Welcome to The Academic Life. You are smart and capable, but you aren’t an island, and neither are we. So we reached across our mentor network to bring you podcasts on everything from how to finish that project, to how to take care of your beautiful mind. Wish we’d bring in an expert about something?  Find us on Twitter: The Academic Life @AcademicLifeNBN.

In this episode you’ll hear: reflections on the shutdown, lessons learned, leading through change and ambiguity, impacts and challenges facing students, the future of higher education, and the distinctive nuances of a vocation versus a job.

Our guest is: Dr. Zebulun Davenport, the Vice President for Student Affairs at West Chester University. He earned his Doctorate in Higher Education and Leadership from Nova Southeastern University, an M.Ed. in College Student Personnel Administration, and a B.S. in Communications/Public Relations from James Madison University. His contributions have advanced campus culture, organizational structure, and student success. Dr. Davenport has served as a Vice President for Student Affairs for three institutions and under his leadership, two of those divisions of student affairs have received Diverse Magazine’s the distinction of “Most Promising Places to Work.”

His expertise includes student retention, outcomes assessment, strategic planning, and strategies for assisting first-generation college students. Dr. Davenport’s publications include co-authoring two books entitled First-Generation College Students – Understanding and Improving the Experience from Recruitment to Commencement; and Student Affairs Assessment, Evaluation, and Research: A Guidebook for Graduate Students and New Professionals, a chapter in an edited volume entitled The Student Success Conundrum, in B. Bontrager (Ed.), Strategic Enrollment Management: Transforming Higher Education; a chapter in an edited monograph entitled Creating Collaborative Conditions for Student Success in S. Whalen (Ed.), Proceedings of the 8th National Symposium on Student Retention 2012, and a chapter in the fourth edition of The Handbook of Student Affairs Administration in Jossey Bass 2016. He has presented at workshops for numerous public agencies; educational institutions; state, regional, and national conferences; as well as to thousands of college students and professionals throughout his career.

Your host is: Dr. Dana Malone, a higher education scholar and practitioner with a background in student affairs. Dana has known Zeb for several years. His dynamic personality and ability to relate over what really matters in work and life sparked a kindred connection from their first meeting.

Listeners to this episode might be interested in:

• Working with Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman 

• Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni 

• Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter

  by Liz Wiseman 

• Uncommon Candor: A Leader's Guide to Straight Talk

  by Nancy K. Eberhardt