The Decree
since 1960 “of, by, andfor the Wesleyan community. ”
November 28, 2017
NORTH CAROLINA WESLEYAN COLLEGE, ROCKY MOUNT, NORTH CAROLINA 27804
Fred Sanborn, Award-Winning Wesleyan Professor, Talks Teaching
Dr. Fred Sanborn, past recipient of the
Jefferson-Pilot Professorship, a founder
of the Teaching & Learning Center, and
co-author of a psychology textbook, last
year added a new line to his resume:
2016-17 Wesleyan Exemplary Teacher.
Now in his 14th year at Wesleyan,
Dr. Sanborn. 44. came to the college
from his native Kansas, where he earned
an undergraduate degree from Kansas
Wesleyan and a Ph.D. from Kansas
State. He teaches courses in social
psychology, developmental psychology
and media psychology. He is co-author,
with Richard J. Harris, of "A Cognitive
Psychology of Mass Communication."
Besides teaching at Wesleyan, Dr.
Sanborn served as the first director of
Wesleyan's Teaching & Learning Center,
which, among other functions, introduces
new technology to faculty and keeps
them abreast of recent trends in the art of
teaching. He has been involved with the
Psychology Club and "various iterations
of LGBT students groups,” including
SAFE, the newest organization.
When he’s not working. Dr. Sanborn
spends time with his husband, Tony
Hefher, an engineer. He likes to attend
plays (Hefner is an actor in his free time)
and watch movies and TV (some current
favorites: "Veep,” "Last Week Tonight with
John Oliver,” "blackish," and "American
Horror Story”). The two have spent
considerable time renovating their home
outside of Raleigh. "It was pretty bad when
we started.” Dr. Sanborn said, “but we’re
just about done. We're looking for a new
one so we can start the process again.”
The Decree conducted a recent email
interview with Dr. Sanborn.
Q. How did you become interested in
the field of psychology?
A. Ever since I was a child, I’ve always
thought that people , their thinking and their
behaviors were fascinating. When I got to
high school and realized I could take courses
that would help me understand all of this,
I was in. Years later, people are no less
fascinating to me. Plus, now I get paid to
talk about all this stuff with young people.
Q. I've long been impressed by your
time-management skills. What’s your secret?
A. As I get older, I think more and more
about my time and how I use it. Over the
years. I’ve also figured out what I most
want to accomplish with my time (like do
ing a good job teaching and spending time
with people I care about) and what doesn’t
matter as much (like spending lots of time
on social media, watching stupid TV, or
gossiping). I also try to be disciplined with
my time. For example, I have specific times
and days when I prepare for class, write,
grade papers, exercise, and meditate. I try
very hard to respect those times and not let
other things intrude. However, I’d be lying
if I said that never happens—sometimes
life interferes with the way I think things
will go. In the end, I try to remember that
everything will get done (or at least the
most important stuff). Also, email spam
filters are a great time-saving tool!
Q. What's your teaching philosophy?
A. It could fill several pages, but it boils
down to a few basics. First, I think learning
is fun, and I try to model this for my
students. I almost always have fun and use
humor when I’m teaching, and I hope that
makes learning more fun for my students.
The second big thing is that I hope to
get my students to see the real-world
applications of what they're learning in the
classroom. I'm lucky that in my discipline
this is easy—I think students in classes
like social psychology, child develop
ment, positive psychology, and media
psychology can use what they learn almost
every day. The last thing is that I hope my
students are better communicators after
they leave my class. Effective writing and
speaking have made a huge difference in
my life. I had good teachers who taught
me those skills, and I try to carry on that
practice with my own students.
Q. Describe what happens in one of
your typical 100-level courses?
A. In Introduction to Psychology. I try to
give my students a taste of many different
areas of psychology. The common notion
is that psychology is people talking to
a psychiatrist on a couch. Students are
sometimes surprised to learn that psychol
ogy is also about things like how our senses
work, how people become prejudiced, and
how children think about the world.
Dr. Fred Sanborn speaks with
students after class. A. Stern photo
Q. How about a 400-level course?
A. When I teach Senior Seminar in
Psychology, I try to help students get a
sense of what graduate school is like,
so the expectations are high. Among
other things, students give a professional
presentation, read original research, write
a literature review paper, and become
intimately familiar with APA style.
Q. How do you know when a class
session has gone well?
A. I trained for a time to do clinical
psychology work. When working with
people in that capacity, one of the first les
sons is to pay attention to body language.
The way people hold their bodies reveals
a lot about what might be going on their
minds. I think the same principle applies in
the classroom. When I see interested faces
and multiple hands in the air, I know things
are going well. Even among quiet students,
it's apparent when people are engaged,
thinking, and processing information. I try
to pay attention to such cues.
Q. In graduate school, our education is
focused on content more so than the art of
teaching. Talk about your teaching influ
ences, as well as the evolution of your style.
A. I've had so many excellent teachers
throughout my life. I’m grateful to all of
them and often think back on the things
they taught me. Sometimes, I can even
remember their voices and their exact
words. However, I also learned from
the not-so-great teachers about what not
to do. If I had to pick my one biggest
influence, it would be Dr. Richard Harris,
one of my professors in grad school. He
wasn’t my advisor, but he became my true
mentor. There was a time when I thought
about quitting graduate school, but he
showed me the joy of teaching a college
Tuition, Other Costs To
Rise 3 Percent Next Year
NC Wesleyan has announced a
three-percent increase in tuition and
other costs for the next academic year.
Jason Edwards, Vice President of
Finance and Administration, provided more
details in an interview with The Decree:
Q. Please break down next year’s cost
of tuition, room and board, and other
major expenses.
A. Returning students will see the fol
lowing rates for tuition, room, and board:
• $30,600 - Tuition will increase $850 or 2.9%
• $4,800 - Room (for double occupancy)
will increase $150 or 3.2%
• $5,600 - Board will increase $200 or 3.7%
(Freshmen will pay a different amount.
Edwards said, under a new meal plan that
the college will introduce next fall.)
• $150 - The Student Activity Fee will
remain unchanged
• $41,150 - The total for tuition, room
and board, and the student activities fee
will increase $1.200 or 3.0%
Q. Where possible, provide reasons
for the increases.
A. Inflation continues to factor into
the overall increase along with focused
class. He was also the first one to recog
nize that I could become a good teacher.
One of the biggest lessons I learned from
Dr. Harris was the importance of showing
genuine care for students. Later, he also
became my co-author on a textbook. He’s
now retired, but he remains my model for
a great professor. I’m proud that we’ve
remained friends and collaborators.
Q. What do you like best about teach
ing at Wesleyan?
A. The great personality and develop
mental psychologist Erik Erikson thought
that young adults are at the stage of their
lives when they’re developing an identity.
I’m honored that I get to help students fig
ure out who they are and who they want to
be in the future. Sometimes this happens
in the classroom, but more frequently it
seems to happen in one-on-one conversa
tions in settings like advising meetings,
on a field trip, and sometimes just in a
hallway chat. It’s especially rewarding
when past students return to campus and
tell me that something I did helped make a
difference in their lives. That has happened
twice this semester, and when it does, it
truly makes my day a happy one.
Q. If you could change one thing about
Wesleyan students, what would it be?
A. First, I have to say that I love
working with Wesleyan students. Many
remind me of myself when I was an un
dergraduate. Like many of our students,
I was a first-generation student who
wanted to be in college. I just didn't fully
understand what college was all about, at
least at first. That being said, I sometimes
wish Wesleyan students questioned and
challenged things more often. I really like
it when students challenge me or ask me
how I know something or why psycholo
gists believe something. I love it when I
get a question I don’t know the answer to
and subsequently have to research. That’s
when I know students are thinking and
learning. I wish more Wesleyan students
would challenge me, the things they see
on campus, and the world around them.
Q. If you could change one thing about
your professional self, what would it be?
A. You flattered me earlier in asking
about my time-management skills. But
sometimes I get stressed trying to get
everything done in the way I want it done.
So, I wish I worried less about time. I
could also stand to be less of a perfection
ist and a little less critical of myself and
others. The good thing is that these things
are less stressful to me now than they were
five or ten years ago. Maybe in another
five or ten years, I'll have it figured out!
Q. How much time do you spend in a
week on social media and which one do
you favor?
A. I have accounts with most social-
media platforms, but I probably interact
attention on student enhancements such
as investing in our Internship & Career
Services Center, the WOW Cafe, Eli
Hall, classroom improvements, and
athletic facility improvements.
Q. Estimate what the college is saving by
going to the new low-cost lighting system.
A. In a typical office building, lighting,
heating, and cooling represents 70 percent
or more of total electrical and gas usage
for our climate, making those systems the
best targets for energy savings. Most of
our energy-saving initiatives have come in
the form of replacing antiquated lighting
with LEDs and replacing older heat and
air units (HVACs) and boilers/chillers
with more efficient units. On average, a
newer LED light fixture will consume 1/3
to 1/4 of the wattage compared to an older
model light fixture. During fiscal year
2015, the main campus electric and gas
expenses were $732,000 and during fiscal
year 2017 they were $688,000. During
that period, we’ve added a couple hundred
additional students and one residence hall,
and we’ve expanded usage of areas on
campus while recognizing energy savings.
with Facebook the most. I don’t spend as
much time on social media as I once did
because it can become a huge time suck.
I'm also irritated with Facebook and Twit
ter because even their creators no longer
seem to understand how to control them.
Q. Let's shift to the TLC. Discuss its genesis.
A. About 10 years ago, I was the chair
of the faculty Professional Development
Committee. Because I was in that role, the
Provost at the time suggested that I attend
a conference on faculty development.
There, I learned about centers like the TLC,
and I thought it would be a great thing for
Wesleyan. I lobbied the administration
for several years to fund the TLC. and
eventually they gave it the green light. Dr.
Carol Lawrence and I worked hard one
summer (and throughout the next few years)
to get the center up and running. I think the
TLC has become an asset to the college and
a great resource for the faculty. I’m glad to
see Dr. Heather Louch and Professor Amber
Sheeler continuing the mission of the TLC.
Q. What did you learn about Wesleyan
faculty through your work at TLC?
A. Students have probably noticed
that the faculty at Wesleyan are varied.
NCWC Science Majors Complete
Advanced Research in Internships
While many Wesleyan students were
holding down summer jobs and others
were hitting the beach or preparing for fall
sports, some science majors were getting
a first glimpse of their future careers.
Carolynn Davern, a chemistry major,
spent ten weeks in the labs of North Caro
lina State as part of a program sponsored
by the National Science Foundation’s
Research Experience for Undergraduates.
Her experiments and research focused on
the building of peptoids.
Davern explained: "I was building
peptoids, which are peptide mimetics
with the R group on the nitrogen
rather than the carbon. I incorporated
a benzaldehyde hydrazone side chain
in ‘sandwich sequences’ with eight
different amine groups. I also had a
computational part of my project where
I modeled and calculated the energies
of my peptoids with different dihedral
angles using Gaussian software.”
Did you get all that?
Here’s a translation: Davern did
sophisticated work with substances
used in many biomedical applications.
The Wesleyan senior credits Drs.
Pamela Patterson and George Whitwell
for helping to guide her through the
application process. She was encour
aged to seek a research internship
to prepare for graduate school. "My
professors really emphasized that
summer internships would be great
experience for me,” she said.
Another REU participant was Caleb
Rose, a biology and environmental sci
ence major, who conducted research and
lab experiments as part of the University
of Oklahoma's Biological Survey project.
For 14 weeks, his responsibilities
included collecting data at the Aquatic Re
search Facility on OU's campus, collecting
mussels for the experiments, performing
lab work, and completing his own guided
research project led by a postdoctoral
fellow and a principal investigator.
He was urged to apply for the REU pro
gram by Dr. Joseph Wliite, a former visiting
professor in biology. "While Wesleyan is a
fantastic school for a one-on-one experience
We come from different places, we talk
differently, and we teach many different
things in many different ways. However,
something I think is true of all faculty at
NCWC is that we try very hard and only
want the best for our students. A school
like Wesleyan is not a place faculty go if
they are trying to make a big splash in the
academic world or to make an international
name for themselves in their fields. Faculty
come to NCWC because they care about
students, love to teach, and are excited to
share knowledge of their disciplines.
Q. What’s your proudest accomplish
ment at NCWC?
A. I was very honored to receive
awards like the Exemplary Teacher Award
and the Jefferson-Pilot Professorship.
But I think I'm proudest of co-authoring
a textbook on psychology and media.
That work led me to create a course.
Psychology of Mass Communication. I'm
proud of all of that because I think the
book and the class help give students tools
to navigate an increasingly overwhelming
media world. I tell students in that class
that I want them to become savvy media
consumers, so I hope they do.
with your professors, your undergraduate
adviser, and the staff, there’s little (opportu
nity for) research.” Rose said.
The REU program allows undergradu
ates to gain research experience, as well as
exposure to graduate school, Rose said. It
confirmed what his Wesleyan professors
have told him, that “research is grueling and
difficult, but rewarding and fun!” he said.
Like Davern, Rose intends to pursue
doctoral studies after he graduates from
Wesleyan. He said the summer internship
was a confidence boost; it proved that he
could handle the rigors of graduate school.
"It only reinforced my love of
science,” he said. “After working in a
lab all summer. I'm more inspired for
a future in science. I had doubts about
whether I would be successful in a
long-term academic setting, but my
REU has put my mind to ease.”
In her REU internship, Kayla Lavan
immersed herself in lab work for ten
weeks at Georgia Southern University.
She reported that her research concen
trated on materials nanoscience and
organic chemistry. “I spent most days
trying to optimize the experiment,
which consisted of making small tweaks
in protocol," she explained, adding that
her adviser gave her the freedom to plan
and execute her daily activities.
See SCIENCE pg 4
Carolynn Davern A. Stern photo