Your Faculty in the Spotlight

Interview with Dr. Jenny Penney Oliver

by Reisha E. Moxley

Dr. Jenney Penney Oliver is a senior academic professional in the University of Georgia College of Education’s Department of Counseling and Human Development Services.  In addition to her various roles during her five years working directly in the department and her over 20 years of service to the University of Georgia, Dr. Oliver has coordinated the Ph.D. program in Counseling and Student Personnel Services and co-coordinated the Ed.S. program in Professional School Counseling at UGA’s Gwinnett Campus.

Dr. Oliver is not only an active member of the College of Education at UGA, she is also significantly involved in advocacy projects and initiatives in the Athens community as well as at the national level. Dr. Oliver serves on the board of directors of the Clarke County Department of Family and Children Services, she is a charter member and former board member of the National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME), and she also serves on the board of the Georgia Chapter of NAME. Dr. Oliver’s influence in the Athens community is evidenced by her active role on the boards of the Foundation for Excellence in Education and L.E.A.D. Athens. Her national involvement includes membership in the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, the American Counseling Association, as well as the local and national chapters of NAME.

Dr. Oliver was gracious enough to sit down and provide an interview for our readers.  She discussed topics related to professional growth and development both inside and outside the department, the usefulness of the cohort model for student development, and the qualities she finds invaluable for meaningful advocacy work in the field.

What advice can you give to budding professionals in the field hoping to obtain an academic position?

Developing your new professional identity is key.  Once you have these magical letters behind your name, all of a sudden expectations of you change, career path options change, and opportunities and options are open to you that were not available to you before getting the degree.

After graduation, don’t underestimate the value of your major professor and other faculty that you have established relationships with after graduation. Many of us are involved long-term in professional organizations, so we know a variety of people and are aware of various opportunities.  This knowledge puts us in the position to connect students and alumni to key figures and organizations at the university, locally, and at national levels.

Additionally, allow yourself to be open to different opportunities that become available to you because of your academic experience.  Give yourself an opportunity to look at options post-graduation that you may not have considered in the past. Allow yourself to think about different ways to get involved in advocacy initiatives or projects that will facilitate the improvement of the systems in which you are involved. Many of our students have gone back or stayed in the same jobs they were in before entering the program, but they are able to affect change with a broader and more intentional influence. Look for ways that you can get involved in more leadership and advocacy roles and positions. Ask yourself what you are now equipped with that you were not before completion of the program.

Once they leave, how do students continue to cultivate genuine relationships with faculty members and their major professor?

I would suggest that students and alumni strongly pursue options to publish their dissertation and other research done while in the program with their major professor. Use the work you have done with members of the faculty and link these experiences with intentionality towards publication.  This is a mutually beneficial endeavor that can continue to benefit you both throughout your career as opportunities to present and publish continue to manifest.  Your faculty can continue to mentor you through the publication process and link you to other professionals and opportunities as you look toward advancing your career.

What was the process like for you to move from the Executive Assistant to the Dean of the College of Education to a faculty position in the CHDS department?

I did teach during my work in the Dean’s Office, but not in this department and not at the graduate level.  There was a point in my career when I could have begun to look at jobs at the Assistant or Associate Vice-President levels or I could focus more on a particular content area. For various reasons, some of them personal, others political, I wanted to strongly consider what would be the most personally fulfilling tasks for me. I had been in positions that required that I focus on the big picture for 15 years, but I decided that I really did want to start working more directly with students and in my discipline.  And so I came back to this discipline even though I had not attended counseling conferences in over 15 years!  Part of the agreement when I left the Dean’s Office was that I would continue coordination of some of the events and initiatives in the college, specifically the College’s diversity initiative, but that I would also begin my work as a faculty member of this department.

What is the rationale and importance of the cohort model for the students in our programs?

The decision to bring specific individuals into cohorts to matriculate through the program together is not an arbitrary one.  The faculty is very intentional about looking at various factors students offer and we intentionally try to bring in a diverse group of people that will complement each other, but also provide challenges for each other.

How has the cohort model influenced the development of the program, the individuals in the program, and the department as a whole?

Our faculty, as a cohort, has gone through our own development as we started this program five years ago. As I consider my own development in the way I have taught our culminating course, the Counseling Internship course, at the start of the program with our first graduating cohort of 2011 and how that has changed now with our current graduating cohort of 2013, I realize that I have grown and developed as a teacher with the program, the faculty, and our students. As an individual faculty member, I have much more clarity about what we aspire to do with this course.  As a member of the faculty as a whole, I am also privy to shared goals of our faculty for our program and can incorporate these things more intentionally in the coursework.

Each new cohort seems to gel quicker than the last one, particularly as the faculty become more and more in-tune with each other’s individual goals and the overarching goals of our program. We have said that if you can’t deal with ambiguity, this is not the program for you. While we are still refining the program as we go along, we have come quite a long way and are subsequently providing more of a stable environment for the students as they adjust to the program, the faculty, and each other.

Finally, the older cohorts can attest to the fact that we as a faculty are listening to their suggestions and are carefully considering their recommendations.  We can point to several changes that we have made because of student suggestions.  In short, the feedback that we get from students, our students’ ability to deal with the ambiguity inherent in graduate study and a new program, as well as being able to get necessary feedback from their faculty members and fellow students all serve to shape the program and its continual growth.

What impresses you most about your students?

I am very impressed by the individuals willing to make the commitment to this rigorous academic program, even as they juggle outside commitments to family and jobs.  I am also impressed with our students’ commitment to really understand what social justice means and how it translates to their work and clientele.  Their developing advocacy continues to impress me; not only what I see as each person moves through this process, but how they are changed by their interactions with others and what they learn, has impacted me.

Skills that I have seen successful graduates embody include cognitive flexibility, a sense of enthusiasm, and a sheer hopefulness about what can come.  The excitement and hope that these individuals display is infectious and can be seen even in the way these students’ smile and interact with others. The process of seeing our students develop advocacy is “it” for me!

As a student working with Dr. Oliver for over a year, it comes as no surprise that the qualities that most stand out for her in others are enthusiasm and sheer hopefulness about the future, as these qualities are a reflection of who she is as a faculty member, an advisor, a mentor, and an example for all those that she touches.  There is a clear commitment to social justice and advocacy that Dr. Oliver embodies. Her fellow faculty members and students are privileged to see this on a daily basis.