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Department of Modern Languages

Updated October 7, 2004

CV

ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE

• Chair, Department of Modern Languages, Wright State University,
  July 1, 1999 to present
  • Garrison was unanimously elected by his department in the fall of 1998 and spent one year working and consulting with the outgoing chair before taking over on July 1, 1999.
    
    
• Duties as Chair:
  • Lead a department of eight professors, two lecturers, two instructors, eighteen adjunct (part-time) instructors, one administrative specialist, and two student workers.
  • Supervise scheduling and budget.
  • Serve as ex-officio member on all departmental committees.
  • Advise all graduating majors and minors.
  • Act as spokesman for the department.
  • Teach three classes per year.
    
    
• Special Achievements as Chair:
  • Enrollment Initiatives: guided the department to an enrollment increase of 40% in the past five years through new initiatives in collaborating with other constituencies of the university, scheduling, hiring, and promoting the department’s mission.
  • Master of Education in Modern Languages: designed and helped create this graduate degree in conjunction with the WSU College of Education and Human Resources.
  • Hiring: hired one assistant professor in French and another in Spanish, three instructors in Spanish and one in German, numerous adjunct professors in several languages, two secretaries, and two student workers.
  • Nominations: successfully nominated a colleague for Distinguished Professor; a District Court Judge for an Honorary Degree from WSU; a high school Spanish teacher for a award of $1,000 sponsored and presented by the local ABC television affiliate, Channel 22, and also for the Freda J. Riley Award ($10,000, for an outstanding teacher with a disability); a faculty member for a teaching award from the Southern Ohio Conference on Higher Education; three students for admission to the Institute for the Recruitment of Teachers in Andover, Massachusetts; two students for scholarships from the national Spanish honrary, Sigma Delta Pi.
  • Departmental By-Laws: wrote a set of departmental by-laws in accordance with specifications necessitated by a new union contract.
  • Recruitment: created, organized, and directed various recruitment initiatives, including presentations at local high schools and community colleges, programs at WSU; edited various department brochures, websites, and other publications.
  • Grant collaboration: collaborated with Wright State’s College of Business in the preparation of two successful Title VIA Grants; worked on federal grant projects with the College of Health Sciences and the College of Nursing.
  • Liberal Arts Lecture Series: Co-Chair of the Liberal Arts Lecture Series, 2000-present.
    
    
• Administrative Service to the Department before becoming Chair:
  • Immersion Program for high school Spanish students: designed, organized, and co-administered an on-campus, one-day language immersion program for area high school Spanish students. The department now offers this program every year.
  • The Major in Modern Languages: designed the major in modern languages for students who wanted a broader background than was available through a major in one language. The major in modern languages requires indepth study of one language, proficiency at the intermediate level in a second one, and at least one course in a third. It has for many years been the most popular major in the department.
  • WSU International Student Exchange Program with Paraná, Brazil: co-founded and directed the international student exchange program between Wright State University and two universities in Brazil—the Federal University of Paraná and the Catholic University of Paraná. This program takes WSU students to Brazil for a one-month study tour that includes classes in Portuguese and Brazilian culture, trips to various parts of the state of Paraná and to Rio de Janeiro, and homestays with Brazilian families. In addition to helping design the program and select the first group of students, Garrison organized the orientation program, made all travel and diplomatic arrangements, led the group in Brazil, and acted as its interpreter. The year after the first successful exchange with Brazil, WSU’s two exchange programs at that time—in Brazil and Japan—received from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities the G. Theodore Mitau Award for innovation in higher education.
  • Advisor of Sigma Delta Pi: served (and still serve) as advisor to the national Spanish honorary society on campus.
  • Advising Majors: served as advisor for all Spanish majors from 1993 – 1996; now serves as advisor to all majors in the Department of Modern Languages.
  • WSU Modern Languages Alumni Newsletter: founded the department’s newsletter. In the first three years of publication, Garrison edited it, designed the format, and wrote virtually all the copy.
  • College Day Program: designed, organized, and administered a recruitment program that brought interested high school students to campus for a half-day of classes and special presentations by the department.
  • Translation / Interpretation for WSU: acted as translator/interpreter for various constituencies of the university including the President’s Office, Office of Student Affairs, Public Relations, Medical School, College of Business, Registrar, Music Department, and Theater Department.
  • New Courses: created the following courses: “Ancient Myths in Modern Literature” (a comparative literature course tracing the development of Ovidian myths), “The Art of Translation” (a workshop in various kinds of translating and interpreting), and “Essentials of Portuguese” (a practical course in spoken Portuguese designed to prepare WSU students for the exchange program in Brazil), “Spanish for Law Enforcement Personnel.”