As Dr. Robinson steps into this new role, his goals align perfectly with Butler’s central idea of putting student success at the forefront of every decision that’s made. President Kim Krull has paved the way for Robinson’s visions about enrollment and the reverse transfer options to come true – creating more options for Butler students.
“I want to push out and see where students are actually going. I want to reach out to those institutions and have an affiliation agreement with those areas too. So that as you are transferring you have the minimal amount of lost credits that aren't transferring in that process.”
Prior to his role at Butler, Robinson was the Vice President of Instruction at Whatcom Community College in Washington. He’s previously held positions as Executive Dean and Academic Dean while teaching at Seattle Central College and Green River College, both located in Washington.
The Kentucky native earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Brescia University (formerly named Brescia College) and a Master’s Degree in Environmental Biology with an emphasis in Microbial Stream Ecology from Eastern Kentucky University. He would then go on to complete his doctorate in Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics from the University of Kentucky.
Robinson plans on reaching out and informing that community about what Butler offers students educationally and the amount of support systems that student have access to. By building awareness about Butler, students who thought they couldn’t go to college, now can because Robinson is connecting those students with a direct link to the faculty to help foster those relationships early. As time goes on, a slow trend towards enrollment will start to rise; however, Robinson is confident that those numbers will increase within a matter of years.
In all the years that Dr. Robinson has been teaching, he’s always had an open-door policy and encourages students to utilize it whenever necessary.
“I ask [students] two things when [they] walk through the door, you can either respond yes or no and I’ll let you know if I have enough time. If you see me walking around and you want to vent just say ‘Hey, I need to talk to you for two seconds, two minutes; pull me aside and I’m all yours.”
The relationships that students harbor when interacting with Dr. Robinson are valuable as he’s always trying to find ways for students to be successful no matter how small or big the problem is. Butler’s mission towards students' success and creating welcoming atmospheres is exactly what drew hm to Butler.
“People were being friendly, the president was being friendly, people were respecting her.”
It was the concept that the high administrative roles at Butler don’t pass off their work to their assistants as it’s the connections and personable relationships that make Butler a welcoming Community. For President Krull, she took the time to personally address emails to Dr. Robinson throughout his time during the hiring and onboarding process.
“So that just solidified it for me because I had never fully worked for any president that her admin was out and she divvied up the work for people but also took some responsibilities that was a first for me because I did it when I was in all my other institutions but I had never seen someone above do it so that was the solidified it for me. It lived up to everything I found out about the school.”
As Dr. Robinson finishes his first semester with Butler, he wants students to know that “every person you meet has something to teach you, you just have to be willing and open-minded enough to accept what they’re giving you.”
With a community and atmosphere like Butler, Robinson is committed to giving students the education and college lifestyle they deserve. With these new initiatives that Robinson brings, Butler will be more academically fit for students all over the nation.
“Let me know what I can do to make your life better.”