Why Madison?

This last week has been full of all the "back to school festivities" that a university like mine has to offer.  Meetings (out the wazoo). Team building. Motivating speeches. It's difficult insane to realize this is my fourth year at JMU. In fact, I'm past mid-tenure. After next year, I will go up for tenure. At age 33, I'll go up for tenure.

My age is an important factor here, because I have a long career road ahead of me.

Here's the truth about me. I always intended to find a university, make it my home, and stay there. Forever. I firmly believe that you have to stay somewhere long enough for people to remember you were there. You have to stay there long enough to make a difference. And, today, I was reminded of my own mantra by a colleague only slightly my junior-"it's not where you are, it's WHO you are". I still believe those words. In fact, I live by them every day of my working life.

My decision to come to JMU was one riddled with tough choices. I was "groomed" to focus on research and teaching by some pretty amazing mentors. I was safe in my little cocoon at UNC Charlotte. People who believed the same things I believed. People who researched well and taught well. People who didn't think I had to make a choice between those two. Then....it came time to fly the coop. I didn't want to, to be honest. I liked the coop. But, flew, I did.

I had three interviews and two offers. Two of the interviews were at research-intensive universities, and to be honest, it's what I thought I wanted. But....then.....came JMU. JMU was the last interview. I was certain about my choice, until JMU. The second I stepped on the campus, it reminded me of my little "coop" at UNC Charlotte. People sitting around a table hashing out a research design, helping students, talking about curriculum, talking about teaching, collaborating, and interacting in a collegial way that can only be described as family.

The clincher was my department chair, Laura, telling me I could be whoever I wanted to be. She told me that the kind of research I wanted to do was not only acceptable, but was desirable. I'll never forget....she said, you want to research more? Get yourself funded. But even without that funding (which didn't happen until YEAR 3), she came up with creative ways to support a balanced approach at faculty life.

Today, I sat with all the other faculty across the entire university as we listened to a speech from our NEW president. JMU has only had 6 presidents in it's history-since 1908. THAT says volumes about the commitment to the mission of what we do every day. JMU started out as a teacher's college, over a 100 years ago. You can't mess with history like that.

Our new president, who we managed to swipe from Rutgers by way of Swarthmore and Harvard (I know, right???), talked about the uniqueness of JMU. The "feel" of a smaller liberal arts university, but the opportunity for research similar to a research intensive university. JMU is not small. We have 23,000 students. So I find it unique and commendable that a place this large can have a feel this small. A focus on students. A focus on research. A focus on teaching.

Here's more on President Alger if you want to read about our new leader.

http://www.jmu.edu/stories/president-journal/2012/081612-forbes-center-reception.shtml


This new president asked us the question, "Why Madison?". I would answer that question the same way I would have four years ago.

First, I choose Madison because of the students. They are different. They are special. Service focused. SMART. Challenging, but in a good way. They crave interaction with faculty, and I, simultaneously crave it with them. I can't wait to teach next week. I love the students I've had, the ones I have now, and the ones I will know in the future. They are precious to me.

Second, I choose Madison for the focus on "being the change". This relates to my research, primarily, but also my teaching. The mission of the university is getting in there, doing the work, seeing the results. I'm not sitting in my office pontificating. I'm usually in schools, researching with real kids and teachers. It's messy. It's difficult. It's exhausting, but it feels SOOO good when you see the outcomes. I didn't get a Ph.D. to have some random letters behind my name. I did it, because I felt suffocated by the confounds of public education. I did it because I needed to make a bigger difference in the world. I needed to multiply my impact. And I know, based on my students' constant communications with me even three, four years later, that I am accomplishing this goal.  If I had chosen a research intensive university, this part of my life would be very different. Not bad, just different. I care about teaching. Despite what many people might think, I actually care more about teaching than research. Gasp. Yep, I just said it. Why? Because when I teach a teacher to help kids, they can do it again, and again, and again. If I have about 40-60 students per semester, for year after year, think about that impact. What if....I also engage these students in collaborative research? We impact kids, we impact the field, we impact our own professional engagement. Tell me, WHAT could be better than that?

Thirdly,and perhaps most importantly, I choose Madison for their motto of "all together one". The reason why this is most important, is because it represents my core belief, which is collaboration. I believe that the collegiality and collaboration I've experienced at JMU, especially in the last year, have helped me grow as a teacher, a researcher, and a human being. I've literally worked with faculty across every department in the college of education-something I didn't even see modeled in my "coop" at UNC Charlotte. A level of growth I didn't know possible.

Beyond all of these three reasons is one core value, and that is relationships. I have fostered some amazing relationships in the last four years, with colleagues, with students, with teachers in the community.

So, "Why Madison?". Because it's right for me. Because it's not the ivory tower. Because it's student focused. Because...well.....it just feels good. I won't lie-I've thought about leaving for a place with less teaching and better balance. But every time I even entertain the idea, I see the faces of my colleagues, my students, the sweet kids I've helped learn to read in the last four years, and I just know. Why Madison? Because I'M MADISON. I bleed purple. I'm here for the long haul, and I can't wait to see how that unfolds into the beauty of teaching and learning.