Dr. Gibson sitting in his new office

Dr. Gibson sitting in his new office

By Evan Le’Mon, The Whetstone

Dr. Jeffrey Gibson believes the mission of everyone who works for Wesley College is to make it the best place possible for the students.

“I don’t think I’m alone in that mission among the faculty, and I know I’m not alone in it among the staff,” Gibson said. “Everything that we do here is for the benefit of the students.”

This year, Gibson was named Wesley’s Interim Vice President of Academic Affairs. A faculty member in the English department, Gibson was promoted to Associate Dean of Academic Affairs in 2013 under then-VPAA and Provost Dr. Patricia Dwyer during her reorganization of Academic Affairs.

“I learned a lot about different aspects of the college and the way that it’s run from an administrative perspective,” Gibson said. “It was interesting to see from the perspective of someone who had to coordinate with a lot of different departments across campus instead of in the classroom.”

While a professor, he played an important role in the development of the Scholar’s Day program, the Honors Program and the new core curriculum. He also contributed to the periodic review report for Middle States in 2009.

According to Dwyer, Gibson was a “wonderful asset and colleague.”

“He came to the position with great experience as a faculty leader, and I knew he would bring many talents, skills and experience to Academic Affairs’ administration,” Dwyer said.

In June of this year, Dwyer resigned from Wesley and is now teaching graduate students in educational leadership and helping develop an online Ph.D. program in higher education administration at Notre Dame of Maryland University.

“My family and I have been living in two different cities for six years, travelling back and forth between Baltimore and Dover,” she said. “My partner and I both decided that life is short and it was time to live in the same house again.”

While Dwyer knew she was leaving Wesley’s Academic Affairs department in good hands, the position has not been without its challenges. Although one of his stipulations for accepting the associate dean position was the ability to teach at least one course per semester as well as a summer course, Gibson had to temporarily give up teaching due to balancing the duties Interim VPAA.

“I think, particularly at a school like Wesley, it would be great for everyone who had the background to be faculty to also be in the classroom,” Gibson said. “I can see the danger of being an administrator and losing touch with the students. The primary work that we do here is in the classroom. I’ve already been in contact with the head of the English department, and I’ll be back in the classroom this spring.”

For the time being, the other professors in the English department have picked up the slack. Dr. Linda De Roche is teaching Gibson’s Shakespeare class. Taking this class on has required some shifting of her own classes.

“I loved my schedule for the fall,” De Roche said. “There wasn’t a course that I wanted to give up, but we needed to adjust and make it possible for Dr. Gibson to take on the administrative assignment. I was the best-placed person to teach the Shakespeare class, so I had to sacrifice.”

The only real disadvantage has been giving up her Gender Studies class, she said, which she passed on to Chelsea Vest, Wesley’s student outreach coordinator.

“It’s given me a heavier workload,” says Vest, who is also a full time graduate student in Women’s Studies and Psychology. “But I look at it as more of an opportunity than anything. It’s giving me the chance to teach a class in my field of study, so I’m just thankful for the opportunity.”

At the semester’s first full faculty meeting on September 21, four representatives were elected to a search committee for a full-time VPAA. Wesley’s new president Robert Clark will also appoint one member of the cabinet, and one member of the board of trustees to this committee. A chair will be elected from the faculty group before the search begins.

Gibson said he hasn’t come to a decision on whether he’ll apply for the full-time position. However, he says he can see the benefits the position would have.

“In some ways, it might make teaching a class that much easier,” Gibson said. “I wouldn’t have to balance the duties of both Interim and Associate Deans as much. Anywhere I am, I’ll always keep being a member of the faculty central to my professional identity and my relationship to the college.”

De Roche said she is willing to continue to fill in for Dr. Gibson until he’s able to return.

“That’s what you do at a small college,” De Roche said. “You shift to make certain that the ball isn’t dropped, and you want your colleagues to have the opportunity to grow. This is his opportunity, and I wouldn’t have wanted to stand in the way of that. We have each other’s backs around here.”