CAS CONNECT 2017

D r. William M. Decker never planned to take on the role of department head. His dissertation director’s caution about research taking a backseat to administrative duties lingered for decades in the back of his mind. But having published books and articles on a range of American authors, Decker concedes his scholarly record is sufficiently established for him to take on the new chal- lenge of being department head of English at Oklahoma State University. A recipi- ent of a 2016 OSU Regents Distinguished Research Award, he firmly believes that he can administer while maintain- ing momentum on his current book project. “The faculty was unanimous in wishing to promote from within their ranks rather than recruit a head from outside,” Decker says. “Nobody really campaigned for the position. I gave permission to two people to nominate me. That pretty much decided it.” Taking this step makes perfect sense for Decker. He brings more than 20 years as a faculty member at OSU as well as experience as associ- ate department head and direc- tor of Graduate Studies to the position. He also has been a Fulbright Scholar in Belgium and a DAAD guest professor in Germany. As head, Decker plans to uphold the department’s longstanding reputation for outstanding classroom instruc- tion and internationally recog- nized scholarly achievement. Mentorship of junior faculty, graduate students, and under- graduate majors also counts as a chief priority for Decker. “Mentorship is really impor- tant to this department,” he explains. “Twenty years ago, we began to assign senior faculty mentors to incom- ing faculty. We tell our new colleagues, ‘We want you to have a career here, and we want to do everything we can to support your schol- arly agenda as it flourishes and expands.’” Decker says his own OSU career has been mentored and otherwise supported. “There have been a lot of positive influences here at OSU,” he says. “I was hired by Dr. Jeffery Walker, who is my fellow American Literature scholar, and his mentorship was invaluable to me while I was getting my legs set.” Working at OSU has also provided opportunities for collaboration, which Decker has first-hand experience with through his participation in the OSU Cambridge (United Kingdom) Summer Program. “One of my outstanding memories has to do with being on the Cambridge campus and teaching a course with my colleague from geography, CAS Associate Dean Tom Wikle,” Decker recalls. “Together, we taught a course on travel writ- ing. We had 20 really gifted students who were excited about the whole course. A few of them had been abroad before, but some of them had never boarded an airplane before flying to Dallas for the transat- lantic flight. “It was so much fun, and the students were intensely moti- vated. That was definitely a high point in my career.” Dr. Wi l l iam Decker Decker stepping up to lead English department PHOTO BY JASON WALLACE 30