What is a Chief Operating Officer?
A COO also known as a Chief Operation Officer is a senior executive tasked with overseeing the day-to-day administrative and operational functions of a business.
Skills required to be a COO include strong analytical, managerial, communication, and leadership skills.
Jonathan Stowe - Chief Operating Officer of Hudson Global Scholars
“Hudson runs around the clock, in almost every time zone, seven days a week,” says Jonathan Stowe. It is his job as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) to make sure that the delivery system is always running smoothly, that every part of this system, human or machine, functions as it should so that students have the best learning experience possible.
At the start of every day, Jon runs a “stand-up” meeting where he and his team talk about technical issues and instructional challenges that need resolving ASAP. “It’s like triage at a hospital,” explains Jon. “We deal with the most complex issues first. Some days we have several issues; some days we have none. These meetings set the tone for the day.”
Q&A with Jon Stowe
Q: How do you keep track of 6K students in different time zones around the world?
A: It’s my job to make sure that every Hudson student has an excellent learning experience. I work with a team of technical and teaching experts to troubleshoot all sorts of issues, from dealing with earthquakes and related infrastructure issues to finding a substitute teacher at the last minute at midnight in Los Angeles. It’s a lot, but I love my job and enjoy working with an A-team of online education experts.
Q: What is the most important aspect of your job as COO?
A: (laughing) I wish there was one specific thing that I really had to watch, but there’s not; it’s a whole bunch of things—computers, digital tools, internet connections—that need to function well together to make sure our students succeed. And, of course, there is the human element, our teachers, who are the secret sauce at Hudson. They make sure that every student is engaged and learning at the correct pace.
Q: How can you be everywhere at once? How do you and your team monitor hundreds of classes at once?
A: My team and I use multiple performance monitoring dashboards to track the status of every class. If there’s something amiss, a light on the dashboard will turn red, and we’ll know that we need to take immediate action to fix something. Of course, sometimes the fix that’s needed isn’t something that we can fix, such as a weak Wi-Fi network in a private home, but we have tools that help us identify even this type of problem. In certain learning situations, we have a teacher or administrator in the classroom with students to ensure that everyone is online and using their digital tools correctly.