Carrington College instructor steps up during Covid-19 to help students and faculty transition to online learning
In this week’s faculty spotlight, we meet Jason Kimble, Instructor for microbiology and chemistry on the Carrington College Albuquerque campus. He discovered his love of teaching during a teaching assistantship in graduate school.
Jason has been with Carrington College since 2018. He’d been searching for a teaching position—of which there were few. “I saw the position at Carrington come up on Thanksgiving Day—I responded, had an interview, and got a call back very quickly. I began working there in December.”
Prior to teaching at Carrington, Jason worked for about a year in a pharmaceutical company that manufactures sterile injectables—but he didn’t enjoy it as much teaching.
“I want to get up, I want to be at school early,” he says. “It’s a joy to go to class, to help students, to have a new group every term.”
Jason is also an academic coach at the student success center, where he is available to help with anything. “I tell students to just stay on campus, get your work done—off campus there is a lot of distraction.”
Since being on-campus is not possible during COVID-19, there was a bit of adjustment to find quiet time to teach from home (he and his wife have three young children and three Chihuahuas). He typically begins work at 7:30—email, planning, and getting on Microsoft teams to check in with students and help other faculty navigate the new online system. “It’s a change, but it’s change outside our control,” Jason says. “I try to keep it all as normal as possible, even if we’re not in the actual Student Success Center.”
Jason loves seeing his students’ progress. “I’m excited to go the pinning this year,” he explains, “because I will have known these same students since level two in microbiology.”
Jason holds an online tutoring workshop once a week, using a whiteboard in his kitchen, and lets students know they can always call him, anytime, for help. His dedication and support are something students and fellow faculty truly appreciate.
Dr. Sheila Nevarez, a new Mental Health instructor for the RN program, has especially appreciated Jason’s help as she got on board amidst COVID-19. “He tirelessly and patiently assists me with IT challenges,” she explains. “As we transitioned to online teaching, I’ve witnessed Dr. Kimble lend his support to all nursing faculty. I have taught at the BS, MSN, and doctoral levels, and have never met a more accommodating and engaged faculty staff.”
Candice Bethony, another nursing faculty member, knows she can count on Dr. Kimble’s support and presence, too. “He checks in with each of us to make sure all is going well, and is innovative with his ideas. He does all this with the utmost patience. A big thank you to Dr. Kimble!”
Many students and faculty echo these same sentiments—they can count on his knowledge, kindness, endless patience, and commitment to keep everything running smoothly in a time that might otherwise feel quite uncertain.
When Jason isn’t teaching, he works hard to get the entire family unplugged. They enjoy camping together; during the past year they explored gypsum dunes, where the kids went sledding in the white sand.