Thirty UCM Faculty Members Honored with Promotions/Tenure

One of the most recognizeable structures on campus, the Dockery Building was once a gymnasium but for decades has housed many faculty offices and classrooms. Similar to other academic buildings at the University of Central Missouri, it is a place where faculty members help students pursue their education goals while striving to perform in a way that leads to tenure and promotions that allow them to climb the professional ladder.

WARRENSBURG, MO – Following a review process coordinated by the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, 30 University of Central Missouri faculty members were awarded promotions and/or tenure for the 2023-2024 academic year. The Board of Governors was presented a list of these individuals when it met March 23.

Faculty members annually submit their dossiers and other supporting materials for review and consideration to advance up the professional ladder. The review process includes sharing these items with department or school committees, chairs, college committees, deans and the provost, after which a list of qualifying faculty are submitted by the provost to the university president for consideration and final approval. Faculty members who received promotions and/or tenure are listed below.

Included on this list were eight faculty members who already had tenure and were promoted to professor. These individuals and the department or school they represent are: Mark Farris, John Malta, and Marco Rosichelli, Visual and Performing Arts; Starlynn Nance, Sociology, Anthropology and Social Studies; Joshua Taft, English; Chen Zhou, Physical Sciences; Charlene Atkins, Early, Elementary, Middle and Physical Education; and Mihaela Craioveanu, Economics and Finance.

Twelve faculty members who were awarded tenure and were promoted to associate professor are: Natasha Hovey, Visual and Performing Arts; Roya Azimzadeh, and Richard Bruce, Industrial Sciences and Technology; Parker Stuart and Dana Tucker, Biological and Clinical Sciences; Wesley Tinker, Occupational \Risk and Safety Science; Amanda Wakeman, Nutrition, Kinesiology and Health; Lauren Hays, Educational Technology and Library Science; Lucy Phillips, Counseling and Educational Leadership; Kristina Schuler, Early, Elementary, Middle and Physical Education; Kyungun (Ryan) Kim, and Shannon McCarthy, Marketing, Public Relations and Sport Management.

Two faculty members were promoted to senior instructor. They are Brenda Woods, English, and Sarah Bailey, Accountancy, Big Data Analytics, and Computer Information Systems.

Individuals who will begin the upcoming academic year as newly promoted associate instructors are: Silvia Cooper, Modern Language and Interdisciplinary Studies; Shannon Johnson, Communication and Digital Media;  Jacob Roach, Mathematics, Actuarial Sciences and Statistics; LaDonna Fizer, and Lesi Smart, Early, Elementary, Middle and Physical Education; Anna McCoy, Marketing, Public Relations and Sport Management; Anne Wallace, Nursing; and Juanice Williams, Human Services.