A Working Mom’s Journey to Complete Her Degree

Andrea Buchmeier will be representing our student body at all CSU System Board meetings during the 2016-2017 academic year. We sat down with Andrea to learn more about her student experience, career background, and what insights she hopes to provide while serving as our BOG Student Representative. Andrea is a graduate of our B.S. in Business Management program and is now pursuing her Master’s in Healthcare Administration and Management.

Where do you call home?

Andrea: I live in Littleton, Colorado, and have been a resident of this state for 26 years. I am married to a wonderful firefighter and together we have three beautiful children, ages 17, 14, and 13. We are busy and love the Colorado outdoors.

What do you do for a living?

Andrea: I have spent my career in the field of clinical research. I stumbled upon an opportunity to be a research assistant and the rest is history. Not knowing anything about research or allergies and asthma, my amazing mentor, Dr. Harold S. Nelson, took me under his wing and taught me everything he could. After one year, I gained tremendous knowledge and I was told I could rival anyone in the fellowship program! I spent almost 15 years at National Jewish Health (NJH) where I helped centralize and grow the clinical research program. During my time at NJH, I worked on some amazing research and co-authored and published 14 peer-reviewed articles. From NJH, I went to the University of Colorado Cancer Center to lead the NCI designated clinical trials program. Almost 10 years later, my team grew from 33 to 120 research professionals who enrolled over 1,000 patients per year to therapeutic cancer clinical trials. I am currently a System Director for the second largest faith-based health system in America. I am responsible for site operations across eight states and am Program Director for the NCI Community Oncology Research Program Grant. Needless to say, I am a very busy gal!

What inspired you to go back to school to earn your bachelor’s and now your master’s?

Andrea: Not having a bachelor’s degree was always a monkey on my back. I am a first-generation college graduate and when I went to college fresh out of high school, I had no vision, no idea who I was and where I wanted to go. I met and married my husband and then got really sick. He graduated, I didn’t, but we both moved to a small town in southwest Kansas. There was no opportunity for me to finish my degree. From there we followed our dreams, moved to Denver, and got busy with life. Three kids later, I decided that I wanted to finish my degree before our children did, so I did it!

Are you applying what you are learning to your job?

Andrea: Oh my goodness, it is amazing how much I have learned and continue to learn and it really does apply to my current position. I love the real life experience the instructors bring to the courses and the flexibility of doing my coursework anywhere, anytime!

Why were you interested in the BOG student rep position? What perspective do you hope to bring?

Andrea: I was spelunking (love that word!) around the website one night, filled out a scholarship application, saw this opportunity and thought, wow, what an amazing experience this would be. I am honored to serve in this role for the next year. I look forward to being the voice of my classmates to make CSU Global the best it can be. I will bring the perspective of a busy working adult pursuing their dreams for them and for their family. You can contact Andrea by emailing BOGStudentRep [at] CSUGlobal.edu ()alt=”Email Andrea Buchmeier” aria-label=”Email Andrea Buchmeier”. We would like to thank Megan Schulze for serving as CSU Global’s Student Representative during the past year. Andrea will begin her duties at this month’s Board of Governor’s meeting.