Episode 107: Patti McSteen, Senior Associate Vice President and Deputy, Global Campus Safety

Intro Voices  00:04

Where do I go? It only happened once. I think I was singled out. The phone calls began about one month ago. What is hazing? Something happened to me when I was younger. I'm worried about my safety. He said he was sorry. Can someone help me? Where can I get help? Can someone help me?  This is You Matter, a podcast for the NYU community developed by the Department of Campus Safety. 

 

Karen Ortman  00:35

Hi, everyone, and welcome back to You Matter, a podcast created to teach, inspire and motivate members of the NYU community who have been victimized in some form or fashion and to identify resources both on and off campus that can help. I am your host Karen Ortman, Associate Vice President of Campus Safety Operations at the Department of Campus Safety, and a retired law enforcement professional. Today, I welcome Patti McSteen, Senior Associate Vice President and Deputy Global Campus Safety, a new member of Campus Safety leadership. A main objective of this podcast is to highlight resources available to the NYU community and Patti is exactly that. At the end of this conversation, you will have an understanding of the value that Patti brings to campus safety based upon her education and professional experience, and the resource that her role provides the members of our community. Patti, welcome to you matter.

 

Patti McSteen  01:37

Thanks, Karen. It's great to be here.

 

Karen Ortman  01:39

It's great to have you here. And it's great to have you as a member of the campus safety team. We're thrilled to have you.

 

Patti McSteen  01:47

Thanks.

 

Karen Ortman  01:48

Tell me about Patti McSteen. I know you're from Ohio. Where exactly in Ohio Did you grow up?

 

Patti McSteen  01:58

I grew up in a suburb of Cleveland, called Parma, Ohio, and spent my whole life there, birth to 18 before I left and moved to Athens, Ohio, where I went to Ohio University to college. But I spent my very memorable and enjoyable years in the Cleveland area. Really still call it home sometimes.

 

Karen Ortman  02:26

So you went to Ohio University, what was your major at Ohio University.

 

Patti McSteen  02:31

My undergraduate major was art therapy. My goal was that it was a fantastic, great fit. It allowed me to really use my creativity, and my love of understanding people and the way people work. And from that I learned so much the importance of the way that people express themselves is not always just through talking.

 

Karen Ortman  02:58

Do you draw?

 

Patti McSteen  03:00

I do paint. I used to do a lot more than I do now. But yeah, as an art therapist, you really use all kinds of mediums. My preferred was painting. But I do like to draw and paint and kind of express myself that way. what I liked most was painting. So we had a little bit of drawing a little bit of, you know, ceramics and pottery and you know, different structures, sculpture, things like that. But painting is really what I liked.

 

Karen Ortman  03:32

Is painting a talent that you had from a very young age?

 

Patti McSteen  03:37

No.

 

Karen Ortman  03:38

Is it something that you developed? In other words, can I paint? Absolutely. And be good at it?

 

Patti McSteen  03:45

I don't know about that...I'm kidding.

 

Karen Ortman  03:50

I fancy myself as somebody who is going to learn how to do that. One of these days.

 

Patti McSteen  03:56

get a get a good instructor or or teach yourself but it really is, you know, feeling it and seeing the emotion in it, I think is really what was interesting to me.

 

Karen Ortman  04:06

Well I can play the piano so I should be able paint.

 

Patti McSteen  04:08

yes that's a transferable skill...it's natural.

 

Karen Ortman  04:13

when you pursued art therapy, where did you envision your career going? You know, 20 years down the road.

 

Patti McSteen  04:20

I was really interested in working with adolescents. And a lot of that came from the hands on art therapy work I was doing. I ended up working in an inpatient hospital for adolescents who were in treatment for substance abuse and addiction. And so working with teenagers who were addicts was that was like the love of my life.

 

Karen Ortman  04:51

That's important work.

 

Patti McSteen  04:52

it was really, and you know, what I saw and what I experienced in that environment was...you know, teenagers are complicated. And when you allow them the opportunity to express themselves not using their words, was really important. And you really got to see and make progress with them, and understand what was kind of going on. Because a lot of times, they didn't know the words of what they were experiencing. And so when they can express themselves through art, it opened a lot of conversations up. So that was really, you know, early on in my, you know, educational and professional experience. That's kind of what I wanted to do.

 

Karen Ortman  05:38

At some point, you pursued a career in higher education. Tell me about that process for you.

 

Patti McSteen  05:47

Yeah. So after I spent the time working at the inpatient hospital with adolescents, I started to try and iron out where I saw my future in my career, going to be an art therapist, you needed a master's degree. And so I started looking at programs. And then I was wondering if really, that was the route I wanted to go. So I thought, you know, maybe I want to be a guidance counselor. But I really wanted to continue working with adolescents. So I had my head set that I wanted to be a guidance counselor for a middle school, like that age group, which nobody wants to do.  I'm still drawn to that age group like that is like really what I'm excited about. And at the time, in the state of Ohio, in order to be a guidance counselor, you needed to have a teaching certification, which I didn't want to be a teacher, I wanted to be a counselor. So I turned the page in the graduate catalog. And that's where I discovered this profession of college student personnel and higher education. And I thought, you know, there's not a lot of difference between middle schoolers and college students.

 

Karen Ortman  07:00

Don't tell the college.

 

Patti McSteen  07:01

But there really isn't I mean, when you think about their complicated their development and what they're excited about, and watching them learn and grow. And so I started like exploring that. And to be perfectly honest with you, I had met my husband, and during this time period, he still had some time left in school. And so I was looking for something that I could do, and still be together. And so I found this degree, and I was like, this looks really interesting. And so that's when I started, it was wasn't that I was ever, you know, thinking - I want to work in higher education. I don't think that's ever really something that most people have their eyes on.

 

Karen Ortman  07:39

No.

 

Patti McSteen  07:40

And so I found this program, and it just really opened so many doors for me. And this was a master's program that was a master's program, called College Student Personnel. that was the the program and so, you spent time 20 hours a week working in some kind of, you know, outside the classroom, Student Affairs type of assistantship, you give like 20 hours a week of work, and working with with college students and understanding the whole higher ed landscape.

 

Karen Ortman  08:17

Got it? Okay. And you're still at Ohio University.

 

Patti McSteen  08:20

So yes, so I was still at Ohio, and I did a two year program there. When I graduated, I became a hall director at a school in Pennsylvania called Clarion University in western PA. And during that hall director period, I think was really a great opportunity of growth for me, because you had so many I was exposed to so many different things. Supervising RAs, programming, crisis, response, counseling, student conduct all of those really great things. And so from that, I learned that really what I loved most was the crisis, response work and mental health. And really seeing that, what was happening, this was about 90/93 or so 90 to 93. And I was really starting to see an increase in what we are really experiencing still to this day, which is the rise in mental health concerns in college students. And so I returned back to Athens Ohio University in 1993 and started a PhD program in counseling.

 

Karen Ortman  09:33

So you really have a broad understanding.

 

Patti McSteen  09:35

Yeah, street creds.

 

Karen Ortman  09:37

Yeah, absolutely.

 

Patti McSteen  09:38

I mean, when you live in a residence hall, You live there.

 

Karen Ortman  09:41

Oh, yeah.

 

Patti McSteen  09:41

And so you see from from all every hour of the day, and every experience life happens when students are in college life still happens. they still lose people in their life. They still experience trauma. They still, you know, have built a long important bonds and friendships with one another, they have fun. And so you really did get a great peek into the life of what it's like to be a college student.

 

Karen Ortman  10:10

You go back to Ohio University to start your PhD program, what was your PhD program?

 

Patti McSteen  10:15

So my doctoral program was in counselor education. And so my intention and my  end goal was to work in a college counseling center. That's kind of what I wanted to do. I wanted to just be a one on one counselor, I was trying to convince myself I think that I was an introvert.

 

Karen Ortman  10:36

I don't even know where that notion comes from. I mean I haven't even known you that long..

 

Patti McSteen  10:43

was thinking, you know, being one on one with a student all day long, I would be really swell.

 

Karen Ortman  10:50

Do you know you?

 

Patti McSteen  10:51

yeah. Welcome. So during that time period, I had some really great experiences, I worked in a shelter for women and children who were victims of domestic violence and abuse. I worked at an outpatient drug and alcohol clinic for adolescents and young adults. I worked in our college counseling center. So I had all kinds of really great experiential learning opportunities to see what it is that I really liked. And so I was really going down this path. And then the last year I got an opportunity to work in the Dean of Students Office, and do a special project for the Dean of Students at the time. And that got the hooks in me. So I started working in the Dean of Students Office, and then I graduated, and there was an opportunity, there was an opening at the time. And so I applied to that job thinking I would do it for a few years until I could make that full transition into a counseling center. And that three to five years ended 25 years later in February, when I left Ohio and the Dean of Students Office,

 

Karen Ortman  12:02

you're like a one person multidisciplinary team.

 

Patti McSteen  12:04

I really am. Just ask me.

 

Karen Ortman  12:09

Wow. And in all honesty, it makes NYU even luckier to have you because of your breadth of experience. At some point, you learned that there was a position at NYU that was available for your pursuits if you wish. How did you first learn of that opportunity? And what were your initial thoughts about pursuing a career at NYU and living in New York City?

 

Patti McSteen  12:41

That that's a really interesting question. I get it a lot. Actually. I had no intention of leaving Ohio, I love that place. You know, I grew up in Athens raised our kids in Athens. You know, I love my community. I love my friends. I loved my job, my colleagues. I think the pandemic had an impact on everybody in different ways. So I learned about the position in early November, a colleague of mine who now works at NYU, reached out to me and said, You know, I learned about this opportunity that I think you're really uniquely qualified for, because you spent a lot of time at Ohio doing behavioral intervention threat assessment work. That's what really grew into the Dean of Students Office. And so I don't think I ever would have looked at that job description and seen myself in it.

 

Karen Ortman  13:39

Really?

 

Patti McSteen  13:39

I really don't, until I started talking to people. And so I had a, you know, a couple of zoom meetings with, you know, our Vice President Fountain Walker. And I really liked him. I really liked what he had to say, I really liked his vision. And so I thought, well, what the heck, you know, it's just a process, right? So yeah, back in November I learned about it, put my stuff together and sent my application.

 

Karen Ortman  14:09

And here you are

 

Patti McSteen  14:09

and here I am. Yeah.

 

Karen Ortman  14:11

You mentioned how the pandemic impacted people in different ways. How would you say it impacted you?

 

Patti McSteen  14:21

I, like most people, I worked harder than I probably ever had in my career. And I realized that I had - maybe I've reached a point where I was doing this job all the time. And I think I was good at it. But then I don't know that I was being challenged in the way that I used to be. And so I think what I was looking for is I try and preach to students you know, you have push yourself out of your comfort zone. That's how you grow. That's how you learn. And so applying that same mindset to myself, I think we're really good at giving other people advice, but getting it to yourself isn't easy...

 

Karen Ortman  15:13

Guilty.

 

Patti McSteen  15:14

yeah. Guilty. It's not always as easy to do that. And so I think it was really for me to look at like, do I want to finish my time here? Doing what I've been doing for 25 years? Or do I want to take this leap of faith? And see what else is out there in the world? And so I think, in reflection of all of that, and consultation with my family, we all thought it was a really great opportunity to try something new. And I think that the pandemic really helped me do that. Like, is this what I want to do?

 

Karen Ortman  15:52

Yeah, well, that's good. I'm glad that you made that decision.

 

Patti McSteen  15:55

Yeah.

 

Karen Ortman  15:55

So you moved to New York? I believe it was in February.

 

Patti McSteen  16:00

February 2, of 2022.

 

Karen Ortman  16:04

And now your New York City resident

 

Patti McSteen  16:08

Yes. Love it. I Love, every single minute of it.

 

Karen Ortman  16:13

I don't blame you. Hearing about your Broadway shows ou've been to, I'm little envious. Tell me about your responsibilities as the Senior Associate Vice President and Deputy

 

Patti McSteen  16:26

Yeah, so as a member of the department of campus safety. I've got a wide variety of responsibilities. Some of them are in the administrative oversight of the department such as, you know, budgetary, keeping an eye on the budget of the department, which is really complex, I'm learning a whole lot there. So there's budgetary stuff. And then, you know, being part of the Vice President's staff is really having this broad umbrella oversight of the entire department, you know, there's the emergency management functions, there's the operations functions, you know, there's the access control and technology functions. And then, you know, there's. we're here to serve the NYU community. And so it's balancing all of those things of keeping us a well oiled machine and running, while also, you know, being accessible to the NYU community. And I think specifically, one of the things that I've been enjoying, and I think I was really, you know, and am charged to do is to be accessible and create those relationships across campus. Whether it's with our students and our student leaders, their families, parents, faculty, staff, you know, in the community of New York, and, you know, so to be able to be out and about and to engage with people all across campus. I think that's a skill set that that I have I just, I really enjoyed being with people. I am not an introvert. But to meet other people, and to see those connections has been really exciting and fun and doing that in a new environment. It has been so invigorating to me, you know, you reach a point in your career, where would you get the opportunity to try something new? 10 out of 10 recommend.

 

Karen Ortman  18:01

Because you're not an introvert.  Oh, yeah.

 

Patti McSteen  18:26

Yeah

 

Karen Ortman  18:27

And you're good. You're very good at what you do.  Well, thank you.  I am an introvert. Except when I'm sitting here in the studio, otherwise, I'm yeah Pretty quiet. I am the opposite of you.

 

Patti McSteen  18:42

That's why we're a good team.

 

Karen Ortman  18:43

Yes. What are your short term goal goals?

 

Patti McSteen  18:49

Let's start with that short term goals. Really, my short term goals are to get the Department of campus safety out there in front of as many people as we can to be proactive, so that the community has a strong understanding of our scope. And what we do, I think, you know, I hate to keep referring back to this pandemic. But I think we've lost like two to three years, two to three cohorts of students who don't quite know what it is that we do. So I think if we can be proactive with them as before they arrive, whether it's through orientation programs, through you know, like creative communication means social media platforms, this podcast, ways that we can get our word out there of what we do. So that people understand the scope. It's important, it's really important and I think that, you know, obviously there are always going to be reactive, you know, opportunities for us to kind of get in front of groups. But if we can start building more proactive relationships, and I don't mean to insinuate that wasn't happening, you know, in the department. But I think when we were all kind of disjointed and away from campus, we've lost some of that culture. And I think it's time to, to rebuild that trust

 

Karen Ortman  20:12

and rebuild those connections that we we really did have prior to the pandemic, but when you have many people remote, completely remote, and then transitioning to a hybrid work environment, it's hard to make those connections or maintain them.

 

Patti McSteen  20:30

Yes.

 

Karen Ortman  20:30

When you once had them.

 

Patti McSteen  20:32

Right. So I think, you know, going back to what the priorities are really connecting with students, I think is going to be a really helpful thing for both the students as well as for the department.  I agree.

 

Karen Ortman  20:46

How about long term? What do you see looking forward,

 

Patti McSteen  20:51

if the Department of campus safety could be seen as an integral piece of the fabric of the community, that it's not just one figurehead, but it's all of the functions coming together and working together. To make a really strong - like this institution is really amazing. I mean, there are some great resources, if we could work with, you know, our colleagues in our academic programs, there's so many transferable skills, there's so many transferable topics that we can all collaborate and work with. And to be seen as an integral part of that community, I think it'd be really great. I think if students and families and faculty and staff saw us as allies, and resources, I think that's a great thing. I think, you know, we've got a good reputation. I mean, that was one question I asked just about every person when I was going through the interview process, like, what is the reputation of the department, and almost to the, absolutely to the person, they said, they have areally strong reputation on this campus. And so I guess my long term goal is to keep that going, and just really to build upon it.

 

Karen Ortman  22:04

How will you measure your success?

 

Patti McSteen  22:07

That's a great question. If members of the NYU community feel as though they can come and talk with us, and be part of solutions and be proactive and not just a reactive unit, I think that would be a great success. I think if students saw us as a positive impact of their NYU experience, I think that would be a great success.

 

Karen Ortman  22:40

How can members of the NYU community communicate with you?

 

Patti McSteen  22:48

I love a cup of coffee. Invite me to coffee, send me an email, call me on the phone. Any and all. honestly, I would say reaching out. I'm very relational in nature, as you know. And so sitting down and finding the commonalities that we have with one another, I think is a great way to get the conversation started. And that we can be honest with one another, but I do love sitting down in person. And I, you know, I really enjoyed those opportunities. So if you feel safe in doing that, and are as we're creeping out of this pandemic, please reach out I would love to do that.

 

Karen Ortman  23:39

And you're open to meeting with any member of the NYU community

 

Patti McSteen  23:43

absolutely

 

Karen Ortman  23:43

 as well, the staff, students...

 

Patti McSteen  23:45

really, and I've done you know, just about all of that. I've had one on one meetings with students. I've been in group meetings with students, I've been one on ones with faculty and with staff, both in person and on, you know, on Zoom phone calls, etc. But yeah, definitely the reaching out and sitting down, coming to talk to organizations, classes, whatever it might be. We've I've been in a few town halls with parents. You know, I'm a very present person. And, you know, invite me and I will come. I will come to you.

 

Karen Ortman  24:25

And the best way that people can reach out to you is through email. They can find your email address on the Campus Safety website.

 

Patti McSteen  24:35

Yes.

 

Karen Ortman  24:36

And if you want to just say what your email is right now

 

Patti McSteen  24:39

the easy one is patti.mcsteen@nyu.edu is the easy one.

 

Karen Ortman  24:53

Yeah, that one's easy. You mentioned that you have already met with parent group student groups, students one on one. How do you have visibility across the campus in other ways,

 

Patti McSteen  25:11

what I really have, have appreciated so much about NYU is the the inclusion of folks from the Department of campus safety, in university wide committees, having presence, I've been invited to so many meetings, the Student Success groups, our diversity and inclusion groups, you know, Faculty Senate, or the tenured faculty council, I've been invited to all of these spaces, and that, to me, is a huge indicator that this is an inclusive community. And so I, you know, I have been invited to a lot of these places, and I've gone to the to meetings and participated in conversations. My goal is to be out and about, you know, the fact that this pandemic taught us how to work remotely, I'm still on campus every single day, I really have my eye on that outdoor area outside of Kimmel, find the coffee place, come summertime with my laptop. So... I don' blame you. And I know, you've noticed, and so being out and about where I can actually engage with different people and different members of the community, I think, is where I do best. And so my visibility, I think, will be, as long as that's, you know, acceptable in the department and will be, you know, out and about and engaging with different people.

 

Karen Ortman  26:58

So what do you think you bring to your role That is unique.

 

Patti McSteen  27:08

I Think the background I have in student affairs is a unique thing. I really have so much respect for vice president Walker, for having the vision to bring in someone who is completely different and outside of the comfort zone of this department. I laugh sometimes I think folks look at me and shake their heads, like, Who is she? And why is she? What is she doing? I think it really shows a vision of where we might go in higher education.

 

Karen Ortman  27:48

And where might that be?

 

Patti McSteen  27:50

I don't know. But I think when we can start bringing in, when you look at a team of people who have really diverse backgrounds, that makes a really good team.

 

Karen Ortman  28:03

Yeah, especially when you think about campus safety. A department that is charged with keeping safe the community property. And you look at the backgrounds of everybody, not only I'm talking about campus safety officers, and as you go up the supervisory chain, and then to top leadership, there are people that have such diverse backgrounds, you would expect that it's all law enforcement backgrounds, or all strictly security backgrounds. And it's not and I think that's the beauty of the department. Yeah, there are people with law enforcement backgrounds, but there's, you -and you come with an extensive Student Affairs background and mental health. You know, and I think that's what makes us so great.

 

Patti McSteen  29:12

Yeah. I mean, an engineer, law enforcement, business, Technology, and mental health. Like that is a really interesting team.

 

Karen Ortman  29:26

It is.

 

Patti McSteen  29:27

And I think it's really that's what's really exciting to me to think about. That we we do have everyone brings a different strength and background and that we can learn from one another. That's really exciting. Yeah.

 

Karen Ortman  29:43

But I do agree with you, VP Walker has the vision to bring all this together.

 

Patti McSteen  29:51

I think I'm the first that I can tell I'm going to my first professional conference about you know, higher ed law enforcement and campus security and campus safety. I don't think there's many people like me that are going to be there.

 

Karen Ortman  30:08

In department of campus safety, Capacity?

 

Patti McSteen  30:09

Yes.

 

Karen Ortman  30:10

Yes. I'd be very interested to know if you're not the only one because I don't...

 

30:17

I don't think this is a thing. And I think that, you know, early on in my career, Karen, when I was, you know, first hired to the Dean of Students Office, there weren't people like me with mental health background. In a Dean of Students Office. And so, you know, when the Dean of Students at the time took a chance on me, he had vision that we're going to need something like this. And so it's very reminiscent to me that I'm having a similar experience to be like, maybe there's going to be a need for this. And so trying it out, and the fact that there's no playbook to follow is scary, but also very exciting. to help craft, what our future should be?

 

Karen Ortman  31:12

You spoke of the pandemic earlier. I think that this would probably be one of your answers to this question, but I'm going to ask it anyway. What do you see as the biggest issues confronting students today?

 

Patti McSteen  31:26

I think it's, you know, really complex, I think, you know, we've lost students have lost some really important developmental opportunities, whether it's interacting with one another, learning in different ways. Learning those social skills, you know, when you were kind of at home, a lot of students really, I think, are going to have a delayed development, they'll get there. Yeah, people are resilient. They'll get there. But they missed out on some of that. So I think that, you know, when you think about what the biggest issues are, I think- I have two college student age kids myself -My wish for them is for them to be happy and healthy. It's what we need you to do.

 

Karen Ortman  31:26

Yeah, lie in all respects.

 

Patti McSteen  31:35

Yeah. Mentally, physically, emotionally, emotionally healthy, be happy, be healthy, get yourself there. And the other things in life will work out, they always do, you know. And so I think if we can kind of get students to a place where they can feel safe, feel supported, explore their passions, and their curiosities. That's my hope, of what they need. And so if we can provide an environment that allows them to, you know, really thrive in that, I think it would be really great. But I do think the, you know, the mental health impact is really real. And, you know, they have concerns about the climate, and their futures and politics, and, you know, racial justice and injustice. And all of these things are on their minds. And perhaps these things were happening 40 years ago, but they're at the forefront of their minds, because of the social media platforms. They're seeing it, they get so much information at them at all times. And so the way that they process that, I think, is I'm just in awe of how they do it. And so I think being able to help them manage the pressures and the expectations that they have, while still trying to, you know, do the normal developmental tasks that we all need to do as we move through life

 

Karen Ortman  34:10

In what ways can you be of service to members of the NYU community that they may be unaware of?

 

Patti McSteen  34:22

i think just be a resource when you don't know who to ask. Just ask and we'll get you to the right place. I mean, I think one of the great things about the Department of campus safety is we are a 24/7 operation, right? And so I think for a lot of people when they don't know who to call, you know, you're always going to get a person answering the phone, and the Department of campus safety and I think we're good problem solvers. And we're good resource. You know, I think knowing the resources across campus, you know, one unit might only know you know, a limited but because We serve every single department, every faculty, every staff, every student, that we kind of have a responsibility to know what those resources are. And if we don't know the answer, we can we can find it for them. And so I think it's, you know, it's sometimes it's a good place to start.

 

Karen Ortman  35:20

What would you change tomorrow, if you could

 

Patti McSteen  35:23

everyone to have a full understanding of what it is that the Department of campus safety does

 

Karen Ortman  35:30

What do you think is the greatest misunderstanding?

 

Patti McSteen  35:34

I think the greatest misunderstanding is that the department is not a law enforcement agency. And they're not a social service agency. Right.

 

Karen Ortman  35:48

Those are true things that you just said, right...

 

Patti McSteen  35:51

And so I think that there's a misunderstanding of what we are,

 

Karen Ortman  35:58

and what our jurisdiction is,

 

Patti McSteen  36:00

yeah

 

Karen Ortman  36:00

particularly when criminal incidents occur. Yeah, I would agree that there's a lack of understanding

 

Patti McSteen  36:09

and what we can do...

 

Karen Ortman  36:11

of our capabilities, under those circumstances

 

Patti McSteen  36:13

what we are, what we actually can do and what we cannot do. And so I think I mean, my experience in these, you know, few short months have been once you sit down and talk to someone and explain it, they're like, Oh, that makes sense. And so that's the one thing I would change is if we could...

 

Karen Ortman  36:30

well shout out to the victim services unit. Yes. Because they certainly do. Try to explain the role of what campus safety is under those circumstances, and they also provide resources to help them manage if they are directly impacted by this situation.

 

Patti McSteen  36:52

Absolutely.

 

Karen Ortman  36:53

And it is hard to, to make it known throughout the entire community, it's large. And not everybody comes to campus safety to let us know that, you know, they have experienced something that's unsettling. So I wish people would come to us because I think that I mean, people do but I wish everybody did when they experienced something that is unsettling because we can help them in some way.

 

Patti McSteen  37:25

Yes. And balancing out also like that we're not just bouncing people around to the right places, right. So understanding the scope, understanding that we're part of a bigger system, and that while we cannot maybe do x we could get you to the place that can't

 

Karen Ortman  37:41

Yeah, right.exactly we would never turn somebody away and say we can't help you. Goodbye.

 

Patti McSteen  37:47

Yes.

 

Karen Ortman  37:48

What do you do for fun?

 

37:50

exploring the city has been an absolute blast.

 

Karen Ortman  37:53

Oh, yeah.

 

37:54

It's just a blast every day is something new. I love to eat so....

 

Karen Ortman  38:05

that is fun though!

 

Patti McSteen  38:06

eating my way through New York. Lots of fun I you know, recently got my membership to the art museum. So  That's really fun. That's a really great way to spend the day. I love to be with people so kind of connecting.  I kind of you might have heard I've been reconnecting with a with friends old and new here in New York.

 

Karen Ortman  38:16

that's fun.  That's great.

 

Patti McSteen  38:33

That's been really fun. And you know, my family in Ohio, I spent a lot of time on FaceTime and on the phone talking and staying present my family which is really fun, but I love dogs. I love to play mahjong.

 

Karen Ortman  38:57

Do you have dogs?

 

Patti McSteen  38:57

I have two dogs  here in New York?  I don't - they're in Ohio. Shout out!

 

Karen Ortman  39:03

you need a puppy.

 

39:04

No, I don't actually it turns out I love them dearly. And I love to visit them.

 

Karen Ortman  39:14

What would surprise listeners about you if they knew? Give me something good.

 

Patti McSteen  39:21

What would surprise people? I don't know. I have a pretty open book.

 

Karen Ortman  39:32

And you're an extrovert

 

Patti McSteen  39:33

that's a surprise. I like people. Um, what would surprise people? I don't know, That's a tough question.

 

Karen Ortman  39:45

Do you have a unique talent beyond your artistry?

 

Patti McSteen  39:50

Uh huh. hmm, unique talent? Like, can you juggle?  No, can't juggle. I can't sing. I can't juggle. I can't dance.

 

Karen Ortman  40:01

What's the best thing that you have done since you've come to New York?

 

Patti McSteen  40:04

The best thing out there...um...

 

Karen Ortman  40:11

you saw Billy Crystal?

 

Patti McSteen  40:13

I did. I saw Billy Crystal last night.

 

Karen Ortman  40:14

I think that's pretty.

 

Patti McSteen  40:15

It was very cool. Like for a show that was this. I saw one concert early in, or in April rather, at Carnegie Hall. And then I saw Billy Crystal last night. And that was that was just superb. For my first kind of Broadway show, to have it be Billy Crystal.

 

Karen Ortman  40:35

I love him. And When Harry Met Sally is my favorite movie of all time.

 

Patti McSteen  40:39

Is it?

 

Karen Ortman  40:40

Yeah.  All I could hear was Mike Wazousky when he was talking from Monsters inc.  But he was he was fantastic. It was great. Check that out.  What are the highlights of your career at Ohio University?

 

Patti McSteen  40:57

highlights of my career at Ohio University yet? I'm gonna say actually, I have an answer for that. I have two kind of two answers. Okay. So the first is that I helped create our behavioral intervention team. So if you think about what happened in the landscape of higher education in the mid 2000s 2006 2007, after the tragedy at Virginia Tech, that I was one of the founding members of our Behavioral Intervention Team. And I think what we, one of the most important things I've done in my career up to this point, I think, is develop that team as a really strong, effective functional group that had a lot of trust with one another. And we did really good work.

 

Karen Ortman  41:55

Good.

 

Patti McSteen  41:56

So that was one.

 

Karen Ortman  41:58

So you'll join our Behavioral Intervention Team

 

Patti McSteen  42:01

I've been waiting for the invitation. And the second thing, which is so near and dear to my heart is I created a program called the Margaret Boyd Scholars Program, which was an undergraduate program for women, students cohort experience that they go through their four years of time in Ohio. And it really was designed to be an academic enrichment program to help seed leaders both at Ohio U and beyond. Really, it was the most rewarding thing that I've done, and our why longtime why being able to be involved in the lives of students and help help them grow and push themselves and immerse them into experiences that they probably otherwise wouldn't have explored for themselves. And being such being such an important part of that growth with them, and that they allowed me access into their life, as I see it. I am really close with a lot of those students and those who have graduated too. And so, so proud of them. And it's such a strong community of women that really have been there for each other, are they leaders now those who have graduate, so many of them, they're doing such amazing things there are, you know, anchors on on news channel. You know, bankers, teachers, nonprofit, you know, people who are leading nonprofits, engineers, and they all have this common thing together is that they experienced this Scholars program together, and created this network of women who are there for each other now, that's great. The young alumni, I think the oldest ones are maybe 27 Now, and they will drop everything for a 19 year old who's looking for an internship in their field or who wants some advice on personal and professional whatever it is. So, it was really important to build this network of women and that's something I'm really proud of

 

Karen Ortman  44:31

i as you should be. Mentoring, I think is so important for women, and I'll say particularly for women - being one but I didn't have a lot of women mentors. There are a few, but I wish I had more. and I tried to be that for exactly the people Yeah, yeah, yeah. Is there anything that we haven't talked about today that you would like to share?

 

Patti McSteen  45:07

I mean, I joke that it takes 45 minutes to say hi. So I'm sure there's lots that we haven't talked about

 

Karen Ortman  45:14

kind of an interesting question.

 

Patti McSteen  45:17

I mean, how much time do we have Karen? I will say that I'd love to come back. I'd love to come back after I've had some time to test out all of the ideas that I think I'm going to try.

 

Karen Ortman  45:33

Well, as I should have said earlier, I want to thank you for being my season seven guest opener.

 

Patti McSteen  45:42

Oh, right.

 

Karen Ortman  45:43

So that's quite an honor for me to have you as my season opener. So thank you. And you're just gonna have to come back in season eight, so that you can tell everybody what you've been up to, since season seven.

 

Patti McSteen  45:59

Let's do it.

 

Karen Ortman  46:00

Does that work?

 

Patti McSteen  46:00

Let's do it.

 

Karen Ortman  46:02

Well, thank you, my friend and colleague for coming and joining me today. So thank you once again to my guest, Patti. and to all of our listeners for joining us for today's episode of You Matter if any information presented was triggering or disturbing, please feel free to contact the Wellness Exchange at 212-443-9999 or NYU's Department of Campus Safety and their Victim Services Unit at 212-998-2222. Please share, like, and subscribe to You Matter on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts,  Spotify, Stitcher, or Tune in.