Thursday, September 16, 2010 » Indiana Wesleyan University’s new associate dean loves to cook. Dr. Craig Edwards, who was hired last spring, said he loves to cook and taste ethnic foods — especially Asian cuisine. He loves finding “hole-inthe- wall” restaurants and collecting recipes.
“I’m kind of a foodie — a food nut,” he said.
Edwards and his family — his wife Tuesday, daughter Madeleine and son Vincent (jr) — went to Charleston, South Carolina for a food tour before he started his new job two months ago.
THE TASK AHEAD
As an associate dean, Edwards oversees faculty and examines curriculum for the School of Arts and Humanities, which includes the divisions of Art, Music, English and Communication. Edwards will also teach one English course next semester.
“I personally think my most important responsibility is to hire, develop and retain good faculty,” Edwards said. He said he wants to make sure his faculty are the “best teachers they can be.”
Edwards does not want to emphasize just scholarship, but the art of teaching as well. He said he plans on observing his faculty in the classroom, a task that may not be typical for someone in his position.
Passionate about interdisciplinary studies, Edwards said he believes that since Jesus identified himself as the “way, the truth and the life,” then “all truth is God’s truth.” Edwards said he believes that all truth is “unified” in Christ.
According to Edwards, the American Education System tends to “fragment the truth” through different areas of study and different courses. This semester Edwards challenges his staff to create “unity of truth” by integrating themes from the Theatre Guild’s plays into their courses.
“Because our system is so fragmented, I think we have to work intentionally to help our students … bring truth from one classroom to another,” Edwards said.
From lions to wildcats Edwards spent the last five years as the vice president for academic affairs at Emmanuel College in Franklin Springs, Georgia. Both his parents worked in higher education at Evangel University, Edwards’s alma mater. Edwards said because he was a “teacher’s kid” he knew from an early age that he wanted to work in higher education.
Before working at Emmanuel, Edwards worked at Oklahoma Wesleyan University. About 15 years ago, he was as an adjunct professor of English at IWU, where he befriended Dr. Mary Brown, a fellow English professor.
For years Edwards and Brown stayed in contact via e-mail. When the associate dean position opened up last October and faculty were asked to think of potential hires, Brown thought of Edwards. She said she knew he had a great appreciation for the arts.
Brown knew that Edwards’s position at Emmanuel was a higher position than associate dean, but she contacted him anyway.
“I had been there for five years, at Emmanuel,” Edwards said. “And probably two weeks before she [Brown] called me, for the first time I was kind of questioning whether I was at the right place.”
The application process took four months. He had his interview for the position in early spring 2010, around the time the director of admissions at Emmanuel resigned. Edwards did not want to leave his coworkers in a tough position, so he wasn’t sure if he wanted to leave Emmanuel. Also around that time, Edwards met with Dr. Darlene Bressler, his current supervisor, at a conference. Edwards said that Bressler prayed that he would know clearly if he was supposed to make his transition from Emmanuel to IWU.
Edwards said, “I kind ofjoked with her. I said, ‘Do you think He could tell me audibly?’” The conference was held on a Friday. That next week Edwards said he felt “released from Emmanuel.”
“I really felt like as close as possible God spoke in an audible voice,” Edwards said. The next week he was offered the associate dean position at IWU.
FAMILY MAN
Edwards’ son Vincent transferred to IWU this year from Emmanuel as a psychology major. Edwards said his family is very closeknit. He said his dad is his role model because of his discipline, his strength and his loving heart.
“[He] works his tail off all the time,” Edwards said. His dad seems to have a lighter load at IWU than he had at Emmanuel, he added. At his former job, the elder Edwards had to work weekends and work late into the night, said Vincent Edwards.
Even when in a disciplinary role, Edwards said his dad was quick to show mercy. Perhaps because of his position at Emmanuel, Craig Edwards can seem somewhat intimidating to some people. He’s quiet, but he “has a fun side,” Vincent Edwards said.