Search | Menu Profiles from the Pack: Jimmy Cheffen
Dr. Jimmy Cheffen is Madison College’s Community Impact Manager in the Division of Culture and Climate. We caught up with him during a walk with his golden doodle Kirby, to talk about the Feb. 1 Dream Doubles Pickleball Fundraiser, North Face jackets, obituaries, collaboration and the impact one phone call can make.
Tell us about yourself and how you came to Madison College:
I wanted to be a writer – either a poet or a journalist. I used to write for the daily paper in Little Rock, Arkansas. I covered current events, wrote music reviews, and interviewed well-known bands, including Maroon 5. I was then offered a job as an obituary writer. It was pretty stressful because it’s critical to get everything right in somebody’s obituary.
As for higher education, I was in grad school at the University of Arkansas, and when they put me in a classroom to teach, I was hooked. Later, I attended Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas, to get my doctorate in Community College Administration. Later, I created my podcast, The Navigationalist, where scholars and authors discuss tools and navigational skills for underrepresented faculty to be successful in the higher-education environment.
I came to Madison College after teaching in Arkansas for about ten years to work at the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL). Before I moved here, CETL director Patrick Barlow told me about Wisconsin blizzards. I couldn’t get my head around what he was talking about. In Little Rock, it snows, but it’s gone the next day. I was not prepared for the Wisconsin winters and the only thing I did right in preparing for the transition was buying a good North Face coat. I think my blood has thickened up a little bit since then.
Tell us about the work you’re doing in College Culture and Climate:
We, the Community Impact team, go out into the community to build and nourish relationships to create initiatives and experiences, aligned with the goals of the college and the needs of our communities. We discover the needs and the wants of our community members and connect that information to Madison College as we think about student success and creating a welcoming environment for everybody on campus.
I've been having a lot of fun creating some wonderful initiatives and events, such as the Feb. 1 Dreams Double Pickleball fundraiser, signature plays like “The Meeting”, the Black Student Union Conferences, and the multiple graduation celebrations.
As a team, we work hard to amplify the voices of our underrepresented students, especially our Hmong, Native American, African American and Latinx communities. My hope is to institutionalize engaging the community in all we do as a college and to work together to enhance student success at Madison College. That's what it's all about.
What are your super skills?
I’m a big-time collaborator and I get energy from being social and meeting new people and understanding their likes and needs. I love getting to know strangers and understanding people. That's why it's a joy working on the community impact team.
I learned a long time ago that we can't work independently. We must include other people and stakeholders and that drives everything that I do on the community impact team.
What accomplishment at Madison College are you proud of?
I am proud of a lot of things. For one, I am proud of the chapter I wrote in this newly published book, Belonging in Higher Education: Perspectives and Lessons from Diverse Faculty, which is entitled, “Navigating Higher Ed.” I'm also proud of a research project called “A Call to Retain.” I recruit faculty and staff to call students for ten weeks in the fall to check on them and make sure they’re aware of the resources available. We focus on our Latinx, multiracial students, and male students of color. The goal is to make sure that students return in the spring. I like the way it's going: the data looks good and shows that it works. I'm proud of the faculty and staff who volunteer to call these students. They recognize their impact and the challenges these students face and how they can help.
Learn more about Madison College Climate & Culture's commitment to equity.
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