Shawna Cooper-Gibson

Shawna Cooper-Gibson joined the School of Communication as Assistant Dean in September 2008. She is responsible for the administration and quality of all direct student academic services and academic supports.

The services cover from the first study inquiry through graduation. Duties include student recruitment, admissions and orientation, advising, enrollment issues, graduation evaluations, and other academic supervision activities in addition to representation on University committees related to student affairs.

Cooper-Gibson is a native of Urbana, Ill.. She earned her B.A. in Elementary Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction from National-Louis University and her Ed.D. in Human Development and Education from Boston University.

Though initially trained in primary education, she became increasingly interested in student affairs and development. Cooper-Gibson has previously held positions at Boston University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.; and most recently served as director of African American Student Affairs at Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill.

Cooper-Gibson has a strong interest in interpersonal relationship and look forward to opportunities where she can continue to use these skills to improve educational opportunities for diverse communities. Most recently she took on the role as co-advisor to (SOC)², a newly formed  student organization for students of color interested in journalism, advertising/public relations, communication studies, and film making.