Janell Gibson

As more universities embrace fully online programs, institutions must address a fundamental challenge – how to keep students engaged from the other side of the screen. In her role as Provost and Chief Academic Officer at Columbia Southern University, Janell Gibson has led her institution’s efforts in this regard.

Janell sat down with Max Webber, Co-Host of The Interview, to discuss her career journey so far, her institution’s efforts to create a sense of belonging and community, and the importance of respecting the individual circumstances of every student.

Janell’s Journey

Max: Let’s start with a brief introduction to yourself and your institution…

I'm Dr. Janelle Gibson, and I’m Provost and Chief Academic Officer at Columbia Southern University. I entered higher education in the year 2000; I was an adjunct psychology professor, and I worked my way up through the ranks, becoming a full-time faculty member. From there, I moved into administration, holding Vice Chancellor positions on several campuses before taking up my current role.

Columbia Southern University is a fully online university based in Orange Beach, Alabama. We have around 25,000 students in more than 60 degree programs. We’re really focused on career education, particularly programs in fire and occupational safety, industry, and criminal justice. We have a really strong population of both military students as well as first responders.

Max: What inspired you to pursue a career in Student Affairs?

This work is all about helping students succeed. Over 24 years, I've done extensive research into student success and at-risk students. I’ve found that the majority of obstacles for students come from life circumstances; it's very rarely the content of the course, but that’s where a lot of faculty members are focused. We found that we needed extensive departments in student affairs that would help students navigate life obstacles, whether it’s time management or childcare. Many of our students are going back to school to further their careers, to get a promotion, and to earn more money, but it’s hard to do that when they have to look after kids or balance multiple jobs. And so, we found we needed a variety of support systems to help students navigate those obstacles that just help them be able to devote the time they need for success. 

Max: In an online environment, many students have family or career commitments. When students have such busy lives, what’s the best way to get them engaged around these key issues?

It's really challenging – the bottom line is you have to find the things that have the most meaning to the students. When you have a big student population, you're talking about hundreds of things. One thing we offer is a series of webinars across all disciplines. We might have 25 or 30 running at a time. We try to bring in people with real-world experience; for instance, one of our fire faculty members is the former chief of the Atlanta Fire Department. That makes more students want to attend because they're going to learn about finding career opportunities and building networks. We find that online students do better when they’re getting frequent reinforcement, so we’re always updating things like our dean's list and honor roll. To keep them engaged, they need to feel like they're being acknowledged. It’s important that their academic advisors are regularly reaching out to them, and checking that everything’s going okay. You’ve got to have a tonne of communication, but it's also got to be meaningful. It’s easy to over-communicate, so you need to make sure that your key messages are getting across.

Max: As an online university, what’s the best approach to creating a sense of belonging for students of all backgrounds?

We need to take a disciplined approach: we don’t have the same kind of student groups and sports clubs that other universities do, so we need to create new ways to engage. So we hold a wide variety of events, such as webinars based around specific disciplines. We also make sure we have regular communication with students, such as messages from their deans or program directors. Our PR department does a lot of spotlights with students and faculty to show the interesting things they are doing. We also have two graduations a year – a virtual one in April, and an in-person one in October, which usually attracts around 5,000 people. Many of our students will be seeing our campus for the first time, and we hold a huge Grad Bash event. We have food vendors and all sorts of things – it’s a great opportunity for students to meet their peers and tutors face-to-face.

Max: Recent guests have been discussing the challenge of free speech at university. How can we encourage students to engage in civil discourse across divides?

We have to watch this very closely. First of all, our faculty all have extensive training for monitoring online discussions and making sure students are communicating with respect. We want to encourage students to participate in civil discourse; if a staff member encounters a disrespectful post, they can pull that post, or ask the student to remove it. That will then be immediately sent to our Dean of Students who deals with conduct issues. Unfortunately, we've had to dismiss students before for continuing to make insulting or inappropriate comments, but that’s been needed to create a safe and welcoming environment for students. We try to take a preventative approach; every student that comes to us has an online orientation course that covers “netiquette.” That’s about how to have professional communication in an online setting, whether that’s email or social media. Students have a right to free speech, but when that crosses into hate speech or harassment, we have a duty to intervene. I have a team that monitors this closely, and highlights if anything's concerning.

Max: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received in your career?

Pay attention to each student's situation, and never make assumptions. Understand that everybody has their own unique challenges, so you need to listen with your heart.