“Working with students sometimes makes you feel like a fairy godmother,” says Montgomery County Community College Financial Aid & Enrollment Generalist Cindy Whitley, “because your full-time job is helping them turn their dreams into reality.” Whitley is uniquely equipped to help students do just that, thanks to a career at MCCC spanning more than 32 years, as both a student and a staff member. 

Whitley began her association with MCCC right out of high school, enrolling in classes at the College’s Central Campus in Blue Bell. She also found a job on campus as an evening switchboard operator, working from 4–10 p.m. 

“I got a lot of homework done then,” Whitley recalls. “Working for MCCC got me into a studying and college mindset, and as a switchboard operator, I got to know all the people at the school and how everything works. That’s where I think I first developed my love for higher education.”

Whitley pursued that love by earning her associate degree at MCCC, followed by her bachelor’s degree from Albright College through MCCC’s University Center, and her master’s degree in Integrative Studies from Capella University. Throughout her academic career, Whitley bolstered her education with real-life work experience at MCCC, moving from positions in Student Activities to Accounts Payable to her current role as a Financial Aid and Enrollment Generalist on MCCC’s West Campus in Pottstown, where she helps students navigate their way to success as she counsels them on Financial and Enrollment issues. This varied background has made Whitley exceptionally able to help students chart their course. Her broad knowledge of campus resources is invaluable for those bal-ancing demanding work and personal lives — a situation Whitley, also the mother of three (including another MCCC graduate), under-stands firsthand.

MCCC offers a wide range of flexible learning options at West Campus — credit and non-credit programs, including degree programs (including accelerated, continuous studies), short-term credential options (i.e., certificate programs), and workforce development training with individual courses and full-time programs. MCCC also offers affordable tuition, as well as scholarships and financial aid, to help qualifying students. Whitley guides students through all of these options and opportunities, and helps them overcome obstacles that may be blocking them from achieving academic success. 

“I have worked with students who have had a patchwork of academic, social, economic and family challenges, and we’ve worked through it all together. When students come back, after they have graduated, or moved on to earn a further degree, and say that you helped make it all a little easier, it just makes it all worthwhile. Things are always going on in people’s lives that we don’t know about, and those ‘thank yous’ can remind me and my colleagues that we can really make a differ-ence in people’s lives,” Whitley said.

“We’re a close-knit team on West Campus, and we like to make people feel at home. I love the way students come in, see people they know, and feel comfortable. That’s because we really know them, and provide personalized support that helps our students surmount roadblocks in every sphere of their lives to reach their educational goals.”