Staff, Faculty Participate in Student Success Summit
Faculty and staff at Gordon State College came together Tuesday for a day that included inspirational talks, recognition, and training all with the goal of facilitating student success.
The Fourth Annual Student Success Summit carried the theme, “Keeping the Momentum Going,” throughout the day.
The keynote speaker for the summit was Jonathan Watts Hull, Director for Student Success in the Office of Academic Affairs and Policy at the University System of Georgia.
In this role, he has primary responsibility for the implementation, evaluation, and monitoring of student success and completion activities across the 26 institutions of the University System. Hull also teaches in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University.
Hull holds bachelor’s degrees from the University of Virginia in English and Religious Studies, and a Master’s of Public Policy from Georgia State University.
In his address to faculty and staff, Hull said that “Everyone on campus plays a part in student success.”
The afternoon was devoted to training sessions that covered such topics as “Building an Inclusive Classroom,” “Through the Eyes of Our Students,” as well as a session on providing exceptional customer service among other sessions.
“The opportunity for the faculty and staff to learn together is a key factor in creating a successful academic environment and reiterates The Power of We,” said Gordon President Kirk A. Nooks. “When each person can better understand how they contribute to learning, inside and outside of the classroom, then Gordon State will be able to fulfill our mission to our students as well as to the region and state.”
The campus closed for the day to facilitate full faculty and staff participation in the Summit.
“Our goal with the Student Success Summit was to allow our faculty and staff to come together to reinforce that The Highlander EDGE is the ethos that continues to drive all initiatives at Gordon State College,” said Jeffery Knighton, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs. “To ensure that our students have the EDGE, it takes all of us working together, and the Summit is the perfect opportunity for us all to recommit to our mission.”