UNC Chapel Hill

Fostering Relationships Between Grad Students and Faculty

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Mon, 13 May 2013 20:29:11 +0000

Gordon Govier

Fostering Relationships Between Grad Students and Faculty

As a student involved with ��ñ�� at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Hank Tarlton volunteered for summer ministry internships. A summer working with other college students in the San Francisco area confirmed for him that he wanted to be involved with college ministry after graduation.

He was uncertain about joining ��ñ�� staff, so he applied to Gordon Conwell seminary. “I really wanted to work with college students. What I was not sure about was whether I should do that with ��ñ��. I knew that going to seminary didn’t mean I was taking that off the table.”

Starting at Virginia Tech

He did join ��ñ�� staff, after getting his seminary degree, and was assigned to work at Virginia Tech. He was 26 years old; age-wise more aligned with some of the college professors than the students. He was surprised to find himself making friends among the faculty so easily. “I hadn’t really planned on that,” he said.

One Christian faculty member at Virginia Tech became his prayer partner. He often called on faculty members to speak to the undergrad chapter and their partnership helped him to bring Veritas Forum to Virginia Tech. “That was the segment of the campus I was connecting with,” he said.

But as much as he enjoyed working with the undergrad chapter and the faculty, he found that the travel necessary for fundraising was keeping him apart from his growing family. So he left ��ñ�� and took a job with a hospital in Asheville.

Moving to UNC-Chapel Hill

He stayed in contact with ��ñ��’s Area Director, Jimmy Long, and within a year he was invited to return to staff to work with graduate students and faculty at his alma mater, UNC-Chapel Hill. Now he’s been there for 14 years. He works with six different grad and professional student groups: the Grad ��ñ�� chapter (Focus), the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (2 chapters), the Christian Pharmacy Fellowship International chapter, the Christian Legal Society, and the MBA Christian Fellowship.

“Fostering relationships among grad students takes time and happens better where there are students who share common educational experiences,” he said. “I’ve come to realize that going to where the students are already located is most important.”

A very popular innovation this past semester has been Faith and Science Fridays. “It’s a lunchtime gathering for students who are interested in discussing issues related to Christian faith and science,” he said. The idea came from a handful of students who have put a lot of energy into planning the meetings. The first program featured the chair of the Astrophysics Department, and was titled, “An Astrophysicist for Jesus.”

“It’s been a good way to bring graduate students together over a topic they’re interested in, as well as pull some faculty in to give them a platform that they would not otherwise have,” said Hank. “There’s a place for Grad ��ñ�� on campus, I just need to figure out what that looks like. At this point in time it looks like this.”

Figuring out the Faculty

Hank wants his ministry to serve both grad students and faculty. Figuring out how to serve faculty is something he’s still working on. “The older faculty members have the time and the interest, but it’s really the younger faculty members that I’m trying to connect with,” he said. “They have the interest, they just don’t have the time.”

About four years ago Hank began creating a list of the Christian faculty he knew. Then he asked students and faculty for more names. Ultimately he identified 180 Christian faculty members at UNC-Chapel Hill. Some of the faculty already met in small groups for fellowship. Now he’s working to connect the small groups to each other and start more small groups.

One of the groups he helps facilitate is geared for physicians and meets from 5:30pm-6:00pm every other Wednesday. The meeting usually includes some teaching, a short discussion, and prayer. “An hour is too long, but a half hour is not,” he said. “It gives them the opportunity to meet one another and deepen their relationship with each other. The physicians wanted this group to be open to both residents and med students, so they have the opportunity to encourage and mentor them as they learn how to follow Christ in the medical profession.”

Affinity for Networking

His affinity for networking people has served him well, working with grad students and working on building faculty ministry. Hank also likes to network individuals from both constituencies together, such as connecting first and second year med students with Christian physicians. Some of those matches have been very fruitful mentoring relationships. “I might be the only person in a position with those two groups of people who can connect faculty and students,” he said.

Hank was recently ordained as a deacon in the local Anglican church he attends. He believes his involvement in a local church, and meeting regularly with a spiritual director in the last few years, have been key in keeping him anchored spiritually and an effective campus minister, the kind of minister he hoped to become that summer in San Francisco, almost 25 years ago.

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UNC Chapel Hill

��ñ�� alumni - Sanford Shugart

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 15:57:23 +0000

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Gordon Govier

��ñ�� alumni - Sanford Shugart

"I came out of ��ñ�� convinced of a few things, one of them was that I wanted to be a servant in the world,” said Sanford (Sandy) Shugart. “That's who I needed to be.”

Today, Sandy Shugart lectures around the world on servant leadership, and models it on a daily basis as president of Valencia College in Orlando, Florida. Valencia is one of the largest community colleges in the country, awarding more Associate degrees than any other school.

Following God at UNC Chapel Hill

Sandy was introduced to ��ñ�� shortly after beginning his freshman year at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was invited to an ��ñ�� Small Group Bible Study at the campus YMCA and went, eager to make some new friends.

"What I saw in those guys was an extraordinary level of transparency and love for one another, and I was intrigued,” he said. “I had also been without a compass in my life for several years. I needed a compass.”

Through the Bible study Sandy found direction for his life and became a follower of Jesus Christ. He became very involved in ��ñ�� at UNC, one of the largest chapters in the country at that time. “I tell my friends that I kind of majored in ��ñ�� and minored in Chemistry,” he said. "I got some of the best leadership development training I’ve had in my early life through ��ñ��."

One of his earliest models of servant leadership was ��ñ�� staff worker Jimmy Long, who arrived on campus Sandy’s sophomore year and today oversees ��ñ��’s ministry in North Carolina as a Regional Director. They still keep in touch. “He has a fierce integrity combined with real gentleness,” Sandy said.

A Career in Education

Because of his involvement in ��ñ��, Sandy was able to hold loosely his own career plans and walk through the doors that God opened for him. For a while the path seemed unclear. He gave up a fellowship to study with the famous philosopher Karl Popper and instead taught high school chemistry after graduation.

He then returned to UNC and earned a PhD in Education. He was hired as a policy adviser to the governor of North Carolina; and not long afterwards, at the age of 25, he was appointed vice president of the North Carolina Community College system.

Later Sandy became president of a community college in Texas; and then 12 years ago he began his work as president of Valencia College. "I love the mission of a community college because it reaches the full spectrum of humanity, particularly those that are so easily overlooked,” he said.

A Philosophy of Servant Leadership

While Sandy is an administrator, he is also a philosopher, which is reflected in his speaking, writing, and alternative vocation of poet and songwriter.

He grew up in a musical family and returned to music when he became part of a worship team at a church in Texas. After that he began to look for other performance venues and has released several CDs. Through his professional life he was becoming an in-demand speaker and decided poetry and music worked better than PowerPoint to make his points in his talks.

"I reached the conclusion some time ago that facts don't change people,” he said. “I was doing fine speeches with great information, but it didn't change anybody. People require some kind of emotional experience in order to entertain the possibility of change."

His latest book is also connected to his philosophy of servant leadership. Titled In the Crucible of Work, it focuses on how to be a responsible employee in a large corporation, responsible to yourself as well as your employer.

“Our work forms us more powerfully than we form it,” he said. “Going to work in a large bureaucracy, you think you are in control of your work, but the truth is that it’s in control of you, and it’s changing your character in a thousand ways over time. Many people come out of that crucible ruined in their characters, but others can come out of it transformed, not deformed.”

Through his focus on character in education, Sandy Shugart embodies ��ñ��’s vision, to see students and faculty transformed, campuses renewed, and world changers developed.

News Keywords

Valencia College

UNC Chapel Hill

��ñ�� alumni

UNC Chapel Hill

Fostering Relationships Between Grad Students and Faculty

Fostering Relationships Between Grad Students and Faculty

Starting at Virginia Tech

Moving to UNC-Chapel Hill

Figuring out the Faculty

Affinity for Networking

��ñ���� alumni - Sanford Shugart

��ñ���� alumni - Sanford Shugart

��ñ�� alumni - Sanford Shugart

��ñ�� alumni - Sanford Shugart