Meet Jerry Oliver Jr.
Staff Spotlight
Meet Jerry Oliver Jr., director of student success, advising and testing.
Oliver earned his Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Augusta State University in 2010. At Georgia Southern University, he earned his Master of Education in Higher Education Administration and his Master of Education in Evaluation, Assessment, Research and Learning. Currently, he is also enrolled in Georgia Southern’s Doctor of Education program in Educational Leadership with a concentration in Higher Education.
A recent addition to the Highlander family, Oliver arrived at Gordon State College in July, feeling that his past 11 years in higher education prepared him for his new role. When he saw the job description for the director of student success, he felt like it was written just for him. After further exploring Gordon’s website and learning about our staff, he realized how much he could learn from the individuals working here and decided to apply for the job.
So far, Oliver says that being part of the Highlander community has been both challenging and rewarding, and it enables him to tap into parts of his leadership that he did not know existed. Beyond that, he is simply happy to have met some amazing people here. He notes that every single person on campus works hard to make this the best place for our students.
According to Oliver, it is an honor and a privilege to be in spaces where he can advocate for students who feel like their voices are not always heard. A desire to help these students was one of the reasons that motivated him to become involved in higher education. He hopes that, at Gordon, he and the students can lean on each other for guidance and that students will understand that everyone is in this journey together, which is what the Power of WE is all about. He says no one can make this journey alone, and each member of the Gordon State community plays a pivotal role in each other’s lives.
Oliver is originally from Douglas, Georgia. In his free time, he loves watching reruns of Monk and Psych, being on the tennis court or watching old tennis matches on YouTube. In fact, when he was younger, he thought he would be a tennis commentator… or a psychologist with his own show. Either way, he says it is still not too late for him to realize these old goals.