Ziehr retires from NSU faculty

When Dr. Charles Ziehr, professor of geography, announced his wish to retire from the Northeastern State University faculty, it wasn't long before he was asked to stay.

I first wanted to retire in May 2011, he said.

With the assistant vice presidency for teaching and learning vacant, Ziehr was asked to fill the position temporarily. As a founder of NSUs Center for Teaching and Learning, he was a perfect choice.

As of the spring 2012 semester, he has concluded a 35-year career in higher education, including 21-plus years at NSU.

Ziehr was an assistant professor at East Carolina University when familial circumstances drew him to northeast Oklahoma.

A granddaughter was born in Dallas and we were about 24 hours away by car, he said. My wife Judy and I wanted to be closer to our granddaughter so we started looking for what was available in the area. Being selected to the NSU faculty worked out well for me. We are closer to the younger generation in Dallas and the older generation in northwest Arkansas where we both grew up.

Ziehr holds a long list of achievements. At NSU, he chaired the Department of Social Sciences and had papers published on distance learning and rural development. He successfully petitioned for numerous grants and is a member of the Association of American Geographers and the Consortium of Oklahoma Geographers. He has been a member of the Tahlequah Area Chamber of Commerce since 1991, serving on its board for two years and as vice president of economic development in 1996. NSU named him Faculty Member of the Year for Teaching Excellence in 1994.

There is also the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) he helped create a decade ago.

There were a number of us on campus who were interested in educational technology and we had formed a committee, he said. Some of us attended a conference at Notre Dame which discussed equipping faculty to use educational technologies. We became enthusiastic when we saw what other universities were doing to help faculty investigate and find technologies to help students succeed. We came back and wrote our proposal.

Today the CTL supports NSU faculty with teaching resources including hardware, software, printed material, videos, instructional design consulting and professional development training. It also posts distance learning course evaluations. The center is served by an advisory committee of seven faculty representing each academic college, the John Vaughan Library and the College of Optometry.

Ziehr said his entry into higher education was gradual, and that he planned to go into economic development after obtaining his masters degree from the University of South Carolina.

However, a professor suggested Ziehr consider pursuit of a Ph.D. Though he had never considered a doctorate, Ziehr wrote a dissertation in geography, a subject he loved. Upon attaining his degree from Indiana University, a teaching career seemed obvious.

Once Id gotten my doctorate, I felt I had pretty much educated myself into academia, he said. There were other positions available, but none offered the intellectual freedom of higher education. Of course, by that time Id been in academia as a student for nine years and liked it.

In retirement, Ziehr will spend time with his wife at a home on 20 acres in the Tahlequah area. He said the property will keep the couple busy.

Everybody asks what Im going to do in retirement, and I always tell them I have a long list of what Im not going to do, he said. Lets just say our property is paid for so were going to stay here. I love to cut firewood and build rock walls. I have 20 years worth of deferred maintenance to attend to.

But just as NSU was loathe to let go of Ziehr, he may not leave the university completely. He said he would enjoy participating in special projects and will probably adjunct teach a course or two each year. He will remain a fixture of NSUs annual Rookie Bridge Camp, a student-organized orientation program for incoming freshmen.

I told them before I retired that I will keep going to Rookie Bridge Camp until they tell me I cant go, he said. I would also like to remain active with the CTL. Judy and I like to call ourselves the unofficial Tahlequah grandparents of the womens basketball team. We travel around the country, going where they go. We intend to stay involved.

Looking back at his two decades at NSU, Ziehr said he was always impressed with the university and its commitment to students.

We provide a wonderful educational opportunity for our region, he said. Ive been a student at four universities and taught at three, and NSUs best are as brilliant as the best anywhere. Those who take advantage of the opportunities at NSU are very well prepared for a fulfilling life and good career.