Norton’s gut told her from the moment she completed her interview at Arkansas Tech 19 years ago that the students at the university were different than those at various other institutions. According to Norton, “[The students] came up to me after I taught a class [during my interview process] and asked me questions—I was looking for a place that I could become part of a community, both on and off campus.”
She found that at ATU.
After spending her first nine years as a faculty member, earning promotion and tenure, Norton became department head and then transitioned into her first role in administration. She served as the assistant vice president for academic affairs from May 2011-June 2015 over the nascent online college, eTech, and she became dean of the College of eTech in July 2015. While Norton adjusted to her new administrative role, Phillips actively planned to honor the professor who had given her so much during her undergraduate years.
In the spring of 2012, Jayne Jones (former vice president for development at ATU) received an email from Phillips detailing her desire to create a foundation scholarship in honor of Norton. Jones was surprised to hear from the young alumna. “Sarah Beth was such a young alum and already mindful of [the need] to give back,” Jones explained.
Phillips wholeheartedly believes in this connection she’s established with her university. “When financial strain [or] worry is lessened, students are better prepared to succeed academically...in my experience every bit of aid is beneficial,” she said.
When Jones delivered the news to Norton of the scholarship created in her honor, Norton was in shock. “I was surprised and deeply honored. As a student who worked so hard to perform well in class, the scholarship is as much a testament to her as it is to me,” said Norton.
Her experience as dean of the College of eTech and the students she’s encountered in recent years—many of them nontraditional—have challenged Norton to reflect on what it means to be an educator. At the end of June 2018, she returned to a faculty role and the assistant director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.
Phillips, now an academic advisor and adjunct professor in the Department of Professional Studies at ATU, relishes the lessons she learned from her mentor and applies them in her daily work advising students.
“For me,” concluded Norton. “I want to keep trying to make a better product. Because [the students] deserve it. They deserve to be served to the best of our ability. So they can get a job, can pay off their debt and better themselves.”
Today, it's hard to know who inspires whom more between Phillips and Norton. The two appear to foster a truly symbiotic relationship: each reminding the other to never settle.
by Liz Chrisman for the Tech Action, Spring 2020
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