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Dr. Rebecca Jacobs-Pollez, left, of Murray State College, and Dr. Meg Cotter-Lynch work together in the classroom.
DURANT, Okla. – In March of this year, Murray State College and Southeastern Oklahoma State University announced they would share the services of Chief Financial Officer Dennis Westman.
This unique cost-saving collaboration allowed Southeastern to fill the duties of its Vice President for Business Affairs position, which had been vacant since last fall. Westman, who had been a full-time Murray employee, now oversees business affairs at both institutions.
Now, on the academic side, the two schools are at it again.
“President (Joy) McDaniel (of Murray) and I agree that with the budget situation like it is in higher education right now, we have to think outside the box,’’ said Southeastern President Sean Burrage, “not only in terms of economics, but in terms of what we can do to benefit our students. Murray is a tremendous partner to work with, and we look forward to additional collaborative efforts in the future.’’
Beneficiaries of the latest innovative collaboration are Southeastern honors students who take an upper-level transdisciplinary course comprised of World Literature in Translation/Cultural History of theWest in fall of their sophomore year.
The 3893 English course is taught by Dr. Meg Cotter-Lynch, Professor of English and Director of Southeastern’s Honors Program, while the 4973 history component, previously taught by Southeastern facultyuntil budget reductions intervened, is being taught by Dr. Rebecca Jacobs-Pollez, Assistant Professor of History at Murray State College.
“Murray State College and Southeastern Oklahoma State University have developed a partnership that benefits students on both campuses,” MSC President Joy McDaniel said.
“By joining together at the classroom level, we can directly assist students in a way that might not have been possible without the decision to use our resources in this particular way,” McDaniel said.
The courses meet independently on Mondays and Wednesdays, and then on Fridays, the two classes combine for a two-hour discussion on ways in which literature, history, religions, and philosophy interact to shape cultural ideas of individuals and how they interact with the community.
“I appreciate the opportunity to teach this class. The students are enthusiastic and fun, and I am also learning a great deal,which I can use at Murray and hopefully sometime again at Southeastern,” Jacobs-Pollez said.
The collaboration benefits students on many levels, according to Cotter-Lynch. “As far as the course in general, it helps students see the connections between disciplines and also to understand the value of studying a problem through multiple disciplinary lenses, which is how the real world actually works,” she said. “We all need to understand the history and culture of places we are in to better understand how and why people believe and behave as they do; we need critical thinking and communication skills in order to interact with others.”
Cotter-Lynch added that the utilization of the two professors allows students to gain different perspectives on the same subject, while offering the expertise ofJacobs-Pollez in the field of Medieval History.
The two institutions plan on additional collaborative projects to combine faculty and administration for the benefit of students.