new faculty – Houghton STAR

As the academic year wanes, Houghton College has hired one new faculty member, one new residence life staff member, and is still searching for a men’s basketball coach.

Paul Martino will be joining Houghton College in the chemistry department. According to chemistry department chair professor, Karen Torraca, Martino’s expertise is in biochemistry, having received his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. Before Houghton, Martino taught at Carson-Newman College in Tennessee. Next year, Martino will have a full schedule teaching general chemistry lab 1 & 2, Nutrition, and Biochemistry 1. He will also teach a special topics course, as well as complete research with students.

Martino’s hiring brings the formal search for a chemistry professor to a close after almost four years. Torraca and fellow chemistry professor John Rowley, as well as the associate dean for natural sciences and mathematics, Mark Yuly, were key in the final decision. As final approval from the dean of the college has been granted, Torraca said, “We are very excited that he will be joining the department.”

Beth Phifer will join residence life staff as the new resident director of Lambein Hall. Phifer graduated from Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania with a B.A. in psychology. She then went to Westminster Theological Seminary in Glenside, Pennsylvania and earned an M.A. in counseling. From there, Phifer went on to serve as lead residence director at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, where she worked for the last nine months before accepting a job offer from Houghton College.

Men’s Tennis team practices in KPAC

Still ongoing is the athletic department’s search for a new men’s basketball coach. Athletic Director, Skip Lord, stated the department received over 100 applications. A search committee comprised of Lord; softball coach, Brianna Allen; National College Athletic Association (NCAA) compliance director, Jason Mucher; women’s basketball coach, Alicia Mucher; men’s soccer coach, Matthew Webb; women’s soccer coach, David Lewis; and head athletic trainer, Deanna Hand, have narrowed the pool significantly. Lord expects candidates will be selected for interviews soon. Because the athletic department aims to retain current athletes, as well as continue to recruit new ones, Lord said the department is moving quickly, but carefully. He stated current members of the men’s basketball team will be present in candidate interviews.

“We are looking for someone who exemplifies the athletic department motto: excellence for the glory of God, in all its components,” Lord said. “We also want to win some games.”.

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A week into the fall semester, new faces are everywhere—including amongst faculty. Departments across campus had hired or wanted to hire new professors this year, some departments to address a growing shortage of faculty members and others to fill the gaps left by recent retirees.

The education department filled four positions this year for a total of seven full-time faculty members. Last fall, the department had only three. Dr. Cathy Freytag, chair of the department, said all faculty members hired this year were “replacement hires that were necessary for [the department] to continue to deliver [the] current program.” The education department, she added, was “given priority with hires due to the significant faculty shortfall” and the need to show the Teacher Education Accreditation Council that the department is “fully staffed with highly-qualified faculty members.”

The chemistry department aimed to hire two more full-time faculty members, despite having not yet begun an official search. Dr. Karen Torraca, chair of the chemistry department, says that with just four full- and part-time professors the department is “still not offering [a] full range of courses” this year. She adds that the department “would like both new hires to be interdisciplinary with Biology” and for one professor to focus on courses for the growing biochemistry major.

Two faculty members joined the School of Music this academic year. During the past two years, they and one other faculty member filled positions left by three retiring professors. Dean Stephan Plate of the School of Music noted this is an “exciting time in the School of Music” as the new professors and “everyone who’s always been here” share their passions and their talents.