Inside DELTA: 5 Questions with Jenn Scoggins

Jenn Scoggins joined DELTA in September as the program coordinator on the Instructional Technology Training team, and she has used her many talents to help DELTA and the NC State community ever since.

Scoggins’ path to DELTA was an exciting one. She is originally from Long Island, New York, but she moved to Rhode Island to attend University of Rhode Island where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Biology. Scoggins’ love for animals and the outdoors led her to take a position as an exhibit educator at Mystic Aquarium where she was able to work with beluga whales on a daily basis. This position inspired Scoggins to teach and train others to take on these types of roles.

“I shifted gears, and instead of focusing on being out in the field doing that sort of education and research, I figured I would help people become prepared to take on those sorts of responsibilities.”

Scoggins moved to North Carolina in 2003 and took on other positions at NC State before joining DELTA. At NC State Extension, Scoggins helped with Extension Organizational Leadership and Development. For NC State’s Institute for Nonprofits, Scoggins worked as the academic and leadership program coordinator, which allowed her to work with external facing leadership programming for nonprofit sector leaders and those looking to start nonprofits. These positions helped prepare her for her work at DELTA.

“All of the positions I have had in the past, whether I realized it or not, had some sort of training and development aspect to it.”

Scoggins felt that her experience with training and development led to her position at DELTA, but another factor that drew her in was her preparation to be a student in a distance education program at NC State. Scoggins is currently pursuing her Master of Education in Training and Development, and she enjoys working with DELTA to make the distance education programs, such as this one, a success.

What are your day-to-day responsibilities?

“One of the things I love the most about this position so far is that I never know what I am going to get on a daily basis, especially in the conditions that we are in right now.”

Scoggins appreciates that her position allows her to help each of her DELTA team members achieve their goals because it provides unpredictable tasks each day. By working with each colleague, Scoggins is able to learn from various areas of expertise.

“This position is really allowing me to examine different avenues and do things that I really did not expect to be part of going into the position, but it is allowing me the flexibility to do all of these new and exciting things that I have interests in,” said Scoggins.

Though the position provides unpredictability, there are a number of projects that Scoggins works on daily. She helps manage the REPORTER system, schedules workshops and training events, collaborates on DELTA Summer Shortsand DELTA-Con, and many other projects.

What has been your favorite project you’ve worked on?

Scoggins considers the event management projects she has been involved in to be her favorite projects at DELTA so far. She enjoys taking part in the first stages of organizing events, such as DELTA-Con and DELTA Summer Shorts, and working to make them successful.

She particularly enjoys expanding on past events, using traditions of annual events at DELTA as inspiration for new ones. This has been particularly interesting for Scoggins as she helps organize more virtual events than ever before due to COVID-19. She has been able to use the successes of previous in-person events to organize successful virtual ones.

“I really like just being able to see what they have done in the past, see different ways that we can expand upon those previous iterations of it… and being able to take the best practices from some of the other conferences that we have been experiencing,” she said.

What is your area of expertise?

“I am a jack of many trades, so I don’t really have an area of expertise, I would say,” Scoggins said. “I know a little bit about a lot.”

Though it is difficult for Scoggins to pinpoint a singular area of expertise, she considers her flexibility, widespread knowledge, and her ability to adapt and take on any task to be one of her greatest strengths.  

“I think the fact that I am very adaptable, very flexible, I like to roll with the punches, is probably one of my strongest areas.”

What do you enjoy most about your job?

“The people that I get to work with,” Scoggins said. “I am a huge people person, and I am a firm believer that you have to enjoy not only what you do but who you are doing it with.”

Within the short period of time Scoggins has been working with DELTA, she realized that her colleagues make her work even more fulfilling, encouraging and inspiring.

“The overwhelming, genuine spirit of teamwork and shared mission and drive is inspiring to come in to work, or log in to work, on a daily basis and see where I can plug in and make connections and meet new people.”

What do you like to do in your spare time?

When she is not working, Scoggins loves spending time outdoors with her family. As a mom of two boys, ages 8 and 12, she has spent many hours at scouting events. Scoggins was formerly a Cub Master of 120 scouts, and she, her husband and boys still stay involved in scouting.

Besides scouting and camping, Scoggins loves music. She plays six or seven different instruments, her favorites being wind instruments such as the French horn, trumpet and clarinet. Scoggins believes most of her colleagues do not know that she is a karaoke fan and loves to sing. She has been known for busting out into song and hopes to share her love of music with the rest of the DELTA staff. Most of her colleagues also do not know that she has recently picked up crafting, finding new projects to work on or try out.