Joe Sallustio

The goal of university extends far beyond the confines of the classroom, aiming not only to educate but to cultivate well-rounded individuals who are ready to thrive in the real world. This understanding is central to the approach of Joe Sallustio, Senior Vice President and Chief Experience Officer at Lindenwood University.

Joe took the time to meet with The Interview Co-Host Max Webber to share his insights on creating a sense of inclusion and belonging, the importance of early engagement with students, and ​​the value of understanding different learning and communication styles.

Joe's Journey

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

My name is Joe Sallustio, and ​​I am the Senior Vice President and Chief Experience Officer at Lindenwood University. We’re a private four-year institution based in St. Charles, Missouri. We’re primarily a Liberal Arts institution, and we have around 7,000 students

Max: What are the key things to keep in mind when trying to establish a sense of inclusion and belonging across a whole institution?

My focus is on the student experience outside the classroom. Students who are feeling healthy and happy are going to perform better academically. So belonging is a key piece for us, both in the online and campus environments. Our priority needs to be to help students feel like they can get what they need. The purpose of my role was originally this idea of single-threaded leadership; it can be difficult for students to navigate such a large organization, needing to run all over the place for different reasons. But getting help shouldn’t feel like work – feeling a sense of belonging comes in the fact of knowing that you’re going to receive help no matter who you reach out to. 

Max: Recent guests have discussed the challenge of engaging students in an online setting. How do you make sure your online students stay engaged – and how do you make sure they know what support is available?

We’re a multigenerational institution with students from a range of age groups. Many of our students have different learning and communication styles: some respond to emails, some respond to text messages, and others prefer a phone call. We're all consuming information differently, so it's about finding that sweet spot for each individual student. We're in the era of individualized education and communication because there's such a range of ways that we consume information. So we need to ask, how can we meet the students where they are? That's the big question. 

Max: 55% of students in America still experience some form of hazing. What steps is your institution taking to address this?

The federal government is issuing new Title IX rules that encompass a broader area of things that we need to watch out for. I think that the simple piece is upfront education: as an institution, you need to ask what resources you have to educate the students who are coming in, especially the new freshmen who are residential. Arriving at a large institution can be overwhelming for students, so we need to make sure that they are prepared. Ultimately, students are looking for friendship, for community – if we help them build those connections, it will be easier to deal with those kinds of issues.

Max: Students have a lot to take on board during orientation. How do you cut through the noise and ensure your key messages get across?

It’s a little bit like Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs – at first, students need to fulfill their basic needs, such as where they eat and sleep. If you can figure out those basic things quickly, the rest of it becomes a lot easier. Students need to feel comfortable in the places they live, study, and eat; without that, stress levels become elevated. You're not going to perform academically if you're not eating and sleeping properly. In those first few weeks, it’s really important to have people and information available to help get those basics tied up. We need to give students all the help they need to navigate the institution. So we have something called DASH – direct assistance and solutions hub – which is a one-stop shop to help students get set up on campus. As part of that, we have representatives from each department, so that we can answer any questions as soon as the students come through the door. We also have an online DASH which contains all of the resources that a distance student might need. Students aren’t going to use this information all the time, but they need to know where to go to get it. We’re constantly reminding students about how to access these resources – that’s especially important for online students, who won’t interact with these things on campus, so in some cases we’re actually building it into our online programming.

Max: Free speech and civil discourse have become hot topics on US campuses – especially in light of recent expressive activity. How can we encourage students to engage in constructive conversation across divides?

That question goes back to the importance and relevance of higher education in our society. We can see how important it is for people to become educated and learn how to do things in an appropriate manner – and that includes learning how to engage across differences. If you look at the overall number of students in higher education, and you look at the number of people that are engaging in protesting, it's actually quite a small percentage. Sometimes, things go a little too far, and we lose our critical thinking and nuance. So we're doubling down on the relevance of the curriculum for the real world, asking hard questions like “How do we really talk to each other? How do we have difficult conversations?” We want people to be able to come into a discussion from very different viewpoints and find common ground. That’s a challenge that’s facing higher education institutions across the globe, and addressing it is becoming more important than ever.

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

If I could talk to my younger self I would say: keep fighting for change. Even if you have to ruffle a few feathers, it will be worth it because it's for the benefit of the students.