School of Education alumni Dr. Gary Walker-Roberts discusses his doctoral journey, indicating the NCU supports and resources helping him to complete his doctorate. From doctoral student to alumni to now Alumni Navigator for NCU, Dr. Walker also shares this progression as well as his latest role to assist other NCU students realize their goal of earning a doctorate. Dr. Walker’s energy and personalization are both motivating and helpful for any student thinking about completing their doctoral journey at NCU.
School of Education alumni Dr. Gary Walker-Roberts discusses his doctoral journey, indicating the NCU supports and resources helping him to complete his doctorate. From doctoral student to alumni to now Alumni Navigator for NCU, Dr. Walker also shares this progression as well as his latest role to assist other NCU students realize their goal of earning a doctorate. Dr. Walker’s energy and personalization are both motivating and helpful for any student thinking about completing their doctoral journey at NCU.
Hello, welcome to emerging trends in higher ed. My name is Samantha Wilcox, Director of communication and Community Relations here at NC u and your moderator for this podcast series. I will be your host for today's special podcast and title doctoral journey to alumnus navigator. Today we are meeting with Dr. Gary Walker who recently earned his PhD in elearning. From the School of Education at NC U. I am also with frequent guest Dr. Andy Riggle, Dean of the School of Education. Congratulations again to Dr. Walker for earning his doctoral degree here at NC U. I also understand Dr. Walker is now one of our MC use Alumnx navigators, we're glad to have you on board. During this podcast we want to share a little bit about what assisted Dr. Walker during his doctoral journey at NC u as well as discuss his new role as an MCU Alumnx navigator. So excited. Let's get started. Dr. Riggle, I believe you have a few questions for Dr. Walker today.
01:00
Oh, thanks, Sam. And yes, I certainly do have some questions for our special guest. So yes, let's get started. So Dr. Walker, it has been a while since we first met at one of NCUA is face to face boot camps. I clearly remember your high energy level to learn as much as possible, while building relationships with other faculty and students during the boot camp experience. I do have a few questions about this experience, as well as other supports and resources you found helpful during your doctoral journey at NC U. We want to share the experiences of our graduates with our current and potential students to obviously assist them to be successful with earning their degree at NC U. So Gary, question number one, thinking back what particular NC resources and other types of supports assisting you with completing your doctorate?
01:55
Craig question. Well, you know, first and foremost, I'd like to say thanks, Sam, and Thank you Dean Riggle. But you know, matching your energy was probably one of the first things I tried to do at that first boot camp, I was shaking in my in my boots. But you know, after getting to know you, it's been absolutely fantastic. And you know, Boot Camps been one of the number one resources but before I discovered boot camp, certainly the Center for Teaching and Learning was a great resource for me. And I didn't know about the Center for Teaching and Learning. Until my advisor, Sam Barczewski, she introduced me to the Center for Teaching and Learning.
And I was that student who had the chatter going on the you know, internal chatter, saying that I couldn't do this. And I was so nervous. And she said, you know, Carrie, reach out to the center of teaching and learning. And I think that will definitely help you stay on stage with me from start to finish, which was absolutely amazing. And she saw me go from a fearful doctoral student to a confident graduate, which was amazing, but the self driven modules in the Center for Teaching and Learning, absolutely fantastic. The library, the tutorials on how to navigate the library. Unbelievable. And, you know, I was one of those brick and mortar students that really love to go to the library, because I'm a non traditional student. But after learning how to navigate the library, it was amazing.
Also the one to one coaching, like statistics when I got into statistics, so Sam could tell you about that phone call we had I was about to give up and just leave the school. And she said no, no, Gary, there's one to one coaching, you have to try this. And so the zooms on the one to one coaching were fantastic and helped me navigate through statistics. And then last but not least, again, what you were talking about the boot camps. I discovered boot camp early in my process, my academic process, and I went as a new student. So I went to two boot camps. The first one I was like a deer in headlights. You know, I was fearful. That's when I first met you tons of energy. But you know, even during your presentation, Dean regale, you talked about the, you know the process. I was learning vocabulary. For an example instrument, you were talking about an instrument and I'm like,
Oh my god, as a doctoral student, I need to play an instrument. I don't even know what an instrument is. And then as I watched it unfold after learning vocabulary and new nuances to the PhD, I realized, okay, an instrument is what we use to collect data. But if you're a new doctoral student, you don't know those nuances. You don't know, you know what chapter 1234 and five all entails. But after the first boot camp, I felt courageous, I went back home, I was able to get back into my school work. And by the time I got to my second one, I had a lot more confidence in ready to start the dissertation process.
04:56
Super, super Gary, all great comments. I heard a few things. I heard that the Center for Teaching and Learning or CTL, and the Academic Support Center ASC, as well as your advisor. And certainly the boot camps were very helpful resources and supports for you completing your dissertation. And we strive, you know, a great deal to make those effective for students. So, so happy to hear those, those entities were very helpful for you. I also along the lines of boot camp, and for our listeners, ncu does offer two and one half days of intensive face to face, boot camp support sessions around the country each quarter. They've been a little delayed, obviously, because of COVID.
But we hope, hoping hopefully, fiscal year 2022 coming up this summer, into the fall, we can start having those again. So look for those announcements in the comments. The other thing, Gary, I know you've also been involved with is NCU. edu tourism and gatherings. Could you tell a little bit about your experiences with these, these events that ncu has been doing?
06:04
Yeah, I mean, I've had such a great experience with boot camp. And then the edge of tourism, we went to Cali Colombia, which was absolutely amazing. And we had to write an essay. And so I put my heart on the line. It was a dream of mine in high school to travel internationally. And I was in the French club, and I came home and I told my parents, oh my god, we we have this opportunity to go, you know, to France, and unfortunately, we are we're in the low economic status of, you know, of the society.
And I wasn't they had to come to me and say, I get a little choked up about it. But they had to come to me and say that, you know, unfortunately, because the finances they weren't able to, you know, send me. So as it came back around, this is where the story gets good. I, you know, took Spanish class in my community college, and I wrote the essay. And you know, I said that this would be a dream come true. And NCU once again, made my dream come true. And they selected me to go on this edgy tourism trip to Cali Colombia, which do you were there Dean Riggle, and we had a fantastic time. But you know, what I loved about it is that ncu did a great job at really balancing the educational part of it and the tourism part of it. And Dr. Prager did an amazing job at setting up schools that we were able to go to, and really work with the students and learn about the education system in Colombia, which was one of my again, dreams to really go international teaching English, speak the language. And it was awesome.
But on the flip side of that, we saw the hot springs and Colombia and we had a great time. And I got to, I got to get no other colleagues, right, other students that were in the program, or alumni. And one thing I like to say about both boot camp and the tourism trip was that I was able to talk to other students and hear different experiences. And I was having a great experience at North Central University. But I heard some students that weren't having such a great experience. And I would always say to them, like, well, who's your advisor? Because I mean, I always had Sam in my back pocket, and I would ask who's your advisor, and they'd be like, I'm not sure who my advisor is. And I'd be like, you don't know who your advisor is. North Central University sets us up right from the start with an advisor that stays with us till completion. So I had always been like, wow, like, I saw the people, the students who had an advisor and had a communication with them, they were happier, they seem to be getting through their product or program better and and reaching their degrees.
But then I saw the people who didn't really know their advisor, were a little bit more disgruntled, frustrated. And then I started to think, well, I wonder if the advisor is a key stakeholder in the university to really get people to graduate. So that's where actually the birth of my dissertation came from was going to boot camps and also to the education tourism trip. So kudos and you know, really getting the camaraderie with everybody. That was great. I felt connected to the school, I felt connected to MCU and I got the opportunity I even went on the sales and cu sales and on that trip, I'm having FaceTime with you Dean and other Dean's and with Dr. Lanier and then the ultimate Nirvana. You know, being able to have FaceTime with Dr. Harpole was amazing and being able to listen to him during the presentation to talk about education overall, was you know, just irreplaceable. So I really, really value the time that I was able to spend on the ship in Cali, Colombia, and it my boot camp so awesome, awesome experience.
09:56
That's all super super reflections scary. I Tell everyone who's listening that ncu does provide edgy tourism trips, we announced those and I know we have one coming up this summer of 2021 to Mexico. And we hope to continue to have more of those as COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. We also have various gatherings, other alumni events, but so happy to hear about your reflections from both of those, Gary. So well, I'm ready to sign up for Mexico to south.
10:27
Yes. Perfect. So let's kind of switch a little bit about you as a an actual doctoral kind of student when you were going through your dissertation experience. What were some of the positive aspects that really helped you during this experience from from maybe CTL, ASC to perhaps your relationship with your chair?
10:49
Yeah, I think you just hit the nail on the head. I think it was my relationship with my chair. My chair was Dr. Maggie, Broderick. And Dr. Broderick was absolutely fantastic. And I have to tell you, one of my biggest fears was to be all but dissertation, right? And I researched it just like every doctoral student, and all that's online as a lot of horror stories. As human beings, we love to talk about horror stories. And so I was flooded with like, Oh, my chair, my chair, in my chair, and all of these horrible experiences. And I think I brought them up to you at boot camp actually, like, Oh, you know, like, that's probably one of the biggest things that's like, you know, to the Dean of education, like, Oh, my God, what if I don't, what if I have a personality conflict with my chair, and I remember the advice you gave me, and it was great advice, Dean, and you said, you know, really listened to the chair and take the path of least resistance. And that's stuck with me, you know, because I got into the dissertation process.
And I knew that I had a fearful, you know, a fear of what would happen with my chair. But after the first zoom with Dr. Broderick, I knew, I knew that I was in good hands. So I had trust. I trusted her right from the beginning. So trustworthiness was there with her. And we just started to mold and shape what I did in my comps. And that all started again, I keep going back to boot camp. But I'm glad I went to the first boot camp, because then I was able to mold and shape all of my classes, all of my writing, went to my dissertation topic. So I had all of that already researched, which was awesome. And Dr. Broderick looked at all of that and said, Gary, I think you have a solid foundation, let's, you know, start working through this. And so, you know, I worked with Dr. Brian od as my Smee. And I had my heart set on doing interviews with my phenomenological study, and a Likert score, where I wanted to, you know, give those percentages and things of that nature.
And it came back that hey, Gary, you don't have to do the Likert score, you can just really stick to the stories of of the participants in your study. And I first put up a resistance like no, no, I think I really want this score. So I can really give tangible percentages. And then that little bird on my shoulder, which was Eugene Ruggles, that came to me to say take the path of least resistance. I said, Okay, why not just take that part out, right. And I end up thinking, after saying no to that, that it ended up better, because I was able to tell the stories of the participants in my study. And I really didn't need all of that mathematical data, because the phenomenological was certainly just to really find the themes from the lived experiences of those participants in my study.
So I think, you know, that's, that's, you know, one thing that really sticks true to me was, you know, mice chair, and really taking the path of least resistance, and we got through it, and the train never came off the tracks, which I kept thinking to that little chatter in my brain, like, when's the train gonna come off the track? Well, it didn't. And I, if I may say one other thing, the ncu phase, the dissertation phase, the process, the way that it's set up, I remember meeting with one of my shoe mentors that she brought out her dissertation, and she showed me and I saw and I panicked is that oh my god, I can't do this. But then after getting into the dissertation process with North Central University, and the way they have it scaffolded and chunked out, made it so much more manageable to really put it together without looking at a super huge goal. And it was just taking a little bite of the elephant at a time and then putting together this elephant with a big old trunk up was super. So that was another aspect that was super Fantastic during the dissertation phase was the process and see you has in place.
15:05
That's, that's great to hear Gary, it sounds like the dissertation process, the sequence of courses really helped you continue to work very consistently through your dissertation experience. And, and it NCU, we do have a very well defined process that has sequences of dissertation courses for students to complete. And the idea is that students continually weekly received faculty support feedback and those kinds of things, to help them complete their dissertation. So we're not lost somewhere in a void with very, very little support. We really strive for that one to one teaching model, and particularly at the dissertation phase. It also sounds Gary, you had a wonderful experience with your chair. And we really have chairs that really develop relationships with students, and really worked with you as that guide on the side that really tries to help. And it's a joint kind of learning experience. So so very happy here about Dr. Maggie Rodricks. Work with you all super stuff. So So Gary,
16:10
I'm sorry to interrupt you in regard. But about Dr. Broderick, again, like NCM, as well as my advisor, one thing that I think North Central University does really well is that they embody this, this saying or phrase that, you know, they see the person in the student, not just the student and the person, I think that's phenomenal. Like, you know, when Sam would call me as my advisor, she didn't just talk about academic, you know, process or academic paperwork, pushing and things of that nature, she really got to know me, my husband, my dogs, and so we really had a nice conversation, she still periodically will call me and say, how's it going? Same thing with Dr. Broderick, like, I got to know her family, she got to know mine. And we're still in touch to this day. I mean, it's pretty amazing. So she really got to know the person Gary, but then also, it helped to develop, you know, like, how I work as a student. So that was pretty amazing.
17:08
But sounds like she really developed, like you said, a trustworthy relationship with you that will last way beyond when you graduated. And that's what we really strive forward to. You become that, that that continual scholar, that lifelong learner, and that we've helped to create a graduate culture, with our faculty and our students that again, last last a lifetime. So all great stuff. So So Gary, maybe just one last kind of question. And I always like to hear from students, how earning their doctorate has helped them personally, what wasn't for you, as a as a person? What was it for you? Personally, for earning your doctorate? How did it feel for you when you earned your doctorate?
17:55
Wow. I mean, that's, that's a pretty emotional question. And one of the best aspects of the entire journey was that after defending, and we defended our I defended through zoom, we all defend through zoom. And after I got done with my presentation, and I had my full support, on zoom, and Dr. Broderick and Dr. ot went into another room to discuss and I just put it out there, I said, Okay, it's done, what is is right, waiting for them to come back. And when they come back, when they came back, and they confer my doctoral degree upon me, and called me, Dr. Gary Walker Roberts for the first time, I think that's when it really hit me. And the joy that my family saw when they were on the zoom.
But you know, it's a that you did, like that you were able to accomplish, that the sacrifices that you made, the sacrifices that took place through the three plus years, was just amazing. And to really give this to the next generation, I don't have children. But what I do with my degree as I help kids in K 12, learning online, and I also, you know, do adjunct at the community college, so also non traditional students and business professionals. I teach English so you know, giving back to society that way, but also leaving this legacy. I mean, having my dissertation in the Library of Congress and you they can reference that, but to also let my family know my nieces and nephews that when they set their mind to it, any at all, any and all of their dreams can come true. So you know, that's my legacy to hand it down to them and hopefully, you know, if one of them feel academic, want to go that route, they have this, that they can do it that Our family does have to smart to know without to get through it. So what I do with it today is that I just got a part time job with a K 12. system. It's called fusion Academy, which applies the same values as ncu, the one to one teaching and learning module. So in the classroom, it's just one to one. I've been teaching on zoom, of course, that isn't in in it is a in classroom, school. But now with COVID, everything's been doing zoom, and I have to tell you to see how the kids and the teachers have really mastered up. And it really became experts in online education, which was everything that I learned in my e learning specialty was about learning management systems, and modalities on best ways to teach students, I was able to apply it right away.
So it's been wonderful. And I just have to say, I used to go to the community college and talk about elearning and zoom, and everyone would say, What's zoom? I don't even know what zoom is. But today, you could talk to a two year old and they're like, Oh, yeah, I'm gonna be on zoom. So I everybody in our society, as talking about soon, and I'm sure Dean rego, you probably bought some stock in zoom before this happened, but everybody now knows that elearning can happen. And even though we're going back to end class, like we've really moved the benchmark on how to use digital modalities in the classroom, or not in the classroom, for example, I heard that the northern states now are not going to have snow days, because they can now get on zoom and and learn. And so the process of education is not going to start and stop, it's going to be continuous. So I think that's one of the great things, and I'll continue to work online.
21:59
That's super, that's super. One last one last question, Gary, what what kind of practical and emotional advice? Would you give students who are thinking about completing a doctorate or in the process of completing their doctorate? Gosh, Dean
22:16
Dean, you keep hitting me with those emotional questions. But yeah, that's a great question. And it's emotional, because there's a lot of sacrifice that goes into the doctoral journey. And, you know, I think that's why less than 3% hold the doctoral degree, because there is big sacrifice involved. And, you know, sometimes I didn't get to go to that gathering. And I had to say no, and stay home and write a paper or, you know, work on a chapter. But that's what it took, or, you know, like, maybe I think I missed a birthday, which I don't regret anything, because it helped me push through, and I got to celebrate with them over the next weekend. But there are sacrifices that you sit back and you say, wow, this is very time consuming. So really recognize those sacrifices, but also surround yourself with a support system, surround yourself with a system of people who will elevate you raise you up, when you're down, ready to quit, like they're going to be there to be that safety net. And it should be family members.
But also, they really don't understand sometimes what you're going through because they've never went through it. And where you can find that support is in the comments in the comments at North Central University is a platform where we all can come together faculty, staff, students, alumni, and we support each other because one thing that I love, again, about North Central University is that every teacher, every instructor, mentor holds a doctoral degree. So they've been through it. So they know what you're going through. And it's always great to have that support system, that shoulder to lean on that you know that they went through the same process. There's something unique about that. So yes, have your family around you. And then also have that support system within your academic institution nor Central University. And last but not least, be forgiving, forgive yourself. You're going to get writer's block, you're going to get frustrated, you're going to rip up a whole chapter and start from the from start to take a bath, maybe a little libation. Give yourself that that that time to do so. Chocolate, you know, eat that piece of pizza like you know, but then get back to it. Like you'd set it aside, go get some fresh air, take a walk, take a trip coming to Mexico.
Those are always fun, the edge of tourism trips, go to a boot camp, you know, really get surrounded by people who understand what you're going through. And then I promise you The joy, the excitement, and just the confidence after you defend and they call you the first doctor. And in your name, it's it's so joyous that it makes it all well worth it. The other thing I love too, was the EDD boot camp when we got our ceremonial coin. That was amazing. So you got I took something home tangible and put it right on my desk. So I always had that. The other thing I did, too, was I purchased the ncu diploma frame. So I put it on my wall, and it said, ncu amongst all my other diplomas right there with my master's degree, and every time I got frustrated, or have writer's block, I would always just look at it and say, I know what's going to be there, like put that Natalie affirmation, but put that that future view of what that degree is going to look like and get it. I didn't get to go to graduation yet. Although Sammy did a wonderful job at the virtual graduation. But you know, I still look forward to the day to be able to put on my regalia, and to have that moment of celebration.
So stick with it, go through the emotional journey. And at the end, I'm telling you, it's all well worth it. I promised, all super advice and and so happy that obviously you've completed and you continue to be part of the ncu family. So thanks, Dr. Walker, it's been an absolute pleasure reconnecting with you. And, you know, I certainly wish you the very best and I know you'll stay in touch often. And I'm also confident you'll be attending many alumni events as well. So always a pleasure to see and speak with you and and learn about your continual accomplishments as you move forward as an academic scholar.
26:51
Thank you, Dean.
26:52
You're very welcome. So Sam, back to you.
26:55
It to hear more from MCU visit the emerging trends in higher ed podcast found on your preferred immediate platform. And until next time, goodbye.