TAMUT welcomes new Associate Provost Dr. Sushil Sharma. He has many great things planned and in-store for the university. Dr. Sharma plans to set up and consolidate the fields of graduate studies to where all the graduate programs of TAMUT will be consolidated into one umbrella. Along with involvement in the international programs for study abroad and exchange student recruiting. Also work with the office of research grants and sponsor projects which faculty members have been seeking from various agencies. To provide support and bring them all under one umbrella for fostering grants, research, project sponsorship and provide the support needed. “So, throughout the time I will be involved in working on these projects,” he said. In his previous experience, Dr. Sharma was extensively involved in leading the study abroad programs and setting up various partnerships and collaborations with foreign institutions to bring international students to Ball State University. There are various types of programs he has been involved in and he says, “I will be using that experience for setting up similar programs here.”
Dr. Sharma, originally from India, has been in academia for over 35 years. He has worked in different institutions in various countries such as New Zealand, Turkey, and more before settling in the United States. He has helped many universities with their growth and brought in more and better opportunities for students and the campuses in general. His most previous location was at Ball State University in the state of Indiana, where he served many roles in the university for 21 years. Prior to his career at BSU, he was a professor in Canada and worked at an Indian Institute where he worked in management. He has a long experience with different countries, cultures, people, and students with learning different educational systems. “I am very lucky to have this kind of experience,” says Dr. Sharma.
From being in many different places all over the world coming to Texarkana has been a different transition for him. Coming from the most recent state of Indiana, he says up north is much cooler during the winter and at some point, in time of his career, he always wanted to move South. He says, “This is a unique opportunity, which I liked. BSU serves about 22,000 students and when this opportunity opened, I saw that this institution is much smaller and my accommodated experience and expertise in many places fit very well for the growth of the institution. So, I saw this as an opportunity that I can exercise my experience and skillset that I’ve gained.” Dr. Sharma has seen undergraduate students get involved in research working along with a faculty member. “I will be working on how we can enhance student involvement for research for both undergraduate and graduate students working with the faculty members. It’s a great experience for faculty and students to work together so in any way I can be of any assistance in help for the faculty member to engage their students, I will be looking forward to providing support for that,” he said.
So far, his transition to Texas has been pretty good. “I think the big welcoming change has been the weather and also this institution…so I see there are a lot of opportunities. It has been two weeks here and I am learning a lot…I am going through the various training modules which are helping me to know the institution and the system,” he said. Dr. Sharma has been learning a lot and he says it is important for him to understand the culture and the processes and procedures involved, not only here in Texarkana but in the TAMUT system itself. So, it will be a busy time in the next few months to understand that and then be able to contribute. “I will be striving to establish those procedures processes for the growth and advancement of the institution,” he said.
He plans to work on many of these new projects for the future of TAMUT. “I am looking forward to this experience so someday I could say that I was responsible for building some processes, procedures, systems, programs, in a smaller institution and this is a great opportunity for me to do that. I’m excited about this opportunity and so far, this has been a great experience,” he said.
Dr. Sharma advises those who are just starting college or are transfer students is, “The college experience is not just in the classroom, all students should enjoy the college experience and get involved outside the classroom activities such as extra curriculars, student clubs/organizations. The more students interact with other students through these they will develop their personalities and profiles much better so students should not just limit themselves coming from dorms or home to the classroom but should mingle and network with other students and faculty members and also with the potential employers whenever they are visiting campus. Students should spend all their time doing so because in my experiences many times after your degree those skills are more important than just knowing the book knowledge. Because employers want to see how you approach them, how you communicate and present yourself. Even writing an email, how you write it to a friend or professor, those skills are very valuable and become very important when you look for a career opportunity. So, college is the best platform to develop those skills and can only happen when being involved outside the class.”