Meet Members of the Founder’s College Founding Faculty & Staff
CTB’s Carlos Martinez with Founder’s College Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Stephanie Fernho
Stephanie Fernho, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
Why Founder’s? This is a new role for me, but I'm not new to Butler. I'm actually starting my 16th year here. I spent the last 15 years in the Lacy School of Business as a professor of entrepreneurship and innovation. I think we can all use our entrepreneurial mindset in different ways and the opportunity to be able to come over here and build something that's meaningful and impactful, it was definitely exciting. There is excitement all across Butler. Another thing that motivated me to come over here was the opportunity to not have Founders be an island but to be part of Butler University and having the relationships and the knowledge and the knowhow about Butler works, I think that was part of my motivation–the ability to be able to bridge that gap with the rest of the Butler community as we're adding Founders College as our seventh college.
Abby Martin, Social Worker & Library Assistant
Why Founder’s? Everything about the mission, the model, everything spoke to me in a way–we're seeing a need and we’re providing a solution for it and it was something that really excited me because of how interconnected Butler is with the Indianapolis community already. When I interviewed, it was a small team because a lot of people hadn’t been hired yet. But whenever I was talking with the dean and with each individual person, their faces lit up whenever they talked about it. And it didn't feel like something that was being sold to me or too good to be true. And whenever I saw them and saw how much work they had put into it, I realized that I believe in them just as much as I believe in this program. And that was what drew me to this.
Rob Williford, Associate Dean of Student Affairs
What are your hopes for Founder’s students and for the whole Founder’s College community? I don't know if you have enough time for me to say all the hopes–that could take the whole morning! I believe in the power of imagination and cultivating an imagination. So my biggest hope is that when students are here, they feel that ability to imagine and see themselves in ways that they didn't see previously. That's a big part of what higher ed is in general. But for Founder’s specifically, I want students to be able to see in their mind, I can actually do this, this, and this, and I can accomplish all those things that I thought weren't possible. Many of the barriers that people face in society, but specifically for higher ed, are failures of imagination. My hope is that when students are across campus at an event on a Tuesday night, they feel that. My hope is that when they're here at 8:00 a.m. and they've taken the bus to get here and they're tired and they're struggling, my hope is that they still see it then.
Adrianna Ernstberger aka Dr. E, Core Faculty in Humanities, Arts, and Sciences
What are your hopes for Founder’s students and for the entire Founder’s College community? One of the goals I have is that they start to see themselves as scholars. They're walking in as students and I want to help them through the transition to see themselves as scholars, to see themselves as a knowledgeable body with content and experience and knowledge that is powerful and important and heritage that is important. I want to make them dreamers. I want to make sure that they are thinking of the big bold vision that they can have. That doesn't mean to ignore or minimize the real world challenge. But to prepare them for that and part of that is the mental transition to believing that they are scholars, that they are here for a reason and that they have something to contribute to the room and to the community.
