The campus at Averett University is buzzing with excitement as the new academic year is underway. Among the many changes and fresh opportunities, several new faculty members have joined the Averett family including Dr. Rachel Mittelman, assistant professor of history, and Dr. Brian Webb, associate professor of political science. Both professors come to Averett after teaching in Georgia, bringing with them valuable experience and fresh perspectives.
For both Mittelman and Webb, the opportunity to join Averett University came at the perfect time for their careers and families. Drawn by the welcoming community and student-centered focus, they each saw it as an ideal place to grow both personally and professionally.
“My husband had gotten a job in the area, and at the time, there was no position for me,” Mittelman said. “Later on, a job opened here, and we were notified about it. The students were nice, the town was nice—much nicer than where we lived in Georgia. Small and nice. We thought, well, we would like to raise our kid here. So that’s what drew us, I think. It was the focus on students and student-centeredness.”
Webb echoed a similar sentiment for coming to Averett University.
“The Averett opportunity came up, and it was a really good fit for me and my family,” Webb said. “So we took it.”
Mittelman takes an interactive, discussion-based approach to teaching, aiming to create a more engaging and student-centered classroom. Rather than relying on traditional lectures, she encourages active participation and critical thinking, challenging students to dive deeper into the material through seminars and collaborative work.
“So instead, I do seminars, solid classes where, in theory, we are all getting together and talking,” Mittelman said. “This has been quite a struggle, I think because students are really used to lectures in my lower-level classes. They do work in advance, and then they come in and do some group work on the writing assignment. I give them a question every day, and they answer it. Once we all get on the same page about how the assignment is supposed to go, we’ll sit down and do group work, but they’ve got to talk!”
Webb, focuses on a mastering the fundamentals, ensuring that students are well- equipped with the basic concepts before moving on to more complex topics.
“Hopefully, an excellent experience, but a lot of fundamentals. I focus on fundamentals,” Webb said. “I try to make sure that everybody knows the basic terms and things like that before we move on. I’m kind of lecture-based, doing a lot of writing on the board. I know how to use all the technology, but in class, I prefer to keep things simple, with lots of writing on the board.”
As they navigate their new positions at Averett this semester, let’s be sure to extend a warm and welcoming spirit to both of our new faculty members
