August 2023

Meet Carolyn Gentle-Genitty

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Professor Carolyn Gentle-Genitty

Carolyn Gentle-Genitty, Ph.D., is a professor in the IU School of Social Work. She also serves as the Assistant Vice President for Indiana University Academic Policy and she is the Director of the Indiana University Transfer Office. With international, national, and local leadership experiences in policy, government relations, curriculum, and teaching, Professor Gentle-Genitty has 20+ years of higher education administrative and leadership experience.

She is a leading K-12 higher education administrator with proven success in building relationships, establishing positive pathways, curriculum development, social bonding assessment, and developing policy practices for successful student outcomes by emphasizing people, places, and experiences. Professor Gentle-Genitty is also a celebrated scholar in absenteeism prevention. She is an award-winning community engaged scholar, bridge builder, and a social worker with professional expertise in human behavior theory.

I have found in all settings that students only need to bond to positive places, people, and things to be successful. Money, race, ethnicity, parents, etc. do not play as a much of a role.

Professor Carolyn Gentle-Genitty

Professor Gentle-Genitty spent one week (July 10-14) of her vacation in Belize and sponsored and hosted a summer camp focused on social bonding for 100 children ages 6 - 13. Research suggests students are better equipped for success the more they bond to positive places, people, and things. There were over 30 high school students and teacher volunteers and local organizations like LIFE Belize, CRDT, Red Cross, Ministry of Sustainable Development, Crystal, and 15 professional areas (Police, Nurse, Artist, Lawyers, Fire Chief, Coast Guard, Entrepreneur, who met with students to help them make their plans for ‘what they want to be’ a reality).

Q and A with Professor Carolyn Gentle-Genitty

I was the eldest of five children and I needed to entertain my younger siblings. I was in the church and joined the local youth group. I started youth work when I was 11 years old. I led my first youth group at the age of 12 to a different part of the country. Then, I took up youth work as a youth counselor, policy analyst, and other roles throughout high school. During college, I became a youth ambassador for Belize to the Caribbean and I aided in doing more policy writing, etc.

The question that informs my research is: What helps students be successful in all arenas of life?

I have found in all settings that students only need to bond to positive places, people, and things to be successful. Money, race, ethnicity, parents, etc. do not play as a much of a role.

I enjoy interacting with the students.

Students are involved at every level of my research as members, researchers, data collectors, and implementors. 

Community members are involved at every level of my research as members, researchers, data collectors, and implementors. 

I am looking for more ways to create positive interventions from research data that work to help students remove hurt. Hurt people hut other people. Socially bonded students are happy!

Conversation with Professor Carolyn Gentle-Genitty

On Friday, August 25, 2023 from 12 noon to 1:00 p.m., Professor Carolyn Gentle-Genitty talked about "Don't Show Up! You Cancel Student Success!" Many teachers and faculty do not want, for various reasons, to come back to the classroom and school environment. Our children need you. Please do not cancel their success. Adults experience a lot of complexity in their own lives which they bring to the lives of their own children and those they teach. Yet, children of all ages, especially before the age of 12, require only two things for their student success. 1) that their basic Maslow Hierarchy of Needs be met and 2) that we "Show Up" in their lives. Showing up means finding ways to bond via people, places, and things or through social bonding attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief. Watch the presentation to learn more about the ways you can encourage student success.