TTU's Technology Institute's Newsletter April 2007
Faculty Profile: Dr. Marvin Barker, Provost of TTU
Our newsletter has profiled many faculty who have made great contributions to TTU through their use of technology in their teaching. TTU came to the e-Learning game with the majority of the pack, we were neither very early or very late, but we quickly moved to the front of the pack; we became a WebCT Institute--a recognition held by fewer than twenty schools. When I attend Institute meetings to represent TTU, I take our place among other institutions like the University of Georgia , Villanova University , University of Ulster , University of Maryland . It is a great honor to know that our institution is able to qualify for this honor as a result of the quality of work done by our faculty. We are an Elluminate Center of Excellence. Again, we take our place beside the like of New York Institute of Technology, the University of Calgary and the Kansas University Medical Center . The Institute has received its share of the credit for these successes.
In our recognition, both in our annual awards and in profiles in this newsletter, one critical name has been missing, not from our oversight but from his modesty and insistence that we not recognize him. I write this column without his knowledge (the time in which he can fire me is short; I'll take the chance). Therefore, allow me to state that not only our success, but our very existence as an Institute must be credited to Dr. Marvin Barker, Provost of TTU.
In the Institute, we have a Styrofoam coffee cup we call the “ Institute Museum ” on it is written a single phrase: “Where to next?” The coffee cup was from a meeting of the provost's Think Tank where he gathered a group of faculty to ask for their input on the future direction of TTU. The conversation began with the words written on that Styrofoam cup. The question became an idea, became a proposal, became support, became an Institute. From our founding, Dr. Barker has been our biggest supporter on every action from acquiring Elluminate to beginning and continuing the Tablet Initiative. He has lived by the mandate he has always given me as Director of the Institute: “Make sure that faculty have what they need.” When the Styrofoam coffee cup was first written on, we had 2 sections on the WebCT server, we now have in excess of 500. We have faculty teaching from tablets from which they record entire classes; we have faculty working in 3-D environments. All of this has been made possible through Dr. Barker's leadership. His support has been more than behind the scenes. He has attended power-user meetings, attended Faculty Board of Directors' Meetings; many days he has simply dropped in the Institute to visit with faculty working on courses or projects to ensure they had what they needed to succeed; sometime to share a joke or a kind word with our student workers.
I must also add that in my role as Director, my ability to run the Institute have always been supported by his mentoring and his vision. This is the column which I have always wanted to write for this newsletter but have never had the opportunity to. Dr. Barker has announced his retirement effective June 30 of this year. He will indeed be missed. On behalf of everyone affiliated with the Institute, I would like to say a heart felt thank you to him. While he may be retiring, the mark he has made in and through this Institute will endure. Dr, Barker, good luck, Godspeed, and thank you.
-Dr. Bob Clougherty
