Captain鈥檚 log, Stardate 03.13.2020: With the onset of the pandemic, Lindsay J. Russell, Lee Business School鈥檚 online program manager, was thrust into uncharted territory, along with the rest of the world, as she assisted the school鈥檚 faculty in preparing to teach their classes remotely for the first time. With her small crew of graduate assistants, Russell led the charge of designing online classes, assisting with technical issues, and providing professional development for faculty. Nearly a year after the pandemic began, she is proud of all she has accomplished and has an optimistic outlook for the future of online education at 性视界传媒.
Tell us about what you do at 性视界传媒.
When I came to Lee Business School in 2019, my job was to assess online classes within the school, review student and faculty engagement, and develop and execute a plan for online courses. In order to offer a complete major online, the entire core of business courses must be taught online and, at that time, we had five online classes and six hybrid. I also ensure we are supporting students鈥 needs, especially as we add more online classes and will soon have some students who take classes exclusively online.
How has your job changed since the pandemic?
The onset of the pandemic required me to fill the roles that would truly be three different positions in different circumstances. In addition to program manager, I have served as the embedded technologist, helping with technical issues or questions and the instructional designer, assisting faculty in adapting their class for online. When everyone began working from home, a lot of my job became professional development, helping faculty learn general skills using tools like Canvas, Google, and WebEx. We had some faculty that didn鈥檛 use technology in the classroom that needed to learn quickly how to adapt their classes for online. In the first few months, I became a 鈥渇irst responder鈥 for faculty when it comes to things like setting up a quiz or moving around modules in Canvas or setting up a WebEx session. Before the pandemic hit I had begun recruiting faculty to convert their class to an online format but we hadn鈥檛 gotten that far.
With such a shift in your job, and the need to help faculty to get classes online quickly, how did you manage it?
I have amazing graduate students who have helped share the burden. They are really great with customer service and instructional design. A lot of our job is just supporting our faculty and letting them know that we will get through this. There鈥檚 no way I could have accomplished what I needed to last year and through the pandemic without them.
How did you land at 性视界传媒?
From 2006 to 2012, I was teaching at Sierra Vista and Legacy high schools. I was a Spanish teacher, and then I was a stay-at-home mom from 2012 to 2017 when I joined online ed at 性视界传媒. My job at online ed enabled me to be a stay-at-home mom on the days I had my kids because I went through a divorce in 2017. I had a level of stability (while working) at online ed that I didn鈥檛 have to worry about childcare and I could still continue my Ph.D. program. I鈥檝e told Beth Barrie (director of the office of online education) more than once that my resignation wasn鈥檛 so much me resigning as it was thanking her and the department for the level of support they were able to provide me during that time. And, in 2019 I joined Lee Business School.
What drew you to 性视界传媒?
Before I was an employee, I was a student ('13 Master of Education, '19 PhD Education). I was actually going to go to law school when I graduated with my undergrad at UNR. I started teaching and put law school on backburner but I knew I wanted to advance my education. I didn鈥檛 look at any other schools for my master鈥檚, even though there probably would have been other choices that would have been more convenient. I just wanted to go to 性视界传媒 and support a Nevada institution that does a really good job of supporting the community.
While I was in my master鈥檚 I started thinking about my Ph.D. They had just started up a Ph.D. in multicultural education, which is what my master鈥檚 focuses on. And, so my advisor at the time, Dr. (Christine) Clark, said it wouldn鈥檛 be too much of a leap to just jump into the Ph.D. program.
As a professional, I have always wanted to be involved in education in some aspect. My job at online ed was such a great experience that when I started looking past my Ph.D., I really only considered NSHE institutions because of the level of collaboration and support. And, there鈥檚 a level of prestige now because we have reached R1 status. Because I鈥檝e graduated from here I feel a sense of pride when I tell people I work at 性视界传媒 because it鈥檚 the heart of Las Vegas.
What has it been like working from home during the pandemic?
I鈥檓 home with my two kids and my dad and they generally know if the door is closed I am in a meeting but interruptions happen.
The lines have blurred. We don鈥檛 leave home to go to work anymore, and the kids don鈥檛 leave to go to school. So, all of these social things we did before happen now all in the same space, there鈥檚 no separation. My going to work is me literally closing the door to my bedroom. There have been days that I鈥檓 sure we have all cried. And then there are days where we鈥檙e like, 鈥淥h, yeah. We鈥檝e got this.鈥
What are the silver linings of the pandemic in your life right now?
There鈥檚 a ton of silver linings. I can say being home with my kids and just spending time with them is invaluable as a working parent. Usually, they would be in school, but now they鈥檙e not, so you get this weird but cool vantage point to what they鈥檙e learning, how they鈥檙e learning.
Professionally, I would say people just take me more seriously now. I only knew a handful of faculty and staff when I was in the building, simply because that was who I engaged with on a daily basis or on an as-needed basis. But when the pandemic started there was a need for me to reach out to more people. They started seeing value in my position and how I could support them in their teaching. I think maybe people just didn鈥檛 know what I did. I have met more of our colleagues in this space, virtually, than I ever did in the building and I have formed some of the best friendships and professional relationships.
What鈥檚 something that might surprise people about you?
I鈥檓 a voice actor/ audio producer in my spare time. A friend of mine told me I should do voiceover work because when I read stories to my kids, like , I can鈥檛 just read the book, I do voices for all the characters. Silly voices and characters are something I have done my whole life. I found a website where you can audition to do voiceover work for audiobooks. The titles and genres run the gamut. And auditioning is a lot like acting, you can do like 1,000 auditions before you get a job. I got signed on for a few book series and I have been recording ever since.
Tell us about some of your hobbies and interests.
There鈥檚 a lot. (laughs) I鈥檓 interested in astronomy and science. I鈥檓 actually part of that鈥檚 based in Palm Beach, Florida. They鈥檝e gone virtual now so there is no need to physically be there. It鈥檚 been really fun. They meet once a month on a Wednesday evening, and they鈥檒l usually have a guest speaker who has either written for , or a scientist or engineer in the field. We learn about all sorts of astronomical events or advancements in the field of astronomy. That鈥檚 definitely one of my main interests.
And, of course, I am really into science fiction, like and 鈥 I am an equal opportunity nerd 鈥 I like it all. In fact, for my Ph.D. program, I somehow was able to reference Star Trek in everything I turned in.
I also love to be crafty. I love to do stuff that is creative or artistic, with something that is tangible.
I am also a Girl Scout co-leader for my daughter鈥檚 troop. It鈥檚 a really fun and engaging experience for young girls that exposes them to so many new things and career paths and it helps them with their leadership skills. My daughter is so willing to try things and I credit that to Girl Scouts.
What鈥檚 the worst advice you have ever received?
I think the worst advice I have ever received is 鈥淒on鈥檛 make a fuss.鈥 It鈥檚 something my grandmother used to say. As women, we are just systemically programmed to serve others, and I do that in my life and in my job, but I firmly believe that when we do make a fuss that鈥檚 when we can enact change, become advocates, and have some agency.
What鈥檚 the last book you couldn鈥檛 put down?
I read the book . It takes place during World War II, and it鈥檚 based on a true story about a guy who helps the Jews escape Italy. I totally recommend it.
If you were a Star Trek character, who would you be?
I would probably be . I feel like I have really good leadership capabilities. I鈥檓 able to use logic to get through certain situations or think about things creatively in order to solve problems. I just love how commanding she could be and how human she could be. I feel like I try to emulate a lot of her personality traits in my own life. That show was a big part of my upbringing. It provided me with at least a blueprint of strong, powerful women.
