UTM students and faculty alike can expect to see many new faces around campus this year.
This is a new year with many new faculty joining the UTM family, in fact, three of the five deans are new to campus this year.
Dr. Todd Winters is the dean of College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences, Dr. Ross N. Dickens is the dean of College of Business and Global Affairs and Dr. Mark Kelley is the dean of College of Education, Health and Behavioral Sciences.
“To have a 60 percent turnover in one year is amazing; I don’t think that has ever happened,” said Dr. Jerald Ogg, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.
Including three new deans, UTM welcomes 36 new faculty members to the family.
“We attracted a large group that believes that … the students are not a bother, the students are the focus,” Ogg said.
Ogg says he believes this group of faculty truly understands the UTM culture as it relates to the students. Ogg made sure to inform each person he interviewed that this is a school focused on the student and the classroom.
“I want to hire faculty who won’t see students as intrusions, but as the reason we are here,” Ogg said.
He made sure that he spent at least 30 minutes of his interview time with each candidate letting them know that this school is one where students are number one. Ogg says that this year, students can expect a new energy on campus that he has already been able to witness firsthand.
“I’ve been teaching part of New Faculty Orientation since 1999 … this year’s New Faculty Orientation had more energy and more interaction than any of the years I’ve been doing it,” Ogg said.
With new faculty, students can expect slight changes to classes, maybe even a new perspective on things they’ve already learned in other classes.
“Anytime you have new faculty, a couple of things happen: new academic backgrounds and a noticeable new energy,” Ogg said.
Each faculty member has a specific area of research that they can bring to their classes that other professors may not have. With each special interest comes a new perspective on topics.
Ogg says though he understands the tuition increase is tough for students, he believes it will help make this university better. Part of the increase is going to a plan the university hopes to use to keep faculty at UTM.
“I know the six percent increase is tough for students for tuition to keep going up, but if what we are doing with that money is creating a stronger university. And I think we are; it lets us attract better faculty and keep better faculty,” Ogg said.
“I think with new young faculty coming here, when they like it and see they are able to make what their peers at other schools make, on average, we are more likely to keep the good ones.”
Students who are returning to campus this year can expect several things from their new professors and deans: new attitudes, new ideas and new connections.
“For current students, they had the opportunity to know the old faculty and now will meet the new faculty; they get two for the price of one,” Ogg said.
“You get the traditional UT Martin experience that the retired faculty member represented along with the new blood, maybe with a different experience and a different set of contacts that will maybe help the students.”
Returning students can look at the new faculty as individuals to help them make further connections, write reference letters and even lead to internships and jobs. Having new faculty is something Ogg views as a benefit to students. Ogg said that even though there is a large number of new faculty members, they all have the same attitude towards UTM.
“I think we have a good mix of faculty. Some that have been here for a while can teach the new faculty ‘here’s who we are’ and the new faculty have an attitude of ‘I want to be a part of this’ and then they make it better,” Ogg said.
Ogg says he expects the new faculty to offer lots to the students of UTM. Ogg is student focused and believes this faculty will be too.
“[Students] are our legacies, to any extent that we could live forever, we do that through the people we leave behind and that we make a difference with; the faculty that we’ve hired heard that before they came, and I think they’ve kind of agreed upon it,” Ogg said.
