From student to faculty, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Divinity Jeffrey Cockrell has been with Liberty University since the 1980s, and now studies and teaches New Testament theology and early Christianity while mentoring graduate and doctoral students online.
Cockrell attended Liberty while he was a young pastor to receive pastoral training.
During his time as a remote learner, he studied by watching VHS tapes that were mailed to him — an early version of current online teaching that many university students have become accustomed to throughout the years.
“You also had to go on campus so many times, so it was more of a hybrid format,” Cockrell said. “So, you would go on campus … for a week or two weeks at a time.”
Jerry Falwell Sr. and the professors at Liberty shaped Cockrell’s worldview and his commitment to the Bible. Because of this experience and connection to campus during the early years, Cockrell is now able to point his own students to the study of the Bible as they embark on their academic studies online, all the while encouraging and praying for them throughout their coursework.
“(Being a student at Liberty) gave me … the knowledge and the conviction to be able to stand on the truth of the Bible,” Cockrell said.
Due to the remote nature of his own studies prior to online learning, Cockrell could not easily exchange ideas with peers or faculty. Today; however, his own experiences influence how he interacts and supports his students in a virtual environment.
“I think the challenge back then, for me as a student, was the fact that I felt like I really didn’t have anybody to reach out to,” Cockrell said. “I mean, I know advisers were available back then. I can remember speaking to advisers on the phone. But I think the challenge was — you know, I felt like I was just kind of out in the middle of nowhere.”
However, in today’s remote learning model, online students and instructors are able to more easily converse and collaborate. Cockrell makes himself readily available to students for interaction.
“Some contact me on a daily basis … each term, and so it could be 8 o’clock in the morning or 10 o’clock at night, and … I’m always quick to respond,” Cockrell said.
In today’s learning environment, students can connect with fellow classmates through discussion boards, email or other means of contact for help or to bounce ideas off each other, an experience that was foreign to Cockrell during his studies.
Standard to his approach, Cockrell often refers back to his own notes from when he was a student to refresh his knowledge on various topics that he learned years ago, aligning with his teaching and time as a pastor.
At one time, Cockrell had a student who spent 10 years studying at Liberty who was working on his dissertation.
“He was like a lot of the students who said, ‘I don’t know that I can do this,’” Cockrell said. “I said, ‘certainly, yeah, you can do it.’ And so, he successfully completed his dissertation — successfully defended his dissertation.”
Cockrell has mentored many students in his time teaching about the New Testament remotely. One thing that stood out to Cockrell was that this student was especially thankful for his time at Liberty. This in turn further encouraged Cockrell to make sure he continued to support others through their academic journeys.
Cockrell makes sure to purposefully reach out to get to know his online students.
“I just try to … intentionally get to know them and make them aware that I am available,” Cockrell said. “If they ever have concerns or questions about anything, (I’ve) had students reach out to me and asked me questions that weren’t even related to the class.”
Cockrell said that while looking back at his experience from being a student to a remote professor at Liberty, he can clearly see that it was through God’s will that it all happened how it did.
“So now I’m looking back, I’m thinking, well, the excitement that I received from professors … because they were all so excited about what they were teaching,” Cockrell said. “They were excited about conveying their knowledge, their expertise, connecting with students.”
This zeal for the Word of God is what ultimately drives Cockrell in his mission to educate theology students — an unwavering call that no amount of distance could hinder.
Ganoe is a feature reporter for the Liberty Champion.