In this week's episode, guest expert Wendy Wilson, Vice President of University Relations and Chief of Staff at Albany State University, joins us to talk about being your holistic self, community engagement, social equity, and responding to COVID-19. We wrap up with our takeaways from the conversation. Feel free to share your thoughts and responses with us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook and tag us @university_of_venus on IG and @UVenus on Twitter or post it on our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/UVenus/ and we will share, retweet, and amplify! Find University of Venus on Instagram @university_of_venus , Twitter @UVenus , and Facebook http://www.facebook.com/UVenus/
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Music Credits: Magic by Six Umbrellas
Sound Engineer: Ernesto Valencia
VFV 3.1. Wendy Wilson
[00:00:00] Mary Churchill: [00:00:00] Hello everyone. And welcome to this week's episode of the View from Venus and welcome to the fall season, season three. My name is Mary Churchill and on today's episode, I am joined by cohosts Meg Pellegrino and Leanne Doherty and guest expert, Wendy Wilson, the Vice President of University Relations and Chief of Staff at Albany State University.
[00:00:27] In today's episode, we'll be talking with Wendy about her work related to ASU’s COVID-19 response, the role of social equity in her EDI work and the importance of community engagement.
[00:00:40] Dr. Wendy Wilson is the Vice President of University Relations and Chief of Staff at Albany State University and Albany, Georgia. Wendy is a native of Detroit, Michigan, and is noted in the Southwest Georgia region as the host of Realizing Potential, a decades long television show highlighting the accomplishments of state and regional leadership. She additionally serves her community as a board member for A Partnership for Excellence in Education and the past president of Girls, Inc. of Albany.
[00:01:12] We asked Wendy to join us on View from Venus, because we wanted to hear more about her work related to social equity and community engagement. So, let me start by welcoming you. Thank you so much for joining us. We're really excited about this conversation.
[00:01:29] Wendy Wilson: [00:01:29] Thank you for the invitation.
[00:01:31] Mary Churchill: [00:01:31] Meg is going to get us started with a warmup question and she'll answer first.
[00:01:38] Meg Palladino: [00:01:38] You're going to love this. We've almost already talked about it. My question today is what's your internal weather today?
[00:01:45] I'm feeling warm. It's a little hazy. There's a low chance of showers today. How are you guys feeling? What's your weather?
[00:01:54] Wendy Wilson: [00:01:54] I'm feeling internally sunny today even though externally it's overcast. I'm just excited about the future shifting my thoughts. And so today is sunny.
[00:02:07] Meg Palladino: [00:02:07] Excellent. It doesn't sound like there are any clouds
[00:02:08] Wendy Wilson: [00:02:08] Actually. It's a little overcast here today, but I'm moving beyond that.
[00:02:16] Leanne Doherty: [00:02:16] Well, I'm feeling rather moorish. There seems to be a gray haze of dank, British authors in my weather right now, even though I don't like them at all, it's not my go to, I think it's just been a, it's been a week. My, eighth grade son said to me, mom, we've had a week this week on I'm like, yeah, if you're saying that, then we've definitely had a week this week, but it's the weekend. And well, there's all sorts of things to be done that are outside now that the weather's cooled. So, we'll get there.
[00:02:47] Wendy Wilson: [00:02:47] Indeed.
[00:02:49] Mary Churchill: [00:02:49] I feel like my internal has shifted since we started talking. So, it's that kind of, it was really cloudy, but there's this really nice breeze that is just starting to blow those clouds away. So that is kind of fun. Yeah. Bring it out the sun. No, eye rolling. Leanne, no eye rolling.
[00:03:13] Oh, so yeah, it's been a long start to this fall semester already. So, Wendy last fall, before our world changed dramatically, you were asked to serve as the interim vice president for student affairs.
[00:03:31] Wendy Wilson: [00:03:31] I was
[00:03:32] Mary Churchill: [00:03:32] And then COVID-19 happened.
[00:03:34] Wendy Wilson: [00:03:34] Yes. Yes.
[00:03:36] Mary Churchill: [00:03:36] You effectively transitioned the entire student engagement portfolio to a virtual structure in response to COVID-19 ensuring the safety for over 6,000 students, faculty and staff. First, what did you learn about yourself? And then as a follow-up, what are some lessons for our listeners about how to respond in a situation like this?
[00:03:57] Wendy Wilson: [00:03:57] Yeah, yeah. What I learned is that I must practice what I, what I preach. So, I'm constantly telling people to live in your truth. You're human. And so those feelings that we just shared a few moments ago in terms of our internal weathering, allow those to happen. Seek support. And so, all of that, that really came to fruition.
[00:04:18] For me. I had to practice that, you know, work alongside some amazing colleagues and everybody was in their respective lanes pushing, the separate thing. But I have to add to it. I've been in higher ed it's going on going probably on 18, 19 years now.
[00:04:38] Never really had an interest in student affairs. It's 24 hours, seven days a week, the whole nine yards. And so, I had made up in my mind, I can touch it. Yeah. Every other area of student affairs, I mean of, of higher ed within a college or university, but not student affairs, but as a university would have it, here you go.
[00:04:59] Here's student affairs. My greatest nightmare happened during that experience I had to deal with a student death. And so that. That was rough, but you know, great support systems in place and was able to reach out to colleagues to help me navigate that's. So, got past that. We were in the middle of the search for the interviews for the incoming vice president of student affairs and then COVID hit.
[00:05:24] And so I learned a lot about myself, but primarily is practice, what you preach, be human throughout this process. And I had to treat it as if the whole experience was a classroom, if you will. And so those tools and the understanding that I had in my portfolio and that knowledge you had to, I had to quickly apply that. And we made it happen.
[00:05:47] Mary Churchill: [00:05:47] That's awesome. I, you know, I, I feel like you just talked about something that I've been thinking about a lot this week, which is this kind of answer to this question, what's your growth edge, right? You know, a lot of times we feel really comfortable sitting where we are and doing the work we've always done and that stuff that we have never done, or we don't know how to do that, that's our growth edge, right? But it's hard to embrace it. And it sounds like you had a bit of, it happened to you, but you really stepped right into it in a, in a really strong way. I agree with you. I have done almost everything in higher ed, and I love students dearly, especially when I'm teaching them, but I have avoided that whole student affairs thing.
[00:06:33] Wendy Wilson: [00:06:33] Oh my gosh. And I was going through it while raising my 18. He's now 18, 17, 18-year-old son. So. Gray hairs are being camouflaged. It's just a result of that. It was a lot, but we survived it.
[00:06:49] Mary Churchill: [00:06:49] Well, no, thank you for telling us that story,
[00:06:52] Leanne Doherty: [00:06:52] Wendy, I want to follow up on something you said about being your true self. And I, especially during this time of national hyper-masculinity, if you will, around conversations and public health, then. Higher ed writ large and the world at its best or not, that often appears and, or is described as something that one can't do. If you're a woman in a leadership position of, of being one's true self. Right. you know, I think we've been guided both ways throughout all of our careers in that way. Could you talk a little bit about authenticity and how did you get to that space where you could be your authentic self in a position of leadership?
[00:07:33] Wendy Wilson: [00:07:33] Sure. I'll talk about the growth edge as Mary mentioned a little while ago.
[00:07:37] You resist at first because we are creatures of needing to conform at times, or to be accepted. We sometimes approach that unconsciously. Sometimes we approach it consciously, and, or for many individuals, for many women, it's a matter of survival. I have to make some decisions.
[00:07:57] Fortunately I had, I came to the realization that failure to do so was going to continue to tax my physical, mental, spiritual state. And I just had to trust them the process that the, again, back to the universe, the creator, whomever you serve was going to position me that it was going to be okay.
[00:08:20] It was not going to be a necessarily easy process, but it was going to be okay because failing do so was going to be problematic and troublesome to my overall being. And one of the things that I really like to practice and back to that practice what she preaches is being a holistic individual.
[00:08:39] So, fortunately coupled with that, I've been in environments where I've had great examples of male and female leadership that allowed me to be Wendy or supported me in my efforts of being Wendy and living in that truth. Okay. Do you recognize it? Or a lot of women still do not have that, but I would encourage them all just to, again, step out on that faith. Do it any way. And if that environment that you find yourself in is not supportive of that, then take the steps to identify that environment where you can live in that truth. It's
[00:09:17] Leanne Doherty: [00:09:17] so great to hear that anyone who knows me knows that I've never not been Leanne. And I think sometimes it's exceptional in that space maybe. And Mary's laughing. But shockingly, it's still going all right. But I do, I do feel like. We're at a time where I hope we don't regress, right? That this idea of different leadership styles, collaboration, teamwork, Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha spoke at Simmons yesterday and being a Detroit native. I'm sure you and Mary too, right from the Michigan, you know, from Michigan, talking about the Flint water crisis and the like, and she talked a lot about this idea of being the holistic person, which you just described. And the like, and I'm, you know, I think it's really ties into your work for the centers for diversity and inclusion and social equity, right? You know, we are moving forward with hard work right now that may not be recognized in every space as important work. Right. And so, I'm just, could you speak a little bit around these ideas of, we have this racial reckoning going on in the country and public unrest and calls for social equity and the center provides that space for students, right?
[00:10:29] A learning community to come together. Could you speak a little bit about what your definitions of this idea of culture, cultural pluralism is, right? And what does that look like to you and what communities do you see for growth in social justice?
[00:10:42] Wendy Wilson: [00:10:42] Sure we touched upon it in terms of that living that whole truth. Yeah. The challenges is it's not become, it is. it's been and historically, you know, go all the way back to the arrival of enslaved Africans in Jamestown. And so that whole thought process and, and why child slavery, we could go on and on about that. So, what is not new? What is occurred in 2020 is it's been heightened because everybody has either, access to 24-hour, the onslaught of 24-hour media, whether it be through a phone or through turning on your television. And so, we just are, are just inundated with that. And so, it's constantly in your face. So, I love you term in terms of reckoning, because it's constantly in your face it is now at a state where, what do you do? Because we are, we are at that tipping point. One of the things that I felt that it was important. And I was very honored when the President asked me to do that. And it was in response to the whole social unrest. And certainly COVID, she's very concerned about the mental state of our students.
[00:11:50] We had to ask them to immediately shift to an online environment. We deal with a lot of students who come from marginalized communities. They may not have access to Wi-Fi. A lot of the things that we just said. Take for granted is a challenge for many people and then simultaneously, Oh yes. Still do well in your calculus class or your chemistry class.
[00:12:11] So, all of those factors. So, when we returned, she says we owe it to our students to help them to process what they're dealing with, what they're experiencing, what they're seeing of courses at a distance, whatever the situation may be. Coupled with that, learning that discipline, why they came here to earn that degree and then also prepare them to go out into the world. Part of that preparation includes everybody may not be and has been demonstrated is not accepting of your gender, your race, your sexual orientation. So how are you going to receive that and still be your holistic self and live in your truth. And so, the primary focus of the whole, as we approach this cultural pluralism.
[00:13:03] So we, you cannot depend on someone else to address it for you, but we want to give you the tools and the skillsets to be able to not only respond right, but to create opportunities for others who may not to have those same challenges that you are currently experiencing or have observed.
[00:13:20] Mary Churchill: [00:13:20] Oh, I love that. I love, especially the, how do you not just do it for you yourself, but do it for others, right. I think that that is the next level work that most folks I work with regardless of race and gender are really grappling with. Right. The really making it a bigger space, right. That supports. And I like the fact that you use holistic rather than, you know, I often will say, can you bring your whole self to work?
[00:13:49] And you know, kind of holistic to me is more nuanced and whole self, it feels like you're leaving your arm at home or something. Right. It feels a little too rigid.
[00:14:00] Wendy Wilson: [00:14:00] All. Bring it all
[00:14:01] Mary Churchill: [00:14:01] right. But I love that because it also reminds us of the importance of resourcing yourself to do this kind of work. Right. And you mentioned that very early on of like, you got to take care of yourself so you can do this work. And it's a marathon right in it's the work we're going to do for the rest of our lives.
[00:14:22] Wendy Wilson: [00:14:22] Correct.
[00:14:23] Mary Churchill: [00:14:23] Never done. And so, I told my boss that the other day I was like, this is an ongoing project. It is never done. You can't just put it and then check it off. Like we're just going to do it forever. Thank you.
[00:14:36] Wendy Wilson: [00:14:36] You're welcome. Thank you. That's a great question.
[00:14:39] Meg Palladino: [00:14:39] So in addition to all of this great work, you're also the host of the television show Realizing Potential. How does that support your mission of community engagement and why should our listeners look for opportunities like this?
[00:14:52] Wendy Wilson: [00:14:52] Well, interestingly enough, when I birthed the idea, it was not, for me. It was actually for a colleague at the former Darton State College, she was over career services and she's like, I just really want to be able to teach our students what their majors, how their majors aligned with their intended, or maybe, you know, haven't quite determined what their career path will be or what their profession desirous profession is.
[00:15:18] And so we have a television station and a radio station here and I said, Oh, why don't you just interview alums? And the, that are, you know, graduates and have them come back and say, Hey, I was a business management major. This is how my major impacted me. And this is what led to my success. Why I love it? Don't love it. These are the fundamentals that you need to have and on and on. And so, you know, she rebuffed that and she's like, I can't do that. And so we had a guest speaker to come lecture and the producer for several of the shows that were on at that, on the television station that we have here, just threw the mic in my hand, he's like here, interview this guy.
[00:15:58] And so from there, it started. What I am most proud of, and I have met some amazing people along the way, whether they be graduates of a now Albany State University, because we had a consolidation with Darton State College, or community members or industry Titans, celebrities that have come through. What I have most has just absolutely made me proud is Albany is a relatively small community. It's little under a hundred thousand people here. And so, it's the constituents that will come up to me at events, or I'm at the grocery store, grabbing some gas. Whatever the situation may be, and they say, I watch your show, but it's more than just saying, I watch your show. What they also say is. I didn't know that there were individuals who look like me that were making such strides. It's an accomplishment on a global level. And that is just, we live the world of higher ed. So, we've run into those individuals all of the time, regardless of race, gender, the whole list. But when you have someone that says, you know, you put them in reach and it gave me a sense of pride and joy, and it gave me a bird's eye view into a pathway that I could also pursue.
[00:17:20] And so that has been so rewarding and enriching. For me personally. And I know I've probably had maybe over hundreds and hundreds of interviews if at this point, because I've been doing it, both of the institutions had the radio and we'll have the television station. So, when I moved over to Albany State back over to Darton, I just continued it on.
[00:17:41] Meg Palladino: [00:17:41] That's awesome.
[00:17:43] Mary Churchill: [00:17:43] I love what you said about running into folks kind of getting gas or at the grocery store, because that's really that to me, is this just wonderful piece of community engagement, right? And I think that higher ed has so much bad press right now. And that story you get, you know, you're told of seeing people, I didn't know that people who looked like me had these kinds of roles and I think that's, I would hope that's why we're all here.
[00:18:13] Wendy Wilson: [00:18:13] Yeah. Right. The first time I heard that, and I apologize for cutting you off the first time I heard that it was from a gentleman who was 80 years old. Oh, yeah. And it, it was as much as it's excited and made me happy. It excited me and made me happy. It was also very sobering and very, very sad. Because again, that is a common thread throughout my life as I know it is with you all right.
[00:18:40] Well, I know countless individuals who look like me, who, you know, across industry. So, we're very successful and attributed a lot of their success to their academic pursuits. And, you know, so the environments that they grew in and those mentors, those coaches, or sponsors, whatever their, their development process included.
[00:18:59] So [00:19:00] it was, it was, again, it was sad to hear, but it was very realistic. And then you could just see it in people's eyes.
[00:19:06] Mary Churchill: [00:19:06] Thank you so much for joining us. We end with kind of like takeaways and from the conversation. And I, we have so many, my like, I'm, you know, I started cloudy, the clouds clear, I have this internal sunshine and now I'm really, I think the community engagement pieces is sticking with me the most, which is the importance of. I talk about making the walls of our campuses or the boundaries permeable, right? Kind of how do we take ourselves into communities and open our doors for communities?
[00:19:47] Wendy Wilson: [00:19:47] I'm a very, I'm an introvert, believe it or not, but I still miss that whole social connection with people. So, I've had to get past my angst about this whole zoom, but I see the benefits and beauty of it.
[00:20:00] Yes. You just said connecting with the community. One of the ways that we're leveraging this is we have an ask Dr. Nitin series. She's a mental health clinician in the community. And so, we're asking students because we have a hybrid model. So, we do have students that are residential living on campus.
[00:20:18] And so, Hey, tell us. Tell us how you're feeling during, during COVID. They're very honest. And so, she'll come back and give some answers because of if it's one student feeling that way, there are hundreds of students feeling that way. So, we anticipate, you know, we had faculty and staff said, Hey, I want to participate in that.
[00:20:35] So I imagine that the community will as well, of course, practicing social distance, you know, chime in, send an email or do a little video and put that forward.
[00:20:46] Leanne Doherty: [00:20:46] I really appreciated your comment about higher ed being a leader in doing the right thing. Right. You know, and I think, I think we forget that sometimes. I, I do think it's easy to listen to the rhetoric that higher ed is the, end all and be all of all that's awful. Right. Awesome. And things like that. I think, I think hopefully my optimism is that you'll see a resurgence of community development, but also, you know, in this way that universities and colleges are leading by example being partners, right? Not necessarily being places of privilege, right. Access is such a conversation now with this, another silver lining of a pandemic is about access really, honestly, right. About what that means for every student we serve. So, it's nice to be reminded that we are doing good work and we're, you know,
[00:21:34] Wendy Wilson: [00:21:34] We are.
[00:21:36] Meg Palladino: [00:21:36] Yeah, I really. I love this idea of being authentic and presenting myself as a holistic person. But how do I begin? I think I need to do that, but what's like step number one?
[00:21:46] Wendy Wilson: [00:21:46] Yeah. That's, that's an amazing question. And I think it requires some honest conversations and assessment of yourself. What do you want to do with what makes you happy and whatever, when you get to that point about, what's not making me happy? That's the part where you better, you know, you need to buckle up.
[00:22:04] Mary Churchill: [00:22:04] Thank you so much. This was really amazing.
[00:22:07] Wendy Wilson: [00:22:07] Oh, well, thank you so much. I'm so honored. I'm enjoy chatting with each of you. Ladies learned a lot and thank you so much for this opportunity.
[00:22:15] Mary Churchill: [00:22:15] Thank you for joining us for our first episode of season three of View from Venus.
[00:22:21] We'll be back next week with Selcen Öner, talking about gender bias in the media. Have a great day.