A Message from Provost Chandler
I am pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Matthew Durington as BTU Faculty Director. Dr. Durington will join colleagues from the Division of Students Affairs and the Division of Innovation and Applied Research to complete the BTU Leadership Team. The President has charged the BTU Leadership Team with facilitating campus-wide coordination and decision-making for BTU while working with the BTU Council to ensure achievement of BTU goals and milestones.
As is noted on the Towson University website, the major focus of BTU is to “enhance and strengthen our existing partnerships in Greater Baltimore through a framework of coordinating resources, sharing data, determining impacts and outcomes, and recognizing and rewarding those doing the work.”
Dr. Matthew Durington joined Towson University in 2004 as an Assistant Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice. His appointment to the role of BTU Faculty Director is deliberate because, throughout his career at TU Dr. Durington has been both an advocate for, and an outstanding exemplar of, aligning scholarship, teaching, and service around community projects and community engagement. As BTU Faculty Director, he will remain within the faculty ranks while supporting other faculty seeking to develop and implement curriculum and research related to BTU while working with various entities on campus to provide support for such efforts. As part of his new role, Dr. Durington will work with faculty and departments throughout campus to help integrate community engagement with curriculum, research, service and scholarship outcomes.
Working alongside Dr. Durington on the BTU Leadership Team will be Dr. Chris Jensen, Director of the Office of Civic Engagement and Leadership within the Division of Student Affairs and Ms. Bobbie Laur, Associate Vice President for Outreach within the Division of Innovation and Applied Research.
Dr. Jensen brings the resources and expertise of the Office of Civic Engagement and Leadership to the BTU priority efforts by fostering and promoting the integration of TU student community service, service learning, and civic engagement activities across the institution. Student Affairs and the Office of Civic Engagement and Leadership have long been and will continue to be valued and critical resources for faculty engaging in service learning and civic engagement.
Ms. Laur and her team within the Office of Partnerships and Outreach (OPO) will continue to serve as the overarching managers of the BTU Priority. It is their charge to manage institution-wide partnerships, report both internally and externally, track the data associated with BTU partnerships and relationships, and serve as the “front door” for external partners and organizations interested in working with us to move our region forward.
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Durington on this exciting new opportunity.
