Shelley Webb: COMMUNITY WITHOUT LIMITS
Shelley Webb serves as the chair of the business division in the DeVoe School of Business, Technology and Leadership, as well as the chair of the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) program at IWU’s National and Global division. In addition to her leadership roles, she has been mentoring a student at IWU’s Marion campus for over a year. Webb first met Denise, a sophomore pre-med major from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, at a women’s heritage event last year.
Although Webb lives nearly three hours from the Marion campus, she chose to begin mentoring the student, and the two often catch up when Webb visits campus.
“Whenever I visit Marion, I try to have coffee with Denise,” Webb said. “Pre-med can be a really difficult major, but I always encourage her to continue. It’s good to cross between the different areas of the university — between National and Global, the Marion campus, and Wesley Seminary — because we’re all part of the same university family.”
Though mentoring is only a small part of what Webb does, it reflects her broader perspective and priorities. She is deeply committed to IWU’s mission and to every individual she encounters within the university community.
This devotion is further seen in her regular coffee meetings with faculty members in her programs. Because many of them are remote, Webb makes a point to connect intentionally — building relationships, checking in, and offering support.
“I don’t have preplanned points I want to cover, I don’t have an agenda for the meeting — it’s just a conversation about how they’re doing, how their family is doing, and what I can do to support them as their chair,” Webb said.
These conversations initially caught some faculty off guard, with a few assuming they were in trouble. But Webb quickly put those concerns to rest.
“THAT'S WHAT LEADERSHIP CALLS ME TOWARD- — TO SUPPORT MY FACULTY BEYOND THE CLASSROOM...”
-
SHELLEY WEBB
DeVoe School of Business, Technology and Leadership Chair; DBA Chair
Recently, when one faculty member’s mother passed away, Webb drove three hours to Kentucky with her husband to attend the memorial service. The round trip took six hours, but she felt strongly about showing up to support her colleague in a time of grief.
“I can’t even describe the look on her face when she saw me,” Webb said. “She just hugged me and introduced me to her family. That’s what leadership calls me toward — to support my faculty beyond the classroom, beyond committee meetings, beyond anything else.”
Though the visit wasn’t expected, Webb viewed it as essential — another expression of her commitment to caring for others on a personal level.
Her intentionality also extends to the broader IWU community. Webb works to elevate faculty and administrators who embody Kingdom diversity, believing that seeing diversity reflected in leadership helps students imagine those roles for themselves.
“Whenever I visit campus and walk down the Mallway, students of color always stop me and ask me who I am and if I work here,” Webb said. “They haven’t seen me around, but they see that I’m an employee, and they’re always excited to learn I’m in an administrative role.”
Webb believes it is vital for students, faculty and staff to know they belong at IWU. She credits leaders like Karen Dowling for advancing this intentional culture of belonging and Kingdom diversity in recent years.
This commitment is evident across campus, including in the DBA program. Webb recalled a recent student in her 70s who pursued the degree not for career advancement, but simply to show that it’s never too late to pursue education.
Balancing her devotion to the people, mission, and work of IWU with her responsibilities at home isn’t always easy, but Webb says having coworkers she can rely on makes a difference.
When she first stepped into her role, Webb was the only person of color in the business division. Since then, she has continued working toward building a community at IWU that more accurately reflects the Kingdom of God.
“We’re hiring two more full-time faculty — one is a woman from Nigeria and the other is a woman from Mexico,” Webb said. “This is the first time we’ll be hiring young, full-time faculty, and we hope they’ll be with us for a long time. Change takes time, and it’s not done in isolation.”