Gentle-Genitty merges academic approaches to student belonging with years of administrative experience in building new spaces for students. Photo by Faith Delamarter.

LEAH OLLIE | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | lollie@butler.edu 

After the November 2023 announcement of the forthcoming two-year Founder’s College, the campus community has been left with as many questions as answers. Students sought clarity regarding the curriculum and vision of the college, as well as its intended enrollment base and plans to welcome Founder’s College students as a part of the student body. These initial concerns relate to the possibility of a broader vision that proves a Butler education to more students than ever before — a vision that inaugural Founder’s College Dean Carolyn Gentle-Genitty is responsible for building. 

Butler’s Founder’s College is the next step for Gentle-Genitty in her career in higher education spanning decades of administrative and academic experience. Gentle-Genitty began her role at Butler on June 3 following her roles as Indiana University’s assistant vice president for university academic policy and professor in the School of Social Work and Labor Studies. 

This academic year will prove to be a period of growth and expansion for the Founder’s College, and Gentle-Genitty is at the center of its interdisciplinary and institution-wide mission to serve students seeking a two-year degree. The Butler Collegian spoke with Gentle-Genitty about the experience she brings to the Founder’s College and how her ongoing passion for equitable education guides her approach to preparing the college’s first class of students in the fall of 2025.

THE BUTLER COLLEGIAN: What began your passion for higher education?

CAROLYN GENTLE-GENITTY: My path has been diverse, but it began because I was the eldest of five. That meant that if I thought of something that I wanted to do, I had to think about what my other brothers and sisters would be doing while I’m doing this thing. I enjoyed reading, I enjoyed poetry, I just enjoyed all of that stuff.

But I also found a lot of relief just to be me when I was in school. So my brothers and sisters [were] doing something else, [but] I could just be when I’m in the classroom — all of what I wanted to be. I thought very early on that I wanted to be a lawyer. I thought advocating was what I did really well, and I took my first class and I didn’t like history at all. It felt like everything was in the past. I’m like, “Well, what about now? Who’s doing the now?” 

I think just over the years, I found that higher education was a good path [and] I enjoyed every part of it. I loved teaching. I loved engaging, so as I moved up the rung [in administrative roles], they offered me opportunities to teach part-time. I loved it. I excelled at it. I did more of it. One opportunity led to the other and now, almost 25 years later, I’m still in higher education and haven’t left. 

TBC: How has the path of your former roles brought you to Butler for this new venture? 

CGG: That’s an interesting question with many tangential parts. At my last institution, I moved up the rungs to full professor in the School of Social Work and Labor Studies. I was the director of the Bachelor of Social Work program on the [Indiana University] Indianapolis campus — so I managed the Indianapolis campus, which is one of the largest campuses for a social work program. 

I also chaired the school’s concentration program [for the] student who wants to be a school social worker. I would go and visit their site, and make sure that I’m their key contact, and I did that throughout Indiana. I also did some work in case management in prison, engaging with individuals there and training across 19 prisons across Indiana. 

I was an assistant vice president for university academic policy, managing all academic programs at IU. In sum, I think we went through about 1,200 degrees in minors, majors, certificate programs. It’s building some up, creating some from scratch. I also worked with transfer [students] as the director of the transfer office, managing transfers across the entire system [of] seven campuses and fully online. I served as a director for academic policy as well, managing those policies and processes across the system. 

[I did this] while still doing research and engaging in service, and my research area is in social bonding as well as attendance and absenteeism. I was the president of the International Association for Truancy and Dropout Prevention as well. I think those are sort of the main areas that may help you [understand] some of the work that I did before. 

TBC: How will the work that you’ve done in your past roles prepare you for building the vision of the Founder’s College here on campus? 

CGG: [This role] brings in all of my academic experience, as well as serving as the director of academic programs, as well as the [assistant vice president] for academic policy across the system. The [transfer director] role as well helps me to understand credit and everything with credit and the information that students bring with them as they come in; my role as a social worker, having a bachelor’s, a master’s and a PhD in social work helps me to understand that wraparound service and how students want to feel.

[I bring] my experience in inaugural roles [because] the assistant vice president for University Academic Policy was not a role that existed [before I held it]. I also helped my former institution to be able to offer the first set of online degrees [for our campus]. I’ve also had some research experience that helps me to understand grit, resilience and social bonding and what belonging and otherness is. I think all of my experiences have brought me to a place where I feel comfortable that I have the skill set to do it. 

TBC: What makes the Founders College stand out from other two-year colleges, and what makes it a unique opportunity for students? 

CGG: If we are to be successful, we must be in a position that we’re cultivating students from elementary school to let them know that there’s a college path so they do their best, so they show up to class and so that they ask for support. They have the agency in advocating for themselves and end up in college.

[This also] means we have to make sure that we’re making space for equity and excellence to coexist. Butler’s two-year college will be and feel like none other. At Butler, it’s not about saying, “Oh, let’s get your gen-ed out of the way and that’s all you’re getting.” We’re looking at the third and fourth year where you’re majoring, where you’re exploring and where you’re getting paid internships. We’re building that along with the general education core into the two-year degree. Game changer.  

We are also taking what we know from research about evidence-based processes that says transportation, meals, laptops, emergency fund, gas expenses, counselors, career coaches and paid internships are all factors [to the college experience]. We’re taking all of these things that we know are key factors to the success of a student and saying “We got you. We are going to put this in there to ensure that you’re focusing on your education and your success, and we’re here to wrap around you to make sure that you will succeed.”

TBC: What other offices and areas of campus have you been engaging and collaborating with as you build those support systems for those students? 

CGG: When you think about building a college, you must invoke and activate every single component from the beginning. Landscaping and Parking Services, classrooms, Butler Libraries, the Hub [for Black Affairs and Community Engagement], Student Disability Services, the [Efroymson] Diversity Center, the Speaker’s Lab, the Writers’ Studio, the science library for 24-hour-access — every single thing you could think about for student success and student experience, we have activated.

We have been engaging with them and we’ve also been doing engagement with the community, with schools starting from elementary school and working with them to build that college-going culture.

We’ve been going to college fairs, talking to counselors, going to community events, working with donors and funders. So honestly, I think the short answer is everything. 

TBC: If you wanted current Butler students to know one thing about the Founder’s College, what would you share with them? 

CGG: I think if [there’s] one thing, it’s for them to recognize that the Founders College [is] the seventh college on Butler’s campus. We expect to be no different, but [ask] that they would embrace us just like they would any other college.

At the end of the day, my hope is that [current students will] see the students just like they see themselves on campus — having fun, engaging in the weeks of welcome and wearing their Butler colors with pride. 

This interview has been condensed for length and clarity.