VACA Faculty Turning Over

The VACA Department is undergoing significant change. Currently, 10% of EMU students are already within the department, a number that is constantly growing. Additionally, Lara Scott, a VACA professor, is leaving the program at the end of this year. The process of finding her successor is also nearing its conclusion, with the final two candidates coming to EMU for campus visits.

Scott is leaving for personal reasons; she is moving to Boston to help care for her mother. The move will bring her closer to her sister, niece and nephews, while taking her farther from the community that she’s come to appreciate. “I wish I didn’t have to leave my department, EMU, my church, or my friends here in Harrisonburg. This has been my most positive work environment since I left college. The VaCA department is amazing—supportive, creative, original, collegial,” she says.

Meanwhile, the search for her replacement continues. The search committee, made up of VACA professors Cyndi Gusler, Jerry Holsopple, and Steve Johnson, includes an equal number of students within the department; Mark Fenton, Katie Rodriguez and Lindsey Grosh are also involved. For the past month, they have evaluated candidates through resumes, phone interviews and campus visits.

The two final candidates recently completed their campus visits, which include a lunch with students, each professor teaching a Visual and Communication Theory class with subsequent student evaluations, as well as a meeting and Taste of Thai dinner with the search committee. The first candidate visited on Tuesday, March 11, while the second visited on Tuesday, March 18.

These visits allow the committee to gain a much more nuanced view of each candidate, according to Grosh. The committee was able to evaluate how each candidate managed the classroom environment, including how they related their personal worldview to their treatment of the subject matter. The candidates also presented samples of their artwork, allowing the committee to further insight into their possible position at EMU.

Now that the campus visits are complete, the committee will decide on a recommendation.