Speaking of Simpson Brian Steffen

The final podcast episode for the academic year is a conversation with John Woell, the newly appointed senior vice president for academic affairs at Simpson College. Woell will join Simpson on July 1 after spending the past eight years at Albion College in Michigan. A religion and philosophy scholar, Woell talks about his path through higher education, plus his thoughts on the future of higher education and of Simpson College.

Seeking an internship or starting a career after graduation can be stressful enough for students, but throw in a pandemic and the job gets that much more challenging. Bobbi Sullivan and Laurie DuFoe of Simpson's Career Development Office (simpson.edu/careers) stop by the podcast this week to talk about how they keep helping students and alumni with job and internship searches during the coronavirus crisis. They share tips on how students can keep working toward their career goals from home.

Simpson's faculty has just approved a new outline for general education, also known as a core curriculum. The college will begin rolling out the curriculum with the entry of new students in Fall 2021. Mark Gammon, associate dean for general education, discusses the new outline and its role in the liberal arts.

Getting along in life is challenging enough, but the COVID-19 pandemic has placed medical and emotional challenges on all of us. Ellie Olson, Simpson College's associate dean for counseling, health and leadership, is our guest this week to talk about how students, faculty and staff — and, well, everyone — can take better care of their emotional needs. It comes down to three tips that she explains here.

Moodle. Zoom. Zencastr. Kahoot! Panopto — all terms you might not have known even a few weeks ago but are now commonplace at Simpson College, where all instruction has moved online in the time of the coronavirus. Faculty Development Director Kate Lerseth and Instructional Technologist Manda Gibson join the podcast this week to talk about the challenges that the online move have presented Simpson, its faculty and its students.

The newly named president of Simpson College, Marsha Kelliher, joins us on the podcast to talk about her life, career and plans for when she becomes the 24th president of Simpson College — the first woman to hold the position. Kelliher is now president and CEO of Walsh College in Michigan, an institution for nontraditional learners that focuses on business-related degrees.