New faculty president takes helm at Saint Martin's University

August 8, 2005

Lacey, Wash. – Summer is the time when many professors relax or catch up on research projects, but Saint Martin’s University’s new faculty president, Eileen Reilich, Ph.D., will have little time for rest. She will take a lead role as the university transitions into the new year under the leadership of a new university president, Douglas M. Astolfi.

During her year as faculty president, Reilich will lead the university’s faculty senate and serve as a representative for all Saint Martin’s faculty members. One of her first duties has been to help orient Astolfi to Saint Martin’s.

“I want the faculty and senate to be involved with the new president,” she said.

Reilich, 49, has spent the last eight years as an associate professor in the university’s education division. A former middle school and high school teacher, she now mentors the next generation of teachers in the areas of science, math, curriculum and administration. She has spent much of her career showing new teachers innovative ways to reach and inspire students.

Reilich, a 1980 graduate of the University of Idaho, earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in education from Washington State University.

A firm believer that faculty members can benefit from continuing education, Reilich said she wants to establish a scholarship fund to pay for advanced training.

“The scholarship of teaching and learning is about helping the faculty be better at their primary job – and that’s teaching,” she said.

Reilich said the faculty will play a crucial role as Saint Martin’s transitions into its new identity as a university and will need to keep its strongest emphasis on student learning rather than on research.

“How we define ourselves – and how that definition plays out in the classroom and in our interactions with everyone on campus – is very important,” Reilich said.
 

John DeWeese
Assistant media relations coordinator
360-486-8857; jdeweese@stmartin.edu