Patty Taylor retires after distinguished career
Patty Kaestner arrived at then-Lakeland College as a student in the fall of 1983. Forty-plus years and countless financial aid packages later, Patty (Kaestner) Taylor is calling it a career.
Taylor, a 1987 Lakeland graduate, retired in December as senior director for financial aid and educational funding following 38 years of service to the institution, its students and their families.
Through the decades she worked closely with students and their families to navigate the often-complex world of financial aid and create packages that allowed them to realize their academic goals and dreams.
Taylor worked under seven Lakeland presidencies and saw enormous changes in Lakeland’s physical campus, its enrollment and the way the financial aid office served students.
“I just always loved what I did,” Taylor said. “It’s easy to go in every day when you love what you do and believe in the place. I just never left.”
A native of nearby Howards Grove, Lakeland was always a known entity to Taylor, but going to college after graduating from high school in 1983 wasn’t a sure thing.
“My parents weren’t overly encouraging,” said the first-generation college graduate. “Those days it was a privilege to go. I wasn’t opposed to it, but I can’t say I was gung-ho about it.”
Lakeland’s women’s volleyball coach at the time, Judy Cohen, recruited Taylor to play during a visit to Howards Grove High School. Taylor attended Lakeland as a commuter and played volleyball and basketball, the first two years in Founders Gym and later in the newly built Wehr Center. She recalls the ringing of the victory bell near the library when a team returned to campus with a win.
Taylor grew up on the family dairy farm and she consistently took 8 a.m. classes – typically a dread for college students – because it got her out of the barn and doing her chores earlier. She majored in business administration although she didn’t have a career path in mind. She worked numerous jobs at Lakeland including the communications office, human resources, admissions and church relations, as well as an off-campus job at Petersen Chemical.
“The thing that sticks out to me is how much our professors cared about us as students,” Taylor said. “It was important to them that we learned the material. To me that is very unique. My sister went to school where there were 300 kids in a class and that didn’t happen there.
“I believe in what Lakeland does. We help students who show up with these grandiose ideas and we help them figure out how to turn them into reality.”
Taylor graduated in 3.5 years and took a job with the admissions department before completing her last final exams. Three years later, she started working a portion of her job in the financial aid office with then-director Don Seymour, and she found her life’s passion.
“I loved the student contact and working with families to help them understand their opportunities,” said Taylor, who was named director of financial aid in 2006 following Seymour’s retirement. “I didn’t think I would like the compliance side, but I did. It was intriguing to me how regulations came about and that whole process.
“I need a challenge and because of the changes in laws and compliance I always appreciated being challenged at work.”
For many, Taylor is the face of Lakeland’s financial aid office. She worked tirelessly to educate students and parents, and she challenged the system to better serve those needing aid.
In 2018, Taylor received The President's Richard C. Preuhs '65 Award which goes to an alumnus who has worked for the university and shown extraordinary commitment to the mission of the university through noteworthy achievements in fostering student success, campus community or stewardship of campus resources.
She was named winner of Lakeland’s 2024 Big Fish award winner in recognition of her outstanding work in a challenging role filled with deadlines, compliance, precision, management of people and processes, supporting students, families and staff.
Taylor is quick to recognize her staff for their role in helping students and parents learn and understand the financial aid process.
“I think back to when I moved to financial aid, we had 100 (evening) students and 350 traditional students,” Taylor said. “Now we serve about 2,000 students. Over that time, the administrative burden has grown as a Title IV funded school and the expectations are way more than just giving out money.
“I’m grateful for having many great people working for me. That makes things easier and creates great success for students and how we can serve and help them. They say surround self with great people and you don’t feel like you’re going to work and that’s so true.”
