Three new adjunct professors have been added to the English department roster this year and they have quickly become valuable assets to the department as it welcomes a new first-year class.
The adjuncts were hired not long before the academic year began in August, and they have since begun to provide EN100 classes to the incoming first-years. EN100, Writing and Language, is a course that fulfills the Power of Language requirement for the core curriculum.
Dr. David Downing, Ralph W. Schlosser Professor of English and English department chair, said that the adjunct professors were desperately needed within the department for the fall 2012 semester. Without them, assistant and associate professors would have had a difficult time trying to fit EN 100 classes into their teaching schedules in addition to the major and minor courses that they are assigned to teach every semester. The English department is required to provide EN100 classes to at least half of the incoming first-year class, and this year, the first-year class trumps those of many preceding classes in regard to its size. Due to the increased number of students who needed to register for the course, the department decided to hire new faculty members, and the result was a small, diverse group of qualified individuals who are eager to share their knowledge with Etown students.
These new English department adjuncts are Dr. Stephen Dirle, Dr. Victoria Ehrhardt, and Mr. Tyler Grimm. Dirle earned his bachelor’s degree in English literature from Utah Valley University, his master’s degree in creative writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and his doctorate degree in creative writing from the University of Technology Sydney in Australia. Dirle was initially attracted to the Elizabethtown College campus because he had heard that it was an above-par school. During his application, interview and hiring processes, he found that the College was simple, prompt, direct and punctual.
While he acknowledged that there are challenges associated with the position, Dirle said the biggest of these is “getting used to students who write so well. [It’s] something I am not used to with the other colleges I teach for.” He is markedly impressed with Etown students so far and even went so far as to say, “I love the students at this school.” He appreciates students’ sincerity and eagerness to learn within the classroom, and he also enjoys the company of his fellow faculty members.
“I am very open-minded and inclusive in my approach to learning,” Dirle said, “especially with group work and class participation.” He hopes that these personal qualities and teaching strategies will constitute his valuable contributions to the department this year. Additionally, he insisted that he is the kind of professor who enjoys connecting with students on a personal level and communicating with them more as an equal than a superior. He hopes that this will encourage students to reciprocate this personal exchange and allow him to gain their trust as an educator.
Adjunct professor of English Grimm earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Shippensburg University and his master’s degree in creative writing from Wilkes University. Grimm was drawn to Etown because of its “impressive reputation” and the notion of having more freedom in his teaching methods. He was excited by the idea of designing and teaching his classes autonomously, noting that he might not have gotten that kind of opportunity anywhere else. “Many other colleges and universities don’t give new faculty those opportunities,” he said. “The autonomy and freedom is beyond refreshing. Here, I am able to design my courses and teach the material as I see fit.”
Grimm also found that the hiring process at the College was extremely prompt. Within a week of applying for the position, he was called for an interview, taken on a tour of the campus and subsequently hired as a new adjunct professor of English. Since then, he said, “The campus community has been very welcoming to me. I love it here. The campus atmosphere is one of budding curiosity and sophistication.” Grimm is very much enjoying the campus, the work schedule and the close proximity of the College to his home, among many other things. He is also glad to have the opportunity to mix passion with productivity. “There is not a better job in the world than teaching what you love and on which you have built your life,” he said.
Despite the many benefits of working as a new professor at Etown, Grimm also acknowledged that there are a few troublesome obstacles to overcome. “The biggest challenge is motivating my students,” he said, reflecting on the first few weeks of his teaching experiences. “[Core classes] are notoriously difficult to teach. Most of my students are new to college life, which is quite a transition, and an incredible time in one’s life. It is challenging to keep them interested in a subject that many students disliked in high school.”
Although he has encountered some adversity, Grimm is mostly undeterred. He has a substantial amount of experience in the writing world, from writing for magazines and other periodicals to designing and writing content for websites to running online blogs. He has experience with formal research as well, having written several scholarly journal articles. His true passion, however, is fiction writing, specifically novel writing. He is currently working on his first novel, which will see publication next year. Before pursuing a teaching position in English, Grimm worked as a therapist, specializing in autism. He believes that this prior experience in behavior and psychology will also benefit him as he makes the transition from therapist to professor. In addition, he said, “It wasn’t that long ago that I was an undergraduate student, and I remember that life very vividly. I believe I can relate to students.”
Adjunct professor of English Ehrhardt earned her bachelor’s degree in English literature from Pennsylvania State University, her master’s degree in education from the University of New England and her doctorate degree in education from the International University for Graduate Studies. Originally from New Jersey, Ehrhardt moved to Lancaster with her husband and quickly became aware of the College’s presence in the area, especially after attending several cultural events on campus. “The College offers so much to its students and the surrounding community,” she said. “It is a joy to be here at Elizabethtown, guiding students as they gain expertise in writing that they will need in every career path.”
A life-long educator, Ehrhardt is currently a consultant for the College Board, working with both SAT essays and AP English exams, reading and scoring them according to regulations and requirements. As a result of these experiences, she emphasized how important it is for students to develop their writing skills in not just a mechanical sense, but in a critical sense. “In teaching writing, I focus on encouraging emerging writers to employ their best critical thinking skills while they write,” she said. Ehrhardt has written a textbook called “Anthem Critical Thinking and Writing Skills”  (Anthem Press, 2010) which is geared toward helping student writers hone their critical thinking skills so that their writing will improve as a result.
While she is already very familiar with the interviewing process as a result of her long history of moving from state to state, Ehrhardt does have a piece of advice for students who are going through the hiring process: “It’s important to start with a well-crafted, up-to-date [curriculum vitae] that highlights those areas in one’s life where one has been successful and, hopefully, had a positive impact on others.”
The English department welcomes these three new adjunct professors and looks forward to another productive year of academic engagement and fellowship at the College.