz: Certificate and diploma programs, apprenticeships, workforce development, and the military

The GPS Partner School map below shows each specialist’s coverage area for four-year institutions.

GPS Partner Schools

MHS has established partnerships with select higher education institutions in order to improve college persistence and degree completion among our graduates. These schools often offer the following personalized support to students:

• Dedicated faculty/staff members specifically for MHS graduates and GPS staff
• Strong student support services (academic advisement, counseling, career, disability)
• Mentoring
• Tutoring
• First-generation student programs
• Campus employment

The GPS Partner Schools:

• Alvernia University
• Arcadia University
• Bloomsburg University – Commonwealth University
• Bowie State University
• Central Penn College
• Commonwealth Technical Institute
• Culinary Institute of America – New York
• Delaware State University
• Delaware Valley University
• Dickinson University
• Elizabethtown College
• Georgetown University
• Harrisburg Area Community College
• Howard University
• IUP Culinary Academy
• Kutztown University
• Lackawanna College
• Lancaster School of Cosmetology
• Lebanon Valley College
• Lehigh University
• Lincoln University
• Messiah University
• Millersville University
• Northampton Community College
• Pennsylvania College of Technology
• PennWest California
• Reading Area Community College
• Shippensburg University
• St. Francis University
• Susquehanna University
• Temple University
• Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology
• The Pennsylvania State University
• University of Pennsylvania
• University of Pittsburgh
• Villanova University
• West Chester University
• York College of Pennsylvania