This fall, Oklahoma Christian University welcomed a new provost, Brian Starr, to campus. Starr sat down with the Talon to share his story and his new role in carrying out the mission of Oklahoma Christian.
The expertise Starr brings to campus is threefold: he has been a teacher, administrator and minister in various environments.
After getting his undergraduate degree from Abilene Christian University, Starr pursued an MBA at the University of Texas at Austin, which he described as the “Oklahoma University of Texas.”
“I was very blessed to go through a very, very highly regarded program. During that time, I got to be a teaching assistant for a professor and a top 20 MBA program, and I taught at the undergraduate level,” Starr said. “It showed me a lot about how a top school functions.”
Starr then entered a successful career as a consultant for company retirement plans. During a four year gap from this position, he discovered his love for working with college students through the University of Texas’ college ministry.
“That was just a rich experience, and it instilled within me this deep love for college students,” Starr said. “I think college is the best time of life, it’s so exciting.”
He returned to pension planning for a short time before Lubbock Christian University hired him to teach.
“I have been broadly trained across the different academic disciplines: business, religion and economics, so that’s given me a wide variety of training, and I got to teach,” Starr said. “I got to be in the classroom. I got to work with college students again and that made me really happy.”
During the latter part of his time at Lubbock Christian, Starr served on a presidential interim leadership team until a new president could arrive at the university. Starr taught for three more years at Lubbock Christian until he got a phone call from Oklahoma Christian inviting him to an interview day.
Starr described the interview day and his first impression of what would become his new home.
“It was just a wonderful day. There’s no other way to describe it. It felt like home. It felt like it was a calling from the Lord,” Starr said. “I’ve learned when something feels like it’s coming from the Lord. If I take that leap of faith, God always takes care of it.”
Starr discussed his new duties as provost.
“I’m the one who gets to work directly with the Deans to make sure they are equipped with everything they need for their various colleges and to make sure our students are set up for success,” Starr said.
In light of his new role, Starr has not given up teaching. He currently teaches a class in the business department.
“I teach to stay in tune with what we do here, which is to focus on students,” Starr said. “Teaching energizes me and better equips me when making decisions with the Deans to ensure we’re making them with our students firmly in mind.”
Starr shared his goals for the future of Oklahoma Christian academics.
“We want to make sure we’re constantly changing to meet the current demands of an ever changing world,” Starr said. “We constantly have to adjust our methods and our curriculum to make sure we’re delivering a really good product.”
An example Starr gave of academic adaptation is the implementation of artificial intelligence.
“We want students to be prepared for a world in which they don’t run away from AI, but accept it as a new reality and address how to use it in ethical ways,” Starr said.
Starr would also like to evolve classroom teaching methods beyond the tradition of lecture and listen-based learning. He would like to move curriculums toward a more participatory approach.
“A goal I have is to make sure students are at the center, and they’re not just listening, they’re learning. You often learn by doing, and sometimes, by doing it in community,” Starr said. “Academic research tells us this is true, so we’re going to try to follow that best practice.”
Amidst changes to academic approaches, there is one thing Starr will hold to firmly.
“I hope what we’re always doing is having our eyes fixed on Jesus and focusing on doing things his way,” Starr said. “We want students to have not only an intellectual transformation, but a spiritual transformation as well.”
Starr shared one thing he believes students should know.
“We want students to know we love working with students,” Starr said. “We’re here because we love students, and we want to see them thrive.”
0
0
Be First to Comment