Three named associate provosts at Wofford College

Hettes, Jones, Schmitz to serve three-year terms

SPARTANBURG, SC – Wofford College Provost Dennis M. Wiseman has announced the appointments of three associate provosts. They are: Dr. Stacey Hettes, associate provost for faculty development; Dr. Trina Jones, associate provost for curriculum and co-curriculum; and Dr. Tim Schmitz, associate provost for administration. They will serve three-year terms with an option for one additional term of three years.

Hettes, associate professor of biology, came to Wofford in 2003. She received her bachelor’s degree from King’s College and her Ph.D. from the University of California Riverside. She was the 2009 recipient of the Roger Milliken Award for Excellence in the Teach of Science and Mathematics at Wofford. She created research-based courses that engage students in original research and often result in the opportunity for them to present at regional and national meetings, including the Society of Neuroscience Annual Meet and at the NASA Ames Research Center in California. Hettes also has taught pottery courses during Wofford’s January Interim for more than a decade. She recently led efforts to equip an on-campus studio to be used for curricular, co-curricular and Interim studio art classes. She has served as the chair of numerous faculty and college committees, including co-chair of the “Strengthening Campus and Community” working group in the college’s strategic vision process.

Jones, associate professor of religion, came to Wofford in 2006. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Davidson College and earned her master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Chicago. She received the Excellence in Teaching Award presented by South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities in 2013, an American Academy of Religion/Luce Foundation Fellowship in Theologies of Religious Pluralism and Comparative Theology in 2012, and now is working with the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion, helping lead pedagogy workshops for new professors. Jones has been involved with several grant projects at Wofford, which has facilitated various campus and community initiatives, including a study of campus climate in conjunction with the Interfaith Youth Core in Chicago and a visit to Spartanburg in 2013 by the Tibetan Buddhist monks of the Drepung Loseling Monastery.

Schmitz, associate professor and chair of the Department of History, joined Wofford’s faculty in 2000 after receiving his BA (summa cum laude) from the University of Urbana-Champaign and his Ph.D. from Indiana University Bloomington. He was a Fulbright scholar in Spain in 1995. At Wofford, he directs the Shared Worlds summer creative writing program for pre-college students. In 2012, Schmitz received the Philip Covington Award for Excellence in the Teaching of the Humanities or Social Sciences at Wofford. He administers the Lewis P. Jones Visiting Professorship in the Department of History and has served on a variety of faculty committees and task forces. Most recently, he was a member of the “Expanding Wofford’s Scope” working group in the college’s strategic vision process.

Wofford College, established in 1854, is an independent liberal arts college of 1,650 students in Spartanburg, S.C.  Wofford ranks 7th nationally in the percentage of undergraduates receiving credit for study abroad.  Home to one of the nation’s 283 Phi Beta Kappa chapters, Wofford’s historic 175-acre campus is recognized as a national arboretum.  Wofford is affiliated with the United Methodist Church.