Category: Professor Spotlights

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Tennis, Cows, and Pigs, Oh My: Grove City College Professors and Their Unique Traditions

Three Grove City College professors share how they spark joy in their students’ stressful lives with their own unique ‘traditions.’ Across the board, each professor demonstrates that he truly cares about his students.

Dr. Fuller’s Tennis Match

For instance, Economics professor Dr. Fuller offers a chance for a small amount of extra credit to any student who can beat him in a tennis match. Fuller began this tradition during his first semester teaching at the College in Fall 2017. Since then, he has given the opportunity in all his classes every semester.

Dr. Fuller

When asked why he started this tradition, Fuller explains that he is passionate about tennis, having played for all four years that he attended Grove City. Beyond that, though, Fuller emphasizes that the main goal isn’t to give extra credit points, but rather to form connections outside of the classroom with students and get to know them better.

“It’s really a ‘touchpoint’ for students, so I can seem more like a ‘human’ to them with real human interests,” Fuller says.

According to Fuller, two to three students per semester typically challenge him to a match, but only one student—former GCC tennis player and Man of the Year Karsten Lagerquist—has beaten him. Still, the opportunity has served to generate conversations between Fuller and his students, “which is really the goal,” Fuller notes.

Dr. Horton’s Cow Answers

Additionally, psychology professor Dr. Horton incorporates cow-related answers into his multiple-choice exams. He tells his students that the “cow answers” are never correct, so he narrows down the options and provides comedic relief as students take the exam.

Dr. Horton

“Why should exam day be dull and boring and dry?” Horton says. He wants to “liven up” exams and give students something to chuckle at rather than stress about.

Horton has been including cows on his exams for “at least 15 years,” ever since his daughter formed an intense interest in cows when she was little. At first, he incorporated cow-related answers for fun, but his students enjoyed them and asked for more.

Since then, his students have leaned into the “cow” idea in Horton’s classes. If students show a deep enough passion for cows, they can receive the “Cow Appreciation Award.” Only three students have ever won the award, including one young man who wore a cow costume to every exam.

Dr. McIntyre’s Pig Stamps

Finally, mathematics professor Dr. McIntyre has been awarding “pig stamps” to students who get an ‘A’ on his exams since 1994. McIntyre has a collection of four different pig stamps to correlate with the four exams in each of his classes.

Dr. McIntyre

Students can strive to “collect” all four pig stamps by getting an ‘A’ on all four exams. According to McIntyre, this is a “rare achievement.” Depending on the class, roughly one to two students per semester or year receive all four.

From his pig-covered office, McIntyre explains that pigs have fascinated him ever since he was a child. Beyond his interest in pigs, though, McIntyre continues his pig-stamp tradition because it is a “personalized incentive” that reflects his individuality.

McIntyre wants students to learn that “everyone is unique.” No two people are the same, and we should all “embrace our uniqueness.” Fuller, Horton, and McIntyre are three prime examples of Grove City College professors who demonstrate how much they care about their students.

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Professors Online

 

Before attending Grove City College, I was taking a full course load online through a community college. I did not mind online classes when I was taking them my first year of college. It gave me more freedom to have a job and travel. By the end of a year, however, despite my guzzling down textbook information, I did not feel like I was retaining much of what I learned. (Apart from business law, surprisingly most of what I learned in that course stuck- who would have guessed?) It was then that I began looking into going to a college in person, and poof- Grove City College fell out of the skies. 

The professors here did a lot more than teach in person though. Most professors I had actually took time to get to know who I was. Getting lunch with professors, going over to their homes to study for finals or have tea, and having professors offer to pray and talk with students happens a lot here. While I first attributed this to perhaps being part of their job descriptions, many over summer would reach out and ask how things were going. Some even, unfortunately who do not work at the school any longer, continue to reach out and pray with me. My sole conclusion is that the staff at Grove City College authentically care, and feel it is their calling to teach and mentor us. 

When the school needed to switch to online because of an international emergency, I think all of us students were wondering how it was going to go. Having done a year of online school in the past, I was not as worried about formatting as some of my peers seemed to be. Most of all, I knew it would be the most difficult for professors who were not all tech savvy and had about a week before they needed to transition their entire way of teaching online. The first couple weeks online were a little chaotic as many professors were figuring out which face call meetings worked best- Zoom or Teams or other programs. When quizzes and tests came, it was another big haul of decisions. Would the tests be open note? Would we do them while logged into the meeting? WiFi  was spotty where some students lived- how would those students be helped? There were lots of logistics to be worked out in a short period of time. I could tell a number of my professors were thin-stretched by all the changes. 

Despite this, I still felt like I learned more through my time online with Grove City College than through my time online in my past school. The professors did not stop teaching, and they continued to do their best work. The high standard of education did not change, even though all of the circumstances did. There were immense amounts of grace as well. My parents were working in the medical field and could not stay home to help my seven year old brother with school, so often he would join me for my classes once his were over. When this happened, some of my professors would even keep him engaged and ask him questions about what we were learning in class.  

Needless to say, I was thoroughly impressed by the teaching staff here at Grove City College over the past year. Many were pushed out of their comfort zones and had to change their methods very quickly, and from my experience they did a great job. More than that, we have a staff that authentically care about their students and want to know where each of them are at. I have not experienced this in many other places. 

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Professor Spotlight – Dr. Downey

Dr. Jim Downey, PhD

This year I took my first-ever science class at Grove City College. The class was Fundamentals of the Universe (SCIC 201), also known as “Baby Physics” and the class was on Wednesday nights, taught by adjunct professor, Dr. Jim Downey.

Dr. Downey is a very interesting guy. He has an extensive background of education and is very experienced in his line of work. Dr. Downey graduated from Grove City College in 1981 with a B.S. in Physics. He then took a career in the Air Force, both active and reserve Air Force, and he stayed there for 27 years until her retired as a Colonel. Dr. Downey also has a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Illinois, which means yes, he is a rocket scientist! Dr. Downey was a professor at Grove City College from 1992-2003, and then a Harvard Fellow from 2003-2004. He said Harvard was a very cool place to be and to learn. He also taught at the Army War College, which also was an incredible experience for him. Over these different educational experiences and career paths Dr. Downey has lived in six different states, with 11 different moves.

I asked Dr. Downey how it feels to be back on campus as an adjunct professor, and he said, “I have enjoyed the opportunity to teach physics again and particularly this course. When I was a full-time professor, I always loved teaching SCIC 201 as it was a way to expose mostly non-science people to a subject that I love and believe is important for people to know something about. I will admit when I first stepped back on campus it was a bit strange as so many years had gone by. However, it did not take long for the students to remind me how much fun teaching and learning with them can be. And it is always great to see my friends and former colleagues.”

Dr. Downey mentioned some differences in being a full-time professor and an adjunct professor here at Grove City College. He said that as a full-time professor you have essentially committed your life and career to the academy. But he said you also have the opportunity to interact with students on multiple occasions and in a variety of capacities. He said as an adjunct you also have a few advantages, such as, “the ability to focus on only one thing (assuming you are teaching just a single class). Another is a little bit of extra freedom in how you might engage the class because it is not your main job and perhaps the only thing that can happen is you are not invited back to teach again!” He also said the opportunity to bring in your professional experiences and perspectives can also be useful. Dr. Downey said the largest downsides are having to engage and disengage between your regular job and being an adjunct and a lack of opportunity to develop deeper relationships with students. You also are not really part of the rhythm and flow of campus life, so you can feel a certain detachment from the school.

I asked Dr. Downey if he finds it difficult to balance his day-to-day career and teaching here at Grove City. He said, “Yes. Clearly my priority must be to my work at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. What this most often means is that everything related to teaching at Grove City is accomplished in the evening hours and on the weekends. I know there have been times when I would have liked to work more on the class and have had to make choices just to stay on track. And any good professor will always be asking how they can improve what they are doing. However, there are also opportunities to try and share how something like physics can relate to certain aspects of my day job. And the Seminary is committed to having faculty and staff serve outside of the institution in a variety of ways. Ultimately, as in all things in life, you must figure out how to balance it to best serve all interests – not always an easy task yet a reality of life.”

Lastly in our discussion, I talked to Dr. Downey about Grove City College, and what he likes so much about this place from once being a student, and professor, and now coming back to teach once again. Dr. Downey said, “I suppose this could sound trite, but it is, in fact, the students. I am often asked what I miss most about teaching since the last 15 years of my career have predominately been in administrative roles. The answer is always the same – interaction with students. It is a joy and a privilege to speak into the lives of people with the hope that you will play a small part in preparing them for their future and whatever God is calling them to do. My time at Grove City now spans a couple generations between when I was a student and my most recent experience as an adjunct. So, I now have the entire spectrum and hope that giving back in this way closes the loop on how Grove City influenced my own life path.”

Currently Dr. Downey is Vice President for Planning & Institutional Effectiveness at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and he resides in Franklin Park with his wife, and daughter who is a senior in high school, with another daughter in graduate school. Dr. Downey is also an avid Steelers fan!

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Hopeman School Project with Professor Buxton – Exercise Science

Professor Jeffrey Buxton, Exercise Science

Professor Jeff Buxton, a professor of exercise science at Grove City College, is currently pursuing his doctoral degree in Exercise Science from the Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions. He currently holds an M.S. in Exercise Science from California University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. in Kinesiology from Penn State University.

Professor Buxton has a wife, Mandie, and three children, Cayden (8), Elliya (6), and Amya (2). On campus, professor Buxton is a faculty advisor for Exercise Science Club, a faculty advisor for IRON, a member of the Wellness Committee, and he teaches multiple classes on campus, including: Introduction to Exercise Program Design, Personal Training, Exercise Prescription, Research Methods, Biomechanics, Research Practicum, Certified Exercise Physiologist. He has been a professor at Grove City College for six years.

Currently, Professor Buxton is completing his dissertation with the project: “The Effects of a Novel Ground-based Movement Training Program on Functional Movement, Range of Motion, and Muscular Strength and Endurance.” A dissertation is the primary project that is completed as part of a doctoral degree. In general, it is a research project of some kind that is carried out by the doctoral student under the guidance of their faculty and a dissertation committee, which is chosen by the student. This project is a necessary requirement to complete for the doctoral degree Buxton is pursuing.

When asked to “define” the project that he is working on, professor Buxton said, “My project will be looking at the effects of ground-based movement training on select fitness characteristics, including functional movement abilities, dynamic motor control, joint range of motion and muscular strength and endurance. Ground-based movement training (GBMT) is a style of training that explores and utilizes dynamic human movements. The quadrupedal position (all fours) is the base for most GB movements and often these movements mimic those of the animal kingdom! GBMT generally involves crawling patterns, rolling, specific poses or postures and transitions between these poses.”

The project will be a simple pre-test/post-test design. After pre-testing subjects will be randomly assigned to either eight weeks of GBMT (60min sessions 2x/week) or a control group (simply maintain current physical activity). After the eight-week intervention professor Buxton and his research group will perform a post-test and analyze the results.

When asked what data collection is involved with this dissertation, Buxton said,  “We plan to collect body composition changes (fat mass, fat free mass, etc.), joint range of motion scores for the shoulders, hips and ankles, Functional Movement Screen scores (functional movement quality), Y-Balance test scores (dynamic motor control for upper and lower extremities), hand grip strength and pushup test scores (upper body muscular endurance).”

As far as procedure goes when completing this dissertation, there were many different components.  First, his project had to meet the approval of his doctoral degree concentration track director. It then had to be approved by the universities head of research. From there the project proposal had to be approved by his dissertation committee members. He said, “At this point I am now awaiting approval from both Grove City College and Rocky Mountain University’s IRBs (Institutional Review Board). Once I have both IRB approvals, I can begin recruiting subjects and eventually collecting data.”

While waiting, he is pilot testing his methods with the help of student research assistants. According to Buxton, there is no concrete completion date for the dissertation, other than the seven years provided for most doctoral students. He said, “My hope is to begin and finish data collection this upcoming spring and then to defend my project at the end of the summer.”