29 min
Interview Nashville State Community College President Shanna Jackson The Innovating Together Podcast
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- Education
Today we’re talking with Nashville State Community College President Shanna Jackson. She discusses a teaching experience that she had that caused her to understand the power of education. Many of the students were the first in their family to go to college and Shanna saw the hardships students were facing. Shanna says education is one of the strongest ladders and that she had to be a support. Shanna says her job is to prepare students to be successful whether that be going to a four-year college or entering the job market.
When she became president of Nashville State Community College, Shanna says she had to remind herself to let people know when she was just thinking out loud. She says every word she said people were trying to do. You have to understand the strength of your words when you’re in a leadership position. Shanna says it’s also important to show people what you’re looking for, you can’t just assume that they know. She puts a strong emphasis on making sure her team understands each other.
Being in an urban market, Shanna saw the issues students had with things like transportation, child care, and textbooks. She realized they didn’t have a lot of support in place for students and the pandemic really highlighted that. Because of the pandemic aid they’ve been able to open food pantries and help with childcare and textbooks. It’s something she says she plans to find a way to continue. The pandemic brought a new challenge of technology that we hadn’t focused on before. Many people needed devices, Wi-Fi connections, and help to learn new programs. Shanna says they’re working on identifying students' needs earlier.
In terms of student success redesign, Shanna says you can look at indicators, but it can still be hard to have a clear sense. There’s not one thing she looks for to know their work is making a difference. She does see that conversations are changing and people are working together in different ways. As they begin to focus on completion and the whole student life cycle, they’re also looking ahead to post-completion and how to best serve students. Shanna tries to not just look at how far they have to go but to look at how far they’ve come. She says you have to celebrate the good and give yourself a break.
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Welcome to innovating together, a podcast produced by the University Innovation Alliance. This is a podcast for busy people in higher education who are looking for the “aha moments” that can propel their work forward. Innovating Together curates the best insights, research, and experts. To connect with us further, visit www.theuia.org.
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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/innovationalliance/message
Today we’re talking with Nashville State Community College President Shanna Jackson. She discusses a teaching experience that she had that caused her to understand the power of education. Many of the students were the first in their family to go to college and Shanna saw the hardships students were facing. Shanna says education is one of the strongest ladders and that she had to be a support. Shanna says her job is to prepare students to be successful whether that be going to a four-year college or entering the job market.
When she became president of Nashville State Community College, Shanna says she had to remind herself to let people know when she was just thinking out loud. She says every word she said people were trying to do. You have to understand the strength of your words when you’re in a leadership position. Shanna says it’s also important to show people what you’re looking for, you can’t just assume that they know. She puts a strong emphasis on making sure her team understands each other.
Being in an urban market, Shanna saw the issues students had with things like transportation, child care, and textbooks. She realized they didn’t have a lot of support in place for students and the pandemic really highlighted that. Because of the pandemic aid they’ve been able to open food pantries and help with childcare and textbooks. It’s something she says she plans to find a way to continue. The pandemic brought a new challenge of technology that we hadn’t focused on before. Many people needed devices, Wi-Fi connections, and help to learn new programs. Shanna says they’re working on identifying students' needs earlier.
In terms of student success redesign, Shanna says you can look at indicators, but it can still be hard to have a clear sense. There’s not one thing she looks for to know their work is making a difference. She does see that conversations are changing and people are working together in different ways. As they begin to focus on completion and the whole student life cycle, they’re also looking ahead to post-completion and how to best serve students. Shanna tries to not just look at how far they have to go but to look at how far they’ve come. She says you have to celebrate the good and give yourself a break.
--
Welcome to innovating together, a podcast produced by the University Innovation Alliance. This is a podcast for busy people in higher education who are looking for the “aha moments” that can propel their work forward. Innovating Together curates the best insights, research, and experts. To connect with us further, visit www.theuia.org.
---
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/innovationalliance/message
29 min