New Dean of First Year Experience Candidates

CLOCK PHOTO / TINA SERVAES

On April 13, 2015, Plymouth State University began their last round of interviews for the new Dean of First Year Experience. The Dean will serve as a liaison between the incoming first year students and the Plymouth State community. They will be involved in creating policies, changes, and practices that will better support first year students throughout their undergraduate career. The Dean will also collaborate with Academic and Student Affairs to offer first years a more holistic, well-rounded approach to their PSU experience. The finalists for this position are Dr. Wendy Palmquist, Dr. Mark Fischler, and Dr. Brad Allen. 

The first finalist is Dr. Wendy Palmquist, a current Professor of Psychology at Plymouth State University. Dr. Palmquist began teaching here in 1981. She helped create the Women’s Studies minor and has been an active member of the Women’s Studies Council since 1991. Dr. Palmquist specializes in Adolescent Psychology, has a passion for the PSU community, and hopes to continue to serve PSU in this role.   
As someone who was a highly involved student during her undergraduate career, Dr. Palmquist understands the value of community and wishes to emphasize that as the core value of the First Year Experience. “It is what I think makes Plymouth State an excellent place for students and staff,” said Dr. Palmquist.     

Dr. Palmquist teaches first year students every semester and helps them transition into the college environment. “Research proves that first years need to make connections within the first six weeks of school,” said Dr. Palmquist. Whether those connections are with faculty members, residential life staff, or fellow peers, first years need to make those life-long connections in order to feel a sense of place and belonging. “I want the First Year Experience to be a building block of that Community, and connections between academic life and student life, with Student Affairs people working with sections of the [First Year Seminar] course, and much more,” said Dr. Palmquist. 

When asked about the negative stigma the First Year Seminar and General Education courses often bring, Dr. Palmquist wants to, instead, educate first year students about the importance of the skills they learn in these courses. Dr. Palmquist mentioned that the General Education program is built upon research of the top skills employers seek in their employees, such as critical thinking, writing, and problem solving skills. By better marketing these courses, Dr. Palmquist hopes to help students become more adaptable and flexible in their future endeavors.  

Dr. Mark Fischler is the second candidate. Since 2003, Dr. Fischler has chaired the Criminal Justice Department and taught several undergraduate Criminal Justice courses. Before his career at PSU, he served as a representative for poor criminal defendants for the New Hampshire Public Defenders Office. He has also been a Guardian Ad Litem and a marital mediator. With a career spent helping others, Dr. Fischler hopes to bring his real-world knowledge to the First Year Experience. 

One of his main goals of the First Year Experience is to create the Plymouth Panther Ethos program in order to give students time to attend mock courses and meet with academic advisors. This would align students with the right people and the right experiences. While Dr. Fischler recognizes that the first year away at college is overwhelming on its own, providing students with opportunities to work directly with the campus resources gives them the support they need. 

Dr. Fischler also discussed offering first year students more service learning or outdoor education experiences. As a firm believer in the Plymouth State motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Dr. Fischler wants all first year students to experience what makes the Plymouth State community so unique; the genuine desire to help, and be helped whenever possible. 

 As an active Department Chair, Dr. Fischler strongly believes in establishing a philosophy to interact directly with first year students and help them transition to their undergraduate academic environment. He believes every department on campus should work to establish the same relationship with their incoming students. This way, first years feel more comfortable participating in class, meeting with professors, and asking for help. Dr. Fischler also wants to develop a peer mentor program to enhance this advising experience. 

Dr. Brad Allen is the final candidate for the Dean of First Year Experience. He currently serves as an Associate Professor in the Business Department, teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses. He also serves as the faculty advisor for the Plymouth State University chapter of the American Marketing Association, MAPS. “I have continuously been engaged with students outside the classroom as an academic advisor, student organization advisor, at career development events, and with intramural sports,” said Dr. Allen. 

Aside from his teaching career, Dr. Allen has extensive experience working in the high tech industry. He served as the Director of Global Sustainability Services at Technology Business Research, where he worked with Dell, IBM, and EMC Corporation. He continues to research and practice sustainability in a corporate environment. Dr. Allen hopes to take a real world, personable approach to this position. 

Dr. Allen said, “The Dean must play a vibrant role in advocating for student success while ensuring that students see and use the extensive resources afforded them by the university with the objective of becoming self-directed learners.” By providing students with unlimited opportunities to engage inside and outside the classroom, Dr. Allen wants to ensure that all students feel supported. 

Dr. Allen recognizes that student success stems further than the classroom setting. With this position, he has developed a ROOTS framework, which stands for: Relationships, Opportunity, Organizations, Time Management, and Success. Relationships refers to helping students develop and foster connections within their department, residential hall, student organizations, and social life that will help them succeed. Opportunity involves providing students with the resources they need to succeed, such as the PASS Office, the Writing Center, or the Student Support Foundation. Organizations represents the push to include incoming students in student-run clubs and organizations. Through Time Management, Dr. Allen hopes to educate first year students about the importance of managing their time productively and working to avoid distraction. Lastly, Success relates to Dr. Allen’s desire to create metrics to measure the program’s effectiveness, as well as developing strategies to continually improve. “If granted this opportunity, I would immediately develop a program that is data-driven and result oriented to achieve these goals,” said Dr. Allen.

If granted this position, Dr. Allen plans to enact several different practices. He wants to create a portal for first year students where they can access advising information, a campus event calendar, student organization information, and information about how to join those student organizations. Dr. Allen also wants to create videos and posters of key people around campus. This way, first years will know who to contact and how to contact them if any problems arise. Above all, Dr. Allen wants to make himself readily available to all students. He plans to make regular dining hall visits to ensure the students are having the best PSU experience possible.