She鈥檚 outspoken yet maintains a refreshing lemonade-out-of-lemons attitude. Free-spirited and grounded, intuitive and visionary, radically inclusive and a relentless voice for the academic side of the institution鈥攖his is Mary Ellen Finch, PhD, retiring vice president for academic affairs.
Famously and gratefully looked upon as a retirement boomerang of sorts, Mary Ellen Finch has tried to retire three times over the past four decades but always found herself back in an academic role on account of her extraordinary leadership. She retired at the end of the 2017-2018 academic year, and she’s determined to make this one stick.
It鈥檚 well-deserved and not unexpected鈥攂ut still.
She has touched the lives of thousands of students and helped prepare countless teachers to lead their own classrooms. Since arriving at Maryville in 1974 as chair of teacher聽education, Mary Ellen has served as dean of the School of聽Education, director of graduate studies, interim dean of the School of Health Professions (now the Walker College of Health Professions) and interim director of the physical therapy program.
鈥淐all me Mary Ellen,鈥� she says on first introductions, dismissing formalities. She is also known fondly as MEF, as the heartfelt tributes attest.
But she鈥檚 serious about the business of teaching and learning.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 anything more important in the world than being a teacher. Because you鈥檝e got the future in your hands,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e teaching, it鈥檚 the next generation and the next generation鈥攊t鈥檚 an old saw, but it鈥檚 true.鈥�
I will always remember when she yelled at me to call her MARY ELLEN鈥攏ot Dr. Finch! She has never been about titles, but about personal relationships. ~聽Kelly Mock, EdD,聽Director, Academic Success and Life Coaching
惭补谤测惫颈濒濒别鈥檚 Dr. Mary Ellen Finch Center for Teaching and Learning鈥攑roviding resources and opportunities for faculty to study their own teaching more deeply鈥攂ears her visionary mark and her name.
鈥淲e needed a place where faculty could learn and could share teaching ideas. What鈥檚 happened with the Center for Teaching and Learning is marvelous,鈥� she says.
Although she鈥檚 officially retired as of May 31, Mary Ellen won鈥檛 be completely untethered from her Maryville colleagues鈥攁nd she鈥檒l be in her element, serving as a part-time senior associate in the Finch Center for Teaching and Learning.
Mary Ellen has a zest for learning that is awe-inspiring. Her photograph should be in the dictionary next to Life Long Learner. ~聽Jesse Kavadlo, PhD,聽Professor of English/Center for Teaching and Learning
Over the years, Mary Ellen has been recognized for her leadership in higher education, including 惭补谤测惫颈濒濒别鈥檚 President鈥檚 Award for Strategic Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring. She has also been named a Woman of Achievement, served as a Fellow in Leadership St. Louis, and she received the Edward C. Pomeroy Award for Outstanding Contributions to Teacher Education from the American Association of Colleges for Teachers Education.
鈥淭he Faculty are My Kids鈥�
I鈥檓 a teacher, first and foremost. When you鈥檙e a dean, the kids are still important but the faculty become your kids鈥攖hey鈥檙e the ones you nurture and take care of. If our faculty appreciate me, I hope they appreciate me from the standpoint that I believe in them. Their work is so hard and my role鈥攚hether as a dean or vice president of academic affairs was to make that easier for them, to run intervention between those that get in their way and to get them as many resources as possible.
Book Group Kismet
Mary Ellen is known for hosting small book groups for faculty and staff. She chooses the book and participants sign up to join the discussion on a first-come, first-served basis.
One thing I will be doing鈥攁nd think I should be doing for the rest of my life鈥攊s leading book groups. Tears We Cannot Stop has been one of the most unusual experiences. The author, Michael Eric Dyson, takes out after we white liberals. There isn鈥檛 a thing in the book I disagree with. It hits hard. The discussions erupted, in a positive sense. I鈥檝e never seen a group so willing to share. When I announced the next book group, within 10 minutes the book was sold out, and I had a waiting list.
I will treasure the conversations we’ve had about leadership … because her of genuineness, bold spirit and tell-it -like-it-is perspective. ~聽Nina Caldwell, EdD,聽Vice President for Student Life
Engaging Students
When I hire people, I point to 惭补谤测惫颈濒濒别鈥檚 strategic plan, which guides everything we do. And that very first theme, active learning ecosystem, that鈥檚 what it鈥檚 all about. It鈥檚 about working any way you can to engage students to think critically, to question, to dig deeper and to gather as much diverse information as possible. It鈥檚 not necessarily the use of technology, although that鈥檚 a great tool. But it鈥檚 using the best strategies you can think of, even if it鈥檚 to stand on your head鈥攚hich it isn鈥檛, obviously. Actively doesn鈥檛 mean physically active, necessarily, it means thinking actively. To really help students want to learn more, want to continue on鈥攖hat is really hard work.
I have learned so much from MEF through her passions for teaching and learning, diversity, and her unwavering belief that we are doing the best work on behalf of our students. ~ Tammy Gocial, PhD, Association Vice President, Academic Affairs
First Aha! Moment
I was teaching junior high school students and had just finished the Civil War and was going into a Reconstruction lesson. There was a fight between a black kid and a white kid in the boy鈥檚 bathroom, which was across the hall from my classroom, and good ol鈥� do-gooder, liberal, progressive Mary Ellen was convinced it was a race issue; it probably was not. So, I dropped everything and taught a civil rights unit, which actually turned out to be pretty damn good. One afternoon after school, my door flew open and a father came in and chewed me up royally, called me a communist; he just eviscerated me verbally.
“We’re going to make you uncomfortable.” I will miss MEF saying this at the convening of the class each year. It helps our students to understand what the college experience is all about. ~聽Jess Bowers, PhD,聽Assistant Professor, English
The next day I went back to school and the principal asked me, 鈥淲hy didn鈥檛 you tell me what you were doing? I could have helped you and protected you.鈥� It never occurred to me, I just did it. I learned something about administrators 鈥攖hat you can communicate with them. And I hope I鈥檝e helped the kids coming up through our program by telling them, 鈥淒on鈥檛 do things in isolation. It has broader implications.鈥� Many of those students as adults tell me they remember that unit. That鈥檚 what it鈥檚 all about. I can go to my deathbed thinking, 鈥淲ell, maybe I helped those kids think more broadly about civil rights.鈥� Those are things that make you think you鈥檙e in the right business. If you are a teacher, if you are fortunate, you have those experiences and it just makes teaching so worthwhile.
Mary Ellen introduced me to the world of pedagogy, learning objectives, the scholarship of teaching and learning and curriculum development鈥攕he has been my mentor. ~聽Charles J. Gulas, PT, PhD,聽Dean, Walker College of Health Professions
MEF and I were planning the first “Tears We Cannot Stop” book talk. She knew what the slang term “woke” means鈥攏ot only that, but she used it in the appropriate context! At that moment, I realized MEF is pretty spectacular. ~聽Destiny Reddick, EdD,聽Assistant Dean, School of Education
Sowing Seeds
When asked what accomplishment she is most proud of, MEF replied, 鈥淚 have to choose one? I would prioritize and say the (Dr. Mary Ellen Finch) Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL).鈥�
I wanted to create a Center for Teaching and Learning so badly when I was dean. We needed a place where faculty could learn and could share teaching ideas. I would like it to be five times larger. Number two would be the School of Education. I have Harriet Switzer and Claude Pritchard to thank for that鈥攑ast presidents who did not get in my way. They let me create and were supportive. They probably gritted their teeth a number of times, just like President Lombardi does.
Mary Ellen has a passion for teaching like no one else I know, and she has ensured faculty have the resources they need to further student learning and success. ~聽Jennifer McCluskey, PhD,聽Vice President, Student Success
On Audacity
I had one of those special childhoods that creates confidence. I don鈥檛 remember鈥攐ther than algebra鈥攚hen I wasn鈥檛 encouraged or allowed to do my thing and encouraged to do it well. I was never really smacked down, except when I dated a guy my father really, really, really didn鈥檛 want me to and threatened not to send me to college if I didn鈥檛 end the relationship. But he had a convertible, and I was smitten!
My favorite part of working with Mary Ellen is how she can get down to business and say exactly what needs to be said鈥攁s often as it needs to be said. ~ Mascheal Schappe, EdD, Dean, School of Education
Words to Etch in Stone
What would MEF tell current and future Maryville students?
鈥淭ake a risk and go for the stars. Don鈥檛 be afraid, trust yourself but consult others. And always remember you are part of a larger community and your actions impact others.鈥� Obviously, I鈥檇 love to use my platform to help students think about being civically engaged, etc., etc. 聽but 鈥� ah, well.