New collegiate professors join Hinman College and College-in-the-Woods

The start of 2022 has brought some changes to Binghamton University’s collegiate professor program as both Hinman College and College-in-the-Woods (CIW) welcome new collegiate professors to their communities.

In Hinman, Jay Newberry, an associate professor of geography, has taken over the role from Al Vos, who retired from the University in 2020. And in CIW, Andy Merriwether, a professor of anthropology, is replacing Steven Ortiz, who has stepped into a new role as the University’s first assistant vice provost for academic enrichment.

Collegiate professors are a part of every residential community at the University, serving as role models, advisors and leaders for undergraduate students. These tenured faculty members serve as a source of information for students, help them connect to the campus community and implement educational programs that encourage students to connect their academic life with life outside the classroom.

Jay Newberry

Newberry’s goal is to bring new life to Hinman while honoring the residential community’s long-standing traditions and identity.

“I want to help these traditions evolve for modern times, strengthen them and make some new ones, while tailoring [the experience] for the specific students that you might see in Hinman,” Newberry said. “It’s a very diverse population, so you need a diversity of activities to keep everybody involved.”

As a faculty member in residence in the community during fall 2021, Newberry began getting to know the community by attending Dorm Wars — a yearly weekend-long competition between the students in each building in Hinman College. Students compete in physical activities like a tug of war and capture the flag, as well as put on musical performances and sketches.

Newberry also plans to find ways to ensure the Hinman Public Service Learning Community (PSLC) lives on. The PSLC is a way for students who are interested in community service to connect and live with like-minded students. Students in the PSLC all live on the same floor in Hughes Hall, take courses together in civic engagement and participate in volunteer work together. The PSLC has historically been an important part of Hinman’s identity on campus.

Andy Merriwether

In CIW, Merriwether is excited for the greater opportunity to connect with undergraduate students through his new role.

As part of his transition into the role as a faculty member in residence, he’s learned about the history of the community and the structure of CIW. Due to the communal layout, CIW is a close-knit and friendly community that Merriwether is excited to join.

“I hope everybody will come up and say ‘hi’ this semester,” Merriwether said. “I’ve never been a fan of the ‘ivory tower’ where professors are so disconnected from students, and at a lot of other universities that can be the case. It’s not like that at Binghamton so much, but I really want students to feel like they can approach me and talk to me about anything they want.”

He wants to start new traditions in the community, such as creating new learning communities, especially for pre-health and pre-veterinary students, due to his work with animals both professionally and personally. Outside of his work at the University, Merriwether raises and cares for alpacas at his farm in Vestal, and occasionally works at a research station in Peru. He is excited for future opportunities to bring the animals to campus to engage with students, both for students to learn from them and as stress-relief animals.

Stephen Ortiz

As the University’s first assistant vice provost for academic enrichment, Ortiz now oversees many different programs, including the collegiate professors; the First-year Research Immersion (FRI) program; the External Scholarships and Undergraduate Research Center, which includes the Source Project — a first-year research experience in the humanities and social sciences; and the Binghamton University Scholars Program.

Previously, Ortiz was the collegiate professor in CIW for six years, where he was known by students as “CP Steve,” so he understands the positive impact they can have on students, especially first-year students living on campus. He plans to take what he learned during his time as a collegiate professor to inform his work in this new role.

“Even though I’m an administrator now, I always try to focus on how programs can be student centered,” said Ortiz. “I’m always trying to push the students’ perspectives so that [programs] can work optimally for them.”

As a former collegiate professor, Ortiz has an acute understanding of how important the collegiate professors are to the residential communities and the identity of the on-campus university community.

“I see the collegiate professor program as one of the really valuable things the University does for undergraduate students,” Ortiz said. “It’s an opportunity for a larger university to maintain a smaller liberal arts feel. Residential communities have their own classroom space and professors attached to them and things like that. They all have their own traditions and their own vibe. All those things help to integrate first-year students to the University in a really impactful way.”

The University is also currently seeking applications from tenured faculty members for the position of Collegiate Professor in Newing College and Dickinson Community with a July 1, 2022, start date. For more information, go online.