{"id":419,"date":"2017-02-23T16:27:57","date_gmt":"2017-02-24T00:27:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/?p=419"},"modified":"2024-04-02T15:27:43","modified_gmt":"2024-04-02T22:27:43","slug":"kyle-whitehouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/kyle-whitehouse\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting to know Kyle Whitehouse"},"content":{"rendered":"

OSU Ecampus assistant director of student services<\/h2>\n
\"Kyle

Kyle Whitehouse didn’t like giving up her one-on-one work with OSU students, but her new role explores innovative opportunities to expand online student success initiatives.<\/p><\/div>\n

What started as a part-time college job for Kyle Whitehouse \u2013 and something she calls a\u00a0stroke of “luck” \u2013 has since become a lifelong career built largely\u00a0on helping Oregon State University students succeed. Kyle earned a bachelor’s degree at The University of Texas at Austin and also\u00a0earned a\u00a0master’s in counselor education there before moving to the Pacific Northwest in 2002 when she began her career\u00a0at Oregon State. She started as a career counselor, and in the 15 years since,\u00a0she has served as an academic advisor, an instructor of OSU Ecampus online courses, a career counselor for distance students, a career and academic success coordinator, and now as the Ecampus assistant director for student services.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

By Tyler Hansen<\/a><\/em>
\n<\/em><\/a>Feb. 27, 2017<\/em><\/p>\n

Hometown<\/h3>\n

Austin, Texas<\/p>\n

When did you start working at Oregon State?<\/h3>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been at OSU since January 2002 \u2013 fell in love with the Pacific Northwest on a road trip in 2001, found\/interviewed\/moved my family to Corvallis for a job as soon as I could get here.\u201d<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve held (and still hold) a variety of roles at OSU, and they\u2019ve all been based on helping students succeed. How gratifying has that work been?<\/h3>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve loved each job and the evolution of my work with students. The work itself is highly rewarding and full of learning and colleagues who are working to improve the student experience. It can\u2019t be beat. But maybe my favorite part of the work has been working with a\u00a0student at any particular time of struggle and uncertainty (don\u2019t know what to major in, not sure that the career is attainable, wants to stand out but doesn\u2019t know how to navigate options, has felt unsuccessful in some way in the past or present\u2026) and partnering with him or her to find possibilities, and learning more about their own strengths and possibilities than they could see at the time. These are small to big in scope, but every success feels like a win.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of them evolved simply from noticing an opportunity to advocate for OSU\u2019s online students and then finding the partners within\u00a0OSU\u2019s community to make it happen. We hear so often from our distance students that they feel like OSU is not so far away and that there are real people at Ecampus who really care about them as students, people who understand the challenges of learning online in the midst of an already busy life away from the OSU campus, or people\u00a0they know they can reach out to with questions and get answers and help from our team. And this is exactly why I work for OSU Ecampus and student success.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why did you decide to work for OSU Ecampus and with distance students?<\/h3>\n

\u201cWell, it absolutely began when I decided to take some time off-campus to care for my little girls between 2006 and 2010. At the time, I was advising for UESP (University Exploratory Studies Program for undecided students) and leading the Career Decision-Making instructor team. I worked with Ecampus and Kerry Kincanon to create an online version of OSU\u2019s career decision-making course, and then I taught while I stayed at home for about four years before returning to OSU as a career counselor.<\/p>\n

“<\/span>We hear so often from our distance students that they feel like OSU is not so far away and that there are real people at Ecampus who really care about them as students.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What do you like most about your position as assistant director of student services?<\/h3>\n

\u201cMy new role focuses more formally on cross-campus initiatives and collaboration, and it has provided unexpected opportunities in innovations in predictive and learner analytics. I dragged my feet a bit about giving up my work with students, but the joys and challenges of working within leadership in higher education, learning from OSU and global leaders, and working with a dynamic team of people across Ecampus who have a hand in student success is fantastically rewarding. Never a dull moment!\u201d<\/p>\n

Why did you decide to pursue in career counseling and student services?<\/h3>\n

\u201cI originally \u2018lucked into\u2019 the career services field by taking a part-time job as a student at The University of Texas. My boss became my mentor through the rest of my own major, life and career changes. She encouraged my decision to get a master\u2019s degree in counselor education with a goal to return to my own high school so I could start a career counseling program to help high school students make better-informed decisions about college.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I did finally achieve that dream: After waiting for the right opportunity to open up at my high school and accepting it, I got hired at OSU. I worked for only one semester and had time only to build a dedicated career library (physical space, physical books!), coordinate a career night, and write a career curriculum for freshmen-through-senior career exploration. Little did I know that the\u00a0job at OSU was the one I dreamed about instead.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your greatest accomplishment working for Ecampus?<\/h3>\n

\u201cAs much as I hated moving away from one-on-one student career counseling conversations that are often as unique as the people are and that filled my day-to-day work for nearly 15 years, I think I am proud of the size and scope that online career services have become. What started as a, \u2018Hey, what if we tried a little career counseling by phone?\u2019 became, \u2018How do we ensure every student, no matter where they live, can participate in career services?\u2019 It was a great shift for OSU, and with strong partners, we were able to make amazing things happen.<\/p>\n

\"Kyle\u201cPerhaps the pinnacle accomplishment was applying with a team of my peers in career development from OSU\u2019s Career Development Center and the OSU Alumni Association and being awarded a grant from the state of Oregon legislature to fund a full-time Online Professional Development Coordinator. It was such a meaningful acknowledgement of progress to be awarded the grant and receive\u00a0budgeted support that will continue to expand and serve our online students and alumni. We\u2019ve reached a level of scale and sustainability that Ecampus students benefit from, and I couldn\u2019t be prouder.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your best piece of advice for Ecampus students?<\/h3>\n

\u201cConnect with your peers and your campus community! Whether in a classroom discussion board or over Skype with a student one-on-one, conversations with Ecampus students often come around to this topic: \u2018I thought I was the only one.\u2019 The only one who has to balance work with school, the only one who has to sneak back to the computer after the kids go to bed most nights, the only one who didn\u2019t do so well the first time in classes long ago and is feeling a little intimidated by college classes as an older-than-average student.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can feel like a revelation to discover that differences like these and life experiences that bring students to OSU Ecampus often unite them more than divide them. Sharing your own experience and wisdom gained as well as learning from others is an opportunity that shouldn\u2019t be missed, in my opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tell us something surprising thing about you that people don\u2019t know.<\/h3>\n

\u201cWell, I was once in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. True story. (I was 7.)<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, I have a weird history with law enforcement, I suppose: I once got stopped by the Secret Service when I tried to give a note to former President Ford at an event in Austin when I was 18 (as I remember it, the note was from my mom whose family grew up next door to his in Alexandria, Virginia). I was stopped by the royal equivalent of the Secret Service before I literally ran into Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip\u00a0while walking on what seemed to be a very run-of-the-mill street in London.<\/p>\n

\u201cI made friends with a police dog when crossing into Mexico. How was I to know that it\u2019s not cool to distract working dogs? On one of my very first trips driving on my own after getting my license, I was pulled over for driving a car that matched the description of a robbery getaway car. What are the odds?!”<\/p>\n

What are your favorite activities outside of work?<\/h3>\n

\u201cWe are pretty busy with basketball, dance, school activities and OSU events. In the good old days, I used to love to fly fish and still do when I get back home to the rivers I know in Texas. I\u2019m a recovering antique hunter (I like to refinish pieces I find but have more \u2018in progress\u2019 than complete at this point). I travel as often as possible and collect heart-shaped rocks sort of obsessively.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you could only watch one movie for the rest of your life, which one would you choose?<\/h3>\n

“Oh! ‘Gone with The Wind,’ without a doubt.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/span> 6<\/span> minute read<\/span><\/span>What started as a part-time college job for Kyle Whitehouse \u2013 and something she calls a stroke of “luck” \u2013 has since become a lifelong career built largely on helping Oregon State University students succeed. Her 15 years at Oregon State have seen her take on roles as a career counselor, academic advisor, instructor of OSU Ecampus online courses, and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":456,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[673],"tags":[196,30],"class_list":["post-419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-career-services","tag-student-success"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/5D5A0015.jpg?fit=5760%2C3840&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7BNSE-6L","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1810,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/ecampus-virtual-career-center\/","url_meta":{"origin":419,"position":0},"title":"Virtual career center ’empowers students’ with the info they need","author":"Tyler Hansen","date":"July 2, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Oregon State Ecampus, a national leader in online education, has launched a virtual career center for more than 10,000 current students and thousands of alumni. 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Learn more about the tool's creation, how it's being used, and how it can help students at your university.","rel":"","context":"In "All Stories"","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Joann Malumalemu","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/News-Learning-Skills-Journey-Tool-Joann-Malumaleumu-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/News-Learning-Skills-Journey-Tool-Joann-Malumaleumu-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/News-Learning-Skills-Journey-Tool-Joann-Malumaleumu-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/News-Learning-Skills-Journey-Tool-Joann-Malumaleumu-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":331,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/theresa-harper\/","url_meta":{"origin":419,"position":2},"title":"Thrice a Beaver alumna \u2013 now a Beaver supporter","author":"Heather Doherty","date":"October 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Like many OSU Ecampus students, Theresa Harper could be described as a \u201ccareer changer,\u201d having worked in multiple positions, eventually landing on her passion of creating relationships and helping others at Oregon State Ecampus.","rel":"","context":"In "Archives"","block_context":{"text":"Archives","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/archives\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Theresa Harper sits on the corner of a table in the Oregon State University Valley Library. 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