Malea Powell

There were several reasons. First, this is the only university that I know about that has a department that encompasses my scholarship in rhetoric and American (Indian) studies. Second, I had a chance to build a graduate program (the Rhetoric & Writing program) from scratch. Third, during my campus visit, I met 4 times the number of American Indian faculty and staff members than even existed at my previous institution. Fourth, I would be able to be closer to my home community in Northern Indiana.

Now that I'm here, I sometimes feel like I'm a cheerleader for the institution to prospective new faculty and/or graduate students. MSU is one of the few places I know that enacts its land-grant responsibilities in deeds instead of just in words. I have never experienced an institution more dedicated to real inclusion, to real interdisciplinarity, or to real cutting-edge scholarship. I've seen with my own eyes the results of those commitments - in the new graduate program I direct (Rhetoric & Writing), the new residential college I helped build (Residential College in Arts & Humanities), and in the cohort of colleagues and graduate students I have that come from all kinds of social places and spaces. Additionally, I like my department (Writing, Rhetoric & American Cultures) and my college (College of Arts & Letters) a great deal. I've never felt as if the work I do is unimportant or unappreciated. I feel like I've been well compensated for my accomplishments -- both in dollars and in simple acknowledgment of my work.

We like the variety of restaurants in the area, the hiking trails along the Red Cedar, the Nokomis Center, and all the county fairs in August. We live in Mason and we love the way that the community is dedicated to historical preservation.

The Dairy Store.

There are 3 things: 1) my collaborative work with colleagues in Writing, Rhetoric & American Cultures to build the Professional Writing undergraduate program and the Rhetoric & Writing graduate program. This taught me how much a small group of dedicated faculty can accomplish in a short period of time - both graduate program is already one of the top 10 in the country and the undergraduate program has been held up as exemplary in the discipline of Rhetoric & Composition Studies; 2) the 2 years I spent as part of the Residential College in the Arts & Humanities development team (including the actual proposal to create the college and its curriculum) - I learned a lot about how to collaborate across disciplinary lines and about how to manage those collaborations from watching how Steve Esquith trusted us to keep momentum and move the proposal to completion while he was away in Mali; 3) my work with Susan Krouse, Director of American Indian Studies, to help strengthen the American Indian Studies program internally and to make the Program a nationally recognized force in the field.

This really is a friendly place. Every time that I've had a problem or a question, I've found answers. The staff here is marvelous and knowledgeable. Even though it's a big place, it's important for new folks to poke around a bit, introduce themselves, go to campus events and meet people. The University has lot of supports in place to make you a successful faculty member - take advantage of them!