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June 2023
Dear Faculty, Staff and Students in the Klingler College of Arts & Sciences,
I hope your summer has been a good one thus far and that it has afforded you an opportunity
for broader horizons in your schedule to accompany the longer days and warmer weather.
A highlight this month was hosting our annual Alumni Awards events. The awardees from
A&S and Education are incredibly inspiring. They have variously shepherded a hospital system through
the pandemic, invented green technologies, founded a Catholic high school, developed
educational materials in English and Spanish for those living with autism, modeled
what it means to own and operate a values-based business, and engaged in the crucial
task of fostering non-violence. Thanks to all of these alumni for Being The Difference
and illustrating the best of what a Marquette education can mean.
The summer months often provide a good time to assess the past year and plan for the
next. Given that support for students is a top priority, I’d like to highlight the
work of our inaugural A&S Faculty Fellow for Student Success, Dr. Nakia Gordon. She
began her role in summer 2021 and it has been rewarding to work with her during her
two-year term. As she prepares to return full-time to the department of Psychology,
Dr. Gordon and I recently got together to discuss her experiences.
Nakia Gordon specializes in affective neuroscience, studying how emotions are driven
by and affect our physiology. Her research on wellbeing informed her interest in serving
as faculty fellow. Gordon stated: “Post-COVID it was salient that students were really
struggling. Their lives had changed. And, it was more than just COVID, it was the
socio-political things that were happening. Knowing that none of us was quite back
to whatever ‘normal’ was, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to do my part. […]
I started asking, what can I do with my skills and talents? […] This called me to
ask about the greater good.”
When describing the work of the Faculty Fellow, Dr. Gordon emphasized strategizing
about recruitment, helping students “find their footing academically,” ensuring students
“begin to explore and engage in experiences that will set them up for first destinations”
and providing a “safety net” for those who demonstrate “behaviors that might put them
at academic risk.” A&S has recently strengthened and implemented a number of initiatives
thanks to donor support, including our new first-year seminar for students, course-assigned
tutors and our A&S student ambassadors program. We continue to help students strengthen
their relationships with their advisors and to provide opportunities for undergraduate
research. On the horizon is a new peer mentor program. All of these initiatives aim
to enhance students’ sense of belonging.
The Faculty Fellow role involves helping to organize and host a variety of events,
including our First-Year BASH as well as Discovery Days, Admitted Student Days and
Make Your Marq events. Gordon says she has loved getting to showcase the strengths
of the college through events and emphasized that all of this work has been a team
effort, including Kirsten Boeh, Dr. Josh Burns, Kim Patterson and a wide variety of
faculty, staff and students across the college and our campus. The newest addition
to the team is Kalyn Gackowski (A&S ‘17), our inaugural Student Success Coordinator.
For Dr. Gordon, this work is fundamentally about cura personalis, about caring for students and promoting their wellbeing. Among the surprising elements
of the Faculty Fellow role, Dr. Gordon laughed and said: “Sometimes I start talking
and I sound like an administrator.” She has become more connected to colleagues across
campus and has developed “a deeper understanding of the inner workings of the University
and a better understanding of why we have the goals we do. This kind of leadership
role gives one a broader perspective.”
As Dr. Gordon returns full-time to Psychology she intends to continue developing the
student wellness program that she and Dr. Alyson Gerdes have piloted over the past
two years. Her dreams for the future of A&S include continuing to be even more supportive
for all students; ensuring that all can see how the parts of our college are cohesive
and complementary; and helping students see how “the difference is in the and” through the ways in which our departments integrate their learning.
We are so grateful for Nakia Gordon’s work in the dean’s office. And we are likewise
grateful to welcome to the Faculty Fellow role Dr. Leslie McAbee from the department
of English. With Kalyn Gackowski focused on student persistence, Dr. McAbee will focus
on recruitment. Both of them will continue in the model that Dr. Gordon established,
working closely with colleagues across the college and beyond to support the success
and flourishing of all students. Today’s students, with encouragement from all of
us, will become tomorrow’s inspirational alumni.
As always, please feel free to contact me with questions, concerns or suggestions. I appreciate hearing from you and exploring
ways we can all work together for the common good.
Dr. Heidi Bostic
Dean, Klingler College of Arts and Sciences
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