The MTSU centennial committee is gathering memories from all living department chairs. Since I was one and am still breathing, I contributed the following:
When I became chair of MTSU’s largest department in the Fall of 1993, I was the first outsider ever to occupy such a position and found myself, not surprisingly, battling with history and tradition. (The building housing the English Department, after all, is named after the departmental patriarch and longest-serving chair, Dr. Richard Peck.) Needless to say, I was constantly asking faculty and staff to explain “Why exactly do we do it this way?” In my very first semester as chair, President Walker’s decision to award a one-time only bonus to 25% of the faculty, gave me a singular opportunity as a newcomer to alienate/infuriate 75% of my colleagues.
I like to think I was the chair who brought English into the computer era. When I arrived, not a single department form and little of its history were digital, nor did we have a computer classroom (though former chair Dr. Frank Ginanni, advised by Dr. Larry Mapp, had already secured the equipment for one). I found a way to make the room a reality.
Later, when SACS told us we could no longer use first year graduate assistants in the classroom, I saw the available new work force as an opportunity and established the University Writing Center.
Looking back, I am most proud that (1) peer-mentoring was established for adjunct and full-time temporary faculty; (2) the eventual conversion of English’s D.A. degree into a Ph.D. gained momentum; and (3) substantial progress was made toward reduction of the teaching load of English’s productive scholars.
—Dr. David Lavery, Chair of the English Department, 1993-1997
