Ivy Tech-Bloomington Faculty Promoted to Highest Levels

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 29, 2012

Ivy Tech-Bloomington Faculty Promoted to Highest Levels

Ivy Tech-Bloomington has promoted School of Liberal Arts and Sciences faculty members Martin Wolfger and Christine Brandel to Ivy Tech’s highest faculty classification levels. Wolfger, Dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Associate Professor in Psychology, was promoted to Professor of Psychology. Brandel, Assistant Professor of English, was promoted to Associate Professor of English.

“Both promotions are evidence of Wolfger’s and Brandel’s commitment to the success of individual students,” said Chancellor John Whikehart. “Both of their promotions required a peer-review process. Promotions were awarded based upon service to the college outside teaching and administrative assignments, evidence of professional and community service, evidence of contributions at the statewide level, and scholarly activities. Wolfger’s promotion to Professor also included a review by two Vice Chancellors of Academic Affairs from Ivy Tech campuses outside of Bloomington.”

Wolfger started teaching at Ivy Tech in 2004 as adjunct faculty for Psychology. He was named program chair of the Psychology department in 2005. In 2009, Wolfger became chair of the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences and in 2010 became Dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He is a licensed mental health counselor and holds a Master of Science in Psychology from Karl-Franzens University in Austria where he graduated with distinction. Wolfger also holds a Master of Arts degree in Clinical Psychology from Ball State University where he received the Dean’s Citation for Academic Excellence for achieving a 4.0 GPA.

At Ivy Tech-Bloomington Wolfger serves on numerous committees for advancing education and for ensuring student success, including the Internationalization Collaborative Across Bloomington, a cooperative of Indiana University and Ivy Tech Bloomington and Achieving the Dream, a national initiative of Lumina Foundation. He served as chair of the statewide Ivy Tech Social and Behavioral Sciences Curriculum Development committee where he took a leadership role in discussions related to Ivy Tech’s Liberal Arts and Sciences degree in Psychology. In 2011, Ivy Tech-Bloomington selected Wolfger for the 2010 Ivy Tech President’s Award.

Brandel began teaching at Ivy Tech in 2008 and became full time faculty in the English Department the following year. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Bowling Green State University and successfully completed the Graduate Teacher Programme at the University of Derby in England.  She writes on higher education for The Huffington Post and is a columnist for Pop Matters, an international magazine of cultural criticism. Her poetry and fiction have appeared in literary journals throughout the U.S. and U.K.

At Ivy Tech-Bloomington, Brandel serves on the Global Studies Committee and has developed an internationalization curriculum faculty resource. She is a Fellow of the Internationalization Collaborative Across Bloomington and presented on globalization at community colleges, with Dean Wolfger, at the national Innovations 2012 conference in Philadelphia. Brandel is a member of the English Advisory Board, co-advises the Creative Writing Club, and supports the campus literary magazine. This April, one of her poems was featured in the National Council of Teachers of English 2012 National Poetry Month Celebration. Brandel was a finalist for the 2010 Ivy Tech-Bloomington’s President’s Award.

About Ivy Tech Community College

Ivy Tech Community College (www.ivytech.edu) is the state’s largest public postsecondary institution and the nation’s largest singly accredited statewide community college system serving nearly 200,000 students annually. Ivy Tech has campuses throughout Indiana. It serves as the state’s engine of workforce development, offering affordable degree programs and training that are aligned with the needs of its community along with courses and programs that transfer to other colleges and universities in Indiana. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association.