This year brings seven new faculty members to Waynesburg University, each attributing their own sets of skills to the university and its students.

One of those new professors, Michael Fisher tries to wear crazy-patterned socks every time he comes to work.

“As an accountant, you have to do something to spice things up,” he said.

After working as an adjunct at Waynesburg for five years, Fisher is now working full-time at the university as an instructor of Business Administration.

He originally applied for a part-time job after hearing about the opportunity through a friend who graduated from Waynesburg and then worked there.

“It sounded like something interesting so I applied as well,” Fisher said.

Although he’s familiar with the university having worked there for several years,  Fisher said being full-time isn’t the same as his previous work.

“It’s like a whole different world,” Fisher said. “As an adjunct, I didn’t realize all the resources a professor has to be able to develop the class. After I became a full-time professor here, I started to get all this information about all the different resources that book publishers have to be able to help out professors.”

This semester Fisher is teaching Intro to Accounting, Accounting Information Systems and Money and Banking and will be teaching more classes in the Fall.

Fisher received his undergraduate degree in economics at Penn State University and then his MBA at Western Michigan.

Fisher said his main goal as a full-time professor is to make a difference in the lives of his students and help them to be successful.

“I came to this position after working 30 plus years in industry,” Fisher said.  “I saw a lot of what makes someone who has a business successful, and I’d like to actually do something that would help my students to enter that business world with some idea of what to expect and how to do well. I like to give them a lot of real life examples, take that theory and show them where reality comes in.”

After working as an adjunct professor at Waynesburg University for four years, Dr. Michelle Steimer now works full-time as an assistant professor in the counseling department, teaching both graduate and undergraduate students.

Steimer said part of the reason she decided to work at Waynesburg University is because she is an alumni of the masters and PHD program. She said she received a call about the start of the PHD program while working for the military, managing a suicide prevention program, and she decided to apply.

“I took a leap of faith, left my full-time job, started here, and it brought me to working here,” Steimer said. “So I think there is a plan for us, and we don’t necessarily know where it’s going to go, but it all works out in the end.”

In her new role, Steimer works as a faculty member in the graduate counseling program, teaching three to four courses in each semester. She also co-chairs the counseling honor society and helps to review the clinical mental health track to keep the department up to date.

“It’s really multifaceted. I went from having a few duties to having many more,” Steimer said. “But it’s a good thing. It gives me a chance to really make a difference at the university.”

Along with helping grow the department, Steimer said she is glad she now has a lot more time with the students at Waynesburg.

“At the end of the day, I want my students to understand they can accomplish anything they set their mind to if they find a passion for what they are learning,” she said.

Amy Hartman became a full-time instructor at Waynesburg this past January. She started working at the university in a part-time position last Fall, but now works primarily with sophomore and junior nursing students in her new role.

Before coming to work at the university, Hartman worked at Washington Health System Greene in Waynesburg for 17 years as a Registered Nurse in various positions.

Hartman said she wanted to teach nursing students for a long time, and as a graduate of Waynesburg University, she wanted to give back.

“I had such a wonderful experience at Waynesburg,” said Hartman. “I learned so much from all of my professors at Waynesburg and want to give back. [I had] some of the professors as a student, and I now work with them!”

Hartman said she enjoys watching her students learn, and her main goal is to help her students reach their full potential.

“When I can see it all come together on their faces when they understand something, that makes it all worth it,” said Hartman.

In addition to her new role, Hartman is a student in the MSN graduate program.

At the start of this fall semester, Tracy Dohn  moved all the way from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Waynesburg with her family to start her new job as an assistant professor in the Biology Department.

As she gets used to the change of surroundings, Dohn is now directing student research, advising students and teaching courses such as Cell and Molecular Biology, Genetics and introductory Biology courses.

Dohn received her undergraduate degree in biology from Wittenberg University in Springfield, OH and her graduate degree from the University of Cincinnati in Molecular and Developmental Biology.

Before coming to Waynesburg Dohn worked as an National Institute of Health Academic Science Education and Research Training (ASERT) program postdoctoral fellow at the University of New Mexico, teaching and doing sponsored research.

Dohn said she decided to come to Waynesburg because she always wanted to teach at a small liberal arts university.

“I think that this gives the perfect environment for students to grow and learn,” Dohn said. “I love interacting with students and Waynesburg gave the perfect opportunity to teach what I love and really get to know my students and be involved with the university.”

Dohn said her main goal in her new role is to  make her classes interesting for her students and prepare them for where their lives might lead them after college.

“I want to help students to be excited about biology, whether that is through a non-majors course, getting an advanced student involved in research or anything in between,” Dohn said. “I also want to help prepare our biology students for whatever their next roles may be.”

Although her family is still getting used to living so far away from their old home, Dohn said the faculty and staff have all been “amazing” in helping her settle into her new work.