Meet Our Faculty: Ivy White, DM Organizational Leadership
December 11, 2020 2:24pm
What made you want to become an online instructor at SC?
I love to devise and conduct training. After obtaining my doctorate degree, I wanted to utilize it by contributing to education. I had a friend who was an online professor with SC and she informed me that there were openings for part-time affiliate instructors. As the saying goes, it has been a match made in heaven ever since.
How do you think your own professional experiences make you an effective online instructor?
I currently teach leadership classes and human resources to both graduate and undergraduate students. I have 26 years in human resources experience that I can contribute to bringing real-life experiences to the classroom. I think the ability to share those experience makes the class more engaging.
What is one misconception about earning an online degree that you hear often and what to do you say in response to correct it?
Most people do not believe that it is engaging enough. To them I say, class is what you put into it. I try my best to engage with all students and I currently facilitate live zoom sessions to keep my class engaged and to make class more personable.
How do you help your online learners who might be struggling with their coursework?
Life happens and when it does, I offer my assistance. I try my best to work with each and every student to complete their coursework. If there are writing issues, then I will direct them to the Online Writing Center. In other situations, I have directed them back to their counselors for assistance. There has been a situation where I have requested an incomplete for a student that I knew was struggling with a personal situation and had missed the last few assignments.
What advice would you give to someone who is concerned about establishing connections and networking in an online environment?
The online environment is just like e-mail so there is no need to be skeptical. You build your connections and network as you normally would on any social platforms. You have the opportunity to build friendships with people all over the world. I recently had a student that was stationed in Germany.
How do you stay connected with your learners in the online classroom setting?
As I stated earlier, I try to engage with each and every student in the classroom. What has worked the best for me, is to stay connected through Zoom sessions. In live Zoom sessions, I am able to connect with the students and they are able to ask questions. It creates the perfect atmosphere for interactive dialogue with me as well as their peers.
How do you feel SCPS stands out from other online colleges?
I received my doctorate degree in 2013 from another university and it was an online program with yearly residences. What makes SC different from my previous university is increased engagement. I have been with SC for almost five years and each year we have increased engagement with students through videos and live Zoom sessions. I would have loved more interaction when I was pursuing my online degree.