Center for Success of Women Faculty

What is your current job title and responsibilities?
Associate Dean, Academic Programs.  I oversee both undergraduate and graduate programs for the college which would include building and maintaining curriculum, annual catalog updates, and scheduling.  My position description also contains that key duty: “Other responsibilities as assigned!”

What is your history at UCF? (past job titles, responsibilities)
I completed my graduate work at UCF in 1995, taught literature and writing courses from 1993 forward, initially as an adjunct when my children were young.  In 1998 I accepted a full-time position as Assistant to the Chair in the Department of English and remained there in differing capacities until 2006 when I moved to the newly created College of Arts & Humanities as a faculty administrator.  My initial position, Director of Graduate Studies.

What is your favorite UCF memory?
That’s hard to pinpoint but, if I had to select just one, it would be the opening of the Student Union.  The building provided a sense of student community absent from this campus previously. Its function as a gathering place did much to dispel the notion of UCF as a commuter campus and the building of the Student Union was the first step in creating what is now a vibrant residential campus.

What is one piece of advice you would like to share with your colleagues?
It’s the same advice I continue to give myself:  Be patient, have the courage to do the right thing, not the easiest,  and make decisions that are in the best interests of our students.

What is your favorite restaurant or food?
The Ravenous Pig

What is your dream vacation spot?
Bali someday.

What is your favorite sport to watch or participate?
My husband is an avid college football fan so I watch with him (and pretend to enjoy).  That said, I watch the Kentucky Derby every year.

If UCF was going to name something in your honor, what would you like it to be?
Anything connected to student mentoring/development.

Who at UCF would you like to thank for your success?
Any administrative success I’ve enjoyed was kick started by Dawn Trouard who had the knack for turning disparate parts into streamlined  processes. She was generous with her mentoring and willingness to provide guidance.   Jose Fernandez,  Lyman Brodie, and Rick Schell continue to be my  go-to examples of administrators with heart.  Their fairness, kindness, and commitment to doing the right thing have inspired and guides me for close to 15 years.  Each has  shared through example what it means to be a committed colleague and steward of our students.

Name and describe a teacher from you past who truly inspired you.
I don’t think I can narrow to just one.  I remember those I didn’t like particularly but whose scope of knowledge, while terrifying,  motivated me to produce my best work.   Or the  professor in graduate school with failing eyesight who,  book held two inches from her face, recited joyously words she’d read so many times before.

What undergraduate class/program inspired you the most and why?
A Shakespeare class I took in my senior year as a Psychology major in the early 1970’s.  I realized then that Psychology, while fascinating, wasn’t for me, and ended up at the University of Oregon pursuing a master’s degree in literature.