Dr. Maggy Smith
If you really want to make a difference, work with interesting and motivated students, and chat with warm and welcoming colleagues, UTEP is the place for you!
I have been at UTEP since 1987. During my years at UTEP, I served both as an English professor and an administrator. Between 1987 and 1995, I was a fulltime English faculty member teaching professional writing and rhetoric classes at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, directing thesis projects, and serving in departmental leadership roles, including Directing Composition for a time.
Between 1995 and 2008, I served in a number of UTEP administrative positions, including being the founding Dean of UTEP’s University College which housed all of UTEP’s first-year experience programs (a first-year seminar, learning communities, student leadership education, and peer leader training). Most of my work in administration was focused on student engagement, satisfaction, retention, and success. This is an area to which I have dedicated my time consulting and publishing.
I rejoined the Rhetoric and Writing Studies faculty in Fall 2009 where I will be teaching a broad range of undergraduate and graduate courses. My scholarly interests will remain focused on academic leadership and student success.