Jessica Mau

Dr. Tonya Strickland is Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Southern Wesleyan University, and has held that position since 2015. Dr. Strickland has a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Journalism and a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction. The following interview was conducted in the spring of 2016.  

ME: Why did you decide to go into journalism?

STRICKLAND: When I was 16, my honors English professor recommended me for a job with the city of Brecksville, Ohio, and I became their PR person. I would cover any events that they did. I went out and got a camera, I started doing photography, writing this up and I loved it. I went on and got two more jobs when I was in high school that were journalism-related—one was working for a community newspaper. So when I went off to college at the University of Wyoming, I was allowed to take journalism courses as a freshman. When I went home on Christmas break, the editor went on break and I actually put the whole community newspaper together, and that’s one of my favorite things—weekly newspapers, which don’t see a lot of anymore. I’d always loved to read and write, and I went into journalism because I had those opportunities

ME:  Did you like to read newspapers and magazines, or just reading things in general?

STRICKLAND: I read everything. We had a mulberry tree when I was little, and we had a bookmobile since we were so far out in the country. I couldn’t wait to get on the bookmobile and get my books, and I’d go sit under the mulberry tree and read.

ME: Why did you decide to go into curriculum and instruction?

STRICKLAND: I decided that there was one thing I loved more than writing, and that was teaching writing. So I started looking at what I wanted to get my doctorate in, and I loved learning about how we learn and how the brain works and what makes a good writer. I went into that and began to teach writing.

ME: Was there a long gap between getting your Master’s and your doctorate?

STRICKLAND: I got my Master’s in 1985, and then my doctorate in 1996, so there was a little bit of gap in there as I was having children and that sort of thing. But I think I always knew I wanted to go on after my doctorate… actually, I can’t say that’s true, because at one point in my life I was have trouble finishing my Master’s degree and getting my thesis done. I actually decided I wasn’t going to go on with it, because I had a child and it was just so difficult. My mentor at the University of Wyoming paid my tuition and said, “You will finish your thesis.” That prompted me to go ahead and finish my thesis, which I defended and received my degree right after my second child—my son—was born. I actually have a picture of me in the hospital with my graduation cap on! At the time, I didn’t know what God was preparing me for—I thought before I finished my Master’s that I wasn’t going to need it, but then I see looking back that God brought me through to my Master’s and later led me through to my doctorate, so that he could bring me here. Everything that has gone on in my life has prepared me for this position.

[Discussion goes on to Personal Wholeness]

STRICKLAND: We’ve done away with the Personal Wholeness courses as of this semester [Spring 2016] and I’m writing the three-hour [version of the] course.

ME: I’m sure the students coming in now will appreciate that.

STRICKLAND: Yes, that’s what I’ve heard. I’m trying to put together a comprehensive course that is very much faith integrated and starts off with worldview, and we’ll see where it goes from there.

ME: Will it still have the “introducing freshmen to college” aspect?

STRICKLAND: Yes, it’s about becoming part of a community, and it’ll have the resources you need to know that are here. It’s called Foundations for Success, and it’ll give students a foundation for success, not just on a college campus but in life with God.

ME: Will that start next fall?

STRICKLAND: Yes, next fall—I’ll be teaching the honors. I’m so busy I can’t imagine adding teaching to it [her workload], but I love teaching and I love students, so I have to fit it into my schedule at least once a year.

ME: You worked at Bainbridge State College before here—what led you to start teaching there?

STRICKLAND: I was at another school in the University System of Georgia, I was primarily a faculty member there, and I had people that kept trying to get me into administration. So they had an opening there for a Chair, and I applied for it and that’s what took us there. After being a Chair, I went to being a Dean, and then a VPAA [Vice President for Academic Affairs], and I was a VPAA there for five years before I came here. But all that experience—God was preparing me for this job, I just didn’t know it then.

ME: How would you compare working there to here at Southern Wesleyan?

STRICKLAND: Well, what’s interesting is that a couple years before I applied for this position, I was getting that restless feeling and I thought, “I just need to do something more spiritual.” That’s when I decided to finish up my seminary credentials so I could teach our Intro to Religion class. I was doing that in the fall when I applied here—I thought that was going to make me not restless anymore. I loved preparing for the class, but because it was a state institution I could not share my testimony or my faith or what I believed or didn’t believe. That was very hard when I got in that course and had to teach it without being able to share Jesus and what He’s done in my life. So that definitely did not get rid of the restlessness, and God knew that it wasn’t going to do what I needed. It was during that semester when God led me to apply for this position.

ME: Are you excited for next semester?

STRICKLAND: I’m so excited to be able to integrate my faith in what I teach. Right now, I’m working on preparing the course and it’s just so wonderful to know that the foundation of everything I’ll teach starts and ends with God.

ME: You said in your paper But God that when you were feeling that call you searched for “Christian college provost,” and the one result was SWU. How did you feel in that moment when that came up?

STRICKLAND: When that came up it was just so…God. I mean, here I hear His voice, I follow through on it, and He stamped His name right on SWU. As I looked through what the school was looking for in a provost and the type of school it was, it was like a perfect fit.

ME: SWU has a motto: “Southern Wesleyan University is a Christ-centered, student-focused learning community dedicated to transforming lives by challenging students to be dedicated scholars and servant-leaders who impact the world for Christ.” From what you’ve seen, do you believe they’re living up to it?

STRICKLAND: I believe that Southern Wesleyan is living up to that in every single word, and that’s why I’m so excited to be here. You just don’t know what it’s like to go into the President’s cabinet meeting and know that you’re sitting there with people who love God, love each other, love students, and the whole reason that we’re here is that so we can transform students’ lives. You go to a meeting, your colleagues are there, you’re praying for each other, you’re praying for students; and you get so excited because you hear about this student or that student coming to know Christ. I’m in prayer group with students Wednesday nights, and to hear stories that they come in and that God is working in their lives—that’s just what keeps me going every day.

ME: Compared to some other Christian universities I’ve been to, SWU seems to have a more open policy of discussing other worldviews. Do you believe that strengthens or hinders the students in their faith?

STRICKLAND: I think that everybody has a worldview, and people sometimes don’t even understand what their worldview is until you start to talk about worldviews. I think you need to know not just what you think you believe, but what others believe and be able to understand and follow the evidence. We don’t have a blind faith. There is evidence for our faith, so you need to know what that evidence is and be able to defend that evidence.

ME: One thing that interested me in your paper was that you were excited about your antique partner’s desk before you were moving so you could renew your writing ministry. What did you first do with your writing ministry, and what caused you to renew and start it again?

STRICKLAND: I’ve worked in different Christian organizations, but I’ve always done writing that you would call Christian writing. I’ve had a book published at one point, but once I got into graduate school and had children I got very busy. Once you get into administration at the college level, it can just gobble up all of your time. So when I wanted a place of my own to write, I thought that what I would really like was a partner’s desk. A partner’s desk is a large desk—this thing probably weights five-hundred pounds—and there’s a chair on both sides. I started looking for partners desks and they were all thousands of dollars. Then I kind of forgot about it, until God brought it to my mind almost a year later when I had seen a partner’s desk. So I checked Craigslist and there, just three hours from us, was a partner’s desk that was being sold for [a good deal]. I called her, we drove down the next morning, and she called and asked, “Who are you bringing to carry this desk?” I answered, “It’s just my husband and me,” and she replied, “Well, it took four men to carry it into the house.” My husband went and got lots of ropes and pulleys and things to carry this, and there was the biggest downpour of a thunderstorm that I had seen in years. My husband said that we couldn’t move the desk if it was raining. As we were getting supplies at Lowe’s, I had two prays. I first prayed, “God, please let it stop raining,” and then “And please bring Charlie someone to help him move the desk.” When we got back to the house, the woman’s son-in-law was just showing up, and he said, “Oh, let me help you with that!” And it stopped raining just until we got the partner’s desk loaded and covered, and when we were on our way the heavens opened up and it poured rain again. So that is my miracle desk—God led me to that desk and then His hand was all over it.

ME: Do you still write now?

STRICKLAND: I do. Well, just like what I sent you. I’m currently working on the course right now, but I constantly have ideas and I just keep putting notes in there. Once I get through writing this course, then I’ll go back to writing. My heart’s desire is to write and publish words that will inspire people to know who Jesus is. That’s why I believe God brought me to Earth.

ME: What do you think of the faculty here? I know that you mentioned that you prayed together and that they’re trying to make an impact on people’s lives.

STRICKLAND: I’ve known a lot of faculties over the years in my different positions, and this is the most dedicated and loving faculty I have ever been privileged to be with. They are wonderful people—they work so hard, they care so much about their students. I’m inspired by our faculty.

ME: The faculty are great here—I have one professor where, if I don’t do well on their tests, they’ll actually ask and say, “Hey, what happened?”

STRICKLAND: And that’s very different—some schools you’ll go to the first day of class and the professor will say, “I want you to look around the room, because at midterm half of you will have flunked out.” My whole view of teaching is, when you go into a classroom, you want the students to know that you’re there to help them learn. Your job isn’t to flunk them out, but it’s to help them be successful; It’s so nice to be at a university where that is how faculty perceive their role.

ME: Have you gotten to interact with students a lot?

STRICKLAND: When I first got here, no. I was so busy learning how everything operates here and where I needed to put my energy, so I did not have a lot of student interaction. This semester, though, I’m getting to know students more.

ME: Are [the students] kind of scared of you or nervous?

STRICKLAND: Oh yeah, especially when they don’t know what a provost is: “That sounds really important! I think I’m going to be intimidated!”

ME: Yes, I felt kind of bad – [SWU President] Todd Voss sat down at our table at lunch once and none of us knew how to interact with him.

STRICKLAND: Yes, but then you realize that we’re just normal people—we like to have fun and we like to kid around. One suggestion [to have more contact with students] that has been made is that we have some times where we just meet with students and just talk about whatever issues they want to talk about. I love it when students come to me with issues, because I’d much rather hear it from a student than let it go all over the place and then by the time you hear about it, there’s been so much damage. So I love to hear students’ ideas. I much prefer when something comes up to sit down and talk about it right away and pray about it.

ME: It’s very nice talking, especially since there is that barrier like, “Oh, that person is so high up” and you don’t want to mess up or not look perfect in front of them.

STRICKLAND: You see, I see that as Christians, we all need to take down the masks that say, “Hey, I’m perfect” or “I’ve arrived,” because all that does is make other people feel inadequate. We’re real people—even people who are at this level, we’re real people. Same needs, same challenges, same pains that everyone has. That’s what students and faculty have in common.