This talk focuses on the expectations and responsibilities of Dr. Wertz's position at Valparaiso University, managing teaching and scholarship, and her research agenda moving forward, and mostly about the hard parts embedded within each of these topics. 

Bio 

Dr. Wertz is a recent graduate of the ENE program at Purdue University as of May 2014. She is currently an Assistant Professor of General Engineering at Valparaiso University. She has her dream job: one where she gets to focus on her teaching above all else, and she doesn't have to sell the idea of investing in educational research to her peers—they already get it. Wertz has been there for two years  - and still needs to pinch herself to make sure she isn't not dreaming! Even so, no place is perfect. She struggles with balancing her desire to take risks in the classroom with her fear of poor student evaluations if those risks don’t go well. Wertz also struggles with issues of diversity and inclusion, managing her own biases, and an idealistic need to see every student succeed. And she struggles with finding her fit and her voice in a newly created position.