CONNECT . MOTIVATE . INSPIRE .
and objectives into what’s happening in student leadership and expanding some of those skills that you say you want graduates to possess – reinforcing that by creating opportunities in residential life.” Now their semester begins at the end of July, and all their students leave by November. The semester is done the Friday before Thanksgiving. “Why come back for a dead week – half of our student population are non- residents of Oklahoma, so they’re either incurring the cost of travel or making the decision to not be with their families over thanksgiving,” Jackson said. That means they get a jump on seasonal employment when they go home – they’re getting jobs, and they are contributing to the resources needed to pay for college. That’s an example of a lesson learned, we were able to talk through and understand the impact on finances, the impact on residential life – on our vendors. It’s a different model that we’re in the second year of that works for our campus for our students and our workforce. That’s a direct lesson from Covid not only because we shifted but because we had interdisciplinary
Langston University in January 2014. Since July 6th she has been in the Interim president role. “What seems to be a common thread between HBCUs is that it’s a family atmosphere,” said Jackson. “That commitment to students and unwavering desire to show the value and relevance of our institution was immediately evident from the person who chaired the search committee all the way until I arrived here and still see that today.” “Covid was a game changer for us and for me as a professional, I think for me it required us to dismantle silos and work more closely across the vision. What that also did was really broadened my view and understanding of the operation of our university – particularly around finance and student affairs,” Jackson recalls. “I really got to see how we could integrate our learning goals
formal title.
At the same time, she started feeling like her time there was ending, her mother became ill and was a four-hour drive away. She and her brother were working together to care for her as much as they could. When her mom passed, she felt like she didn’t need to stay in the state for personal reasons. The person who encouraged her to go to graduate school at Colorado State had become the president of Langston University in Oklahoma. She applied for the dean of the School of Education and Behavioral Sciences and started the job at
conversations that allowed us to understand the real impact and benefits.”
“What seems to be a common thread between HBCUs is that it’s a family atmosphere,” said Jackson. “That commitment to students and unwavering desire to show the value and relevance of our institution was immediately evident from the person who chaired the search committee all the way until I arrived here and still see that today.”
“Like everything else we want to best use our resources to make Langston better and more efficient and that means examining how we do things and if there are any barriers that we have in place that deters that and if there are, what do we need to dismantle that,” said Jackson.
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