Friday, September 14, 2007

Out with the old, in with the new
Albion welcomes new professors, others leave
By Maria Stella
Senior Writer

Maria Stella/The Pleiad

For every professor that left Albion over the summer, almost two were hired in their place for the fall term.

According to Lori Duff in the department of academic affairs, the new tenure-track hires this year are Daniel Mittag, philosophy; Kyle Shanton, education; and Vicki Sweitzer, economics and management (E&M). "Shanton seems like an awesome asset to the education program because he is so passionate about teaching and has a patient, encouraging attitude," said Nicole Rotondo, Plymouth sophomore.

The new one-year hires include Nate Miller, biology; Susan Quinlan, E&M; Nadiya Potsepun, math and computer science; Gayle Thompson, physical education (athletic training); Andrew Brandt, psychology; and Heather Vaughan-Southard, theater and dance. Yuxia Qian, communication studies, will join the staff in the spring as well.

"There are more dance opportunities available this year than in years past and I am dedicated to making this a more disciplined program," said Vaughan-Southard. "I have been impressed and encouraged by the support and interest of the dance students in response to some of the opportunities I would like to bring to the dance program."

For Sweitzer, living in Albion will give her the chance to become more active in the community.

"I recently agreed to serve as the faculty adviser for the women’s lacrosse team."

Athletic training, which faced cuts in previous years, welcomes new professor, Thompson.

"People are friendly and have a loyalty to Albion I haven’t seen at other colleges," Thompson said. "The students are waiting for me when I arrive at class early!"

There were six professors who left Albion. Visiting political science professor Claudia Dahlerus left for Colorado. Also, three tenured or tenure-track faculty members took positions at other institutions and; Myron Levine in political science, Michael Meloth in education, and Molly Scheel in biology. Bob Messer, math and computer science, and Melissa Wyss, visiting instructor of dance, have both retired.