ROGER JACKSON

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Assistant Professor of Biology
rjackson@cumberland.edu
(615) 547-1310
Memorial Hall, Room 309B
Faculty
The Labry School of Science, Technology, and Business
B.S. Calvin College
Ph.D., Vanderbilt University

Dr. Roger Jackson is the newest Biology faculty member at Cumberland joining in Fall 2021.  He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Calvin College (now Calvin University) in Grand Rapids, Michigan in May 2000.  He completed his Ph.D. in Cancer Biology from Vanderbilt University in May 2007 (identification and characterization of novel p53 target genes), and he spent the next 4.5 years as a postdoctoral research fellow in the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Department of Urologic Surgery in the labs of Neil Bhowmick and Simon Hayward working on mouse models of prostate cancer and TGF-beta associated signaling pathways, in collaboration with the VU-Tumor Microenvironment (VU-TMEN) working group, part of the NCI Tumor Microenvironment Consortium.

Prior to coming to Cumberland, Dr. Jackson was a Lecturer at Belmont University for 8 years (Fall 2012-Spring 2020) were he taught primarily General Biology (non-majors, freshman majors) and Human Anatomy & Physiology I/II (nursing & science majors), followed by working for an academic year as an Instructor at Volunteer State Community College where he taught online classes in Human Anatomy & Physiology I (Fall 2020-May 2021).

 

SARA HAYS

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Assistant Professor of English
shays@cumberland.edu
(615) 207-5508
Memorial Hall, Room 200A
Faculty
The Millard and JJ Oakley School of Humanities, Education and the Arts
B.A., Emmanuel College
M.A., Belmont University
Ph.D., Middle Tennessee State University

Dr. Sara Hays began teaching at Cumberland University in the fall of 2011 as an adjunct instructor in English, and she became a full-time member of the faculty in the fall of 2018. She teaches courses mostly in children’s and adolescent literature, British literature, and composition. In addition to teaching at Cumberland, Dr. Hays was previously an adjunct professor at the International Academy of Design and Technology and at Volunteer State Community College. Then, as a doctoral student at Middle Tennessee State University, she worked in the College of Graduate Studies as the Thesis and Dissertation Coordinator helping graduate students fine-tune the formatting of their theses and dissertations.

Dr. Hays holds a Bachelor of Arts in mass media communications from Emmanuel College, a Master of Arts in English from Belmont University, and a Doctor of Philosophy in English from Middle Tennessee State University. Her graduate research focused on children’s and adolescent literature, culminating with her dissertation on young adult literature author John Green. She has presented several papers at national literature conferences and has had articles published in peer reviewed journals. Beyond her scholarly work, Dr. Hays’s interests also include all aspects of pop culture consumption, including going to the movies, binging shows on Netflix, playing video games, listening to podcasts, watching videos on YouTube, and reading books of all genres and subjects.

SHERIDAN HENSON

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Executive Director of the Honors Program, and Associate Professor of Leadership Studies
shenson@cumberland.edu
(615) 547-1315
Learning and Career Commons, Room 216
Faculty
Office of Academic Affairs
The Millard and JJ Oakley School of Humanities, Education and the Arts
B.A., University of Tennessee, Knoxville
M.S.P., Cumberland University
Ed.D., Trevecca Nazarene University

Since 2006, Dr. Henson has served across campus in administrative support, graduate admissions, and academic support services.

Currently, Dr. Henson oversees the curriculum and teaches in the first-year experience course known as Foundations of Scholarship and Learning (FSL) taught by a cadre of over 20 faculty members from multiple disciplines. He is also the Executive Director of the Honors Program and teaches both the First Year Seminar and Honors Leadership. At the graduate level, Dr. Henson has the privilege to teach Organizational Behavior, Conflict Resolution, and Leadership in the Master of Public Service Management program.

As a university administrator and campus leader, Dr. Henson directs Academic Support which includes the Offices of Student Success, Career Services and Internships, the Chaplain, and the Writing Center. He is also a member of the Senior Academic Leadership Team, the Deans Council, and the University Library and Educational Resources Committee. During the 2020 SACS-COC institutional decennial affirmation process, Dr. Henson served on the institutional standards core writing team.

In his role as a catalyst for student social integration, Dr. Henson is the Circle Coordinator of the Cumberland Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa, the advisor for the Tennessee Lambda Chapter of Alpha Chi, Co-sponsor for Sigma Theta Delta, and faculty advisor to the Order of Omega.

As Circle Coordinator for the Cumberland Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa, Dr. Henson has overseen circle standards garnering multiple circle recognitions including the Presidential Award of Excellence. In 2021, Dr. Henson was named the recipient of the Robert L. Morlan and Robert Bishop Outstanding Circle Officer Award, and in 2022, Dr. Henson was elected by a majority of Circle Advisors and Coordinators across the nation to serve as the Faculty/Staff Trustee of Omicron Delta Kappa’s Board of Trust and Chair-elect of the Mission Committee.

Dr. Sheridan and Rachel Henson reside in Wilson County with their son, Finn, and daughter, Ellie. The Henson family are members of the Lebanon First United Methodist Church where Rachel sings in the choir and Sheridan serves as the Board Chair for the Cumberland University Wesley Fellowship, as the Scoutmaster of Troop 360, and as a Unit Commissioner for the Cumberland River District of the Middle Tennessee Council, Scouts BSA. Dr. Henson is also a member of American Legion Post 15 and a prior service Marine.

FRED HEIFNER

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Professor of Anthropology, Philosophy, and Religion; Virginia and Guy Thackston Professor of Liberal Arts
fheifner@cumberland.edu
(615) 547-1267
Labry Hall, Room 213
Faculty
The Millard and JJ Oakley School of Humanities, Education and the Arts
B.A., Louisiana College
M.Div., New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
Th.D., New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Dr. Fred Heifner began at Cumberland University in the fall of 1996 and teaches courses in the Oakley School of Humanities, Education, and the Arts. He primarily teaches courses in anthropology, philosophy, and religion. Prior to arriving at Cumberland, Dr. Heifner was a senior manager of children’s curriculum materials at the Baptist Sunday School Board, Nashville, Tennessee. Dr. Heifner is a prolific writer, has led national conferences on childhood education, and has served as a curriculum consultant for the Spanish Publishing House, El Paso, Texas, the Armed Services Curriculum Selection Committee, and the National Council of Churches. He taught in the Seminary External Education Program of the Southern Baptist Convention for twenty-five years.

Dr. Heifner holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in both psychology and philosophy, a Master of Divinity degree in religion, and a Doctorate of Theology degree in systematic theology. He has done additional post-graduate studies in anthropology at Middle Tennessee State University. He was named the Virginia and Guy Thackston Professor of Liberal Arts in 2020.

STUART HARRIS

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Professor of English
sharris@cumberland.edu
(615) 547-1371
Memorial Hall, Room 309E
Faculty
The Millard and JJ Oakley School of Humanities, Education and the Arts
B.S., Belmont Univeristy
B.A., Belmont University
M.A., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
D.A., Middle Tennessee State University

Stuart Harris joined the Cumberland University faculty in 1997. Before that, he taught English at Hunters Lane Comprehensive High School in Nashville for 11 years.  In addition to both a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Belmont University, Dr. Harris holds a Master of Arts in Teaching degree from the University of North Carolina and a Doctor of Arts degree from Middle Tennessee State University.

His teaching responsibilities at the university include Composition, Sophomore Literature, and American Literature. In the past, he has taught a seminar course on the short stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe and a course on the fiction of William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor as well as courses on Southern Literature, Writing Fiction, and the American Novel Since World War II. His greatest pleasure as a teacher is helping students discover their own writing voices and being present as they examine their beliefs through the discussion of literature.

Dr. Harris has published poetry in a number of small literary magazines, a story in South Dakota Literary Review, and a story in an anthology of Tennessee writers. He has also published a review of Clyde Edgerton’s novel Where Trouble Sleeps and an article on teaching World Literature in an interdisciplinary context in Tennessee English Journal.  He is currently working on a number of short stories and poems, as well as two critical articles—one on “Rappaccini’s Daughter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and another on Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor.

Dr. Harris has served at Cumberland in a number of capacities, including Faculty Senate President for 2000-2001 and chair of the Professional Development Committee from April 2008 until March 2010. He also served as the chair of the University Committee on Courses, Curricula, and Academic Policy from March 2010 until May 2012. He served as the Program Director for English from May 2006-January 2024.

 

MARY LEWIS HALEY

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W. P. Bone, III Professor of Business Administration, Professor of Accounting
mhaley@cumberland.edu
(615) 547-1264
Labry Hall, Room 111
Faculty
The Labry School of Science, Technology, and Business
B.S., University of Tennessee, Knoxville
M.B.A., Middle Tennessee State University
D.A., Middle Tennessee State University

Dr. Haley joined the faculty at Cumberland University in the fall of 1983. She has taught most of the accounting classes offered at Cumberland, as well as the Managerial Accounting and Corporate Finance courses in the Master of Business Administration program. Her main areas of interest include financial accounting and tax. Dr. Haley has been recognized for teaching excellence by receiving the Teacher of the Year award at Cumberland in 1995 and 2017 and by most recently being recognized by the Mid-South Athletic Conference as a member of the All Conference Faculty Team for 2017-2018. Dr. Haley is also the holder of the W.P. Bone Professorship in Business Administration 

Dr. Haley holds professional memberships in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants, the Institute of Management Accountants, the Tennessee Society of Accounting Educators, Delta Mu Delta International Honor Society in Business, and Pi Gamma Mu, International Honor Society in Social Sciences. In addition, she is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the State of Tennessee, a Certified Management Accountant, and is Certified in Financial Management.

Dr. Haley and her husband have one daughter who is a graduate of Cumberland University and is a teacher in the Wilson County School System.

KENT HALLMAN

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Assistant Professor of Sociology and Program Director, Humanities & Social Sciences
khallman@cumberland.edu
(615) 453-6372
Labry Hall, Room 212
Faculty
The Millard and JJ Oakley School of Humanities, Education and the Arts
B.A., Vanderbilt University
M.Div., Vanderbilt University
M.A., Vanderbilt University
Ph.D., Oslo University (Norway)

Dr. Kent Hallman teaches a number of Sociology courses, directs Sociology Minor, and is the Program Director of the Humanities & Social Sciences Program at Cumberland University. He has cross-disciplinary background in Sociology and Theology/Religious Studies. Having lived in several countries, Dr. Hallman contributes to academic works in several languages, has lectured at a number of universities in Europe and in the United States, and held positions in higher education, healthcare and ministry. Dr. Hallman is passionate about teaching, and his research interests include the sociology of ethnicity/race, culture, religion, folklore, sociolinguistics and diaspora, as well as Jewish Studies and Romani Studies.

His direct ancestors were subjects of ethnological research by a founding social scientist in 19th century Europe, inspiring Dr. Hallman to engage in his own sociological and ethnographic research on religion, culture and identity among diasporic minorities connected to the Middle East, South Asia, Europe and the Americas.

RICHARD GARVIN

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Adjunct Instructor of Psychology
rgarvin@cumberland.edu
Memorial Hall, Room 210A
Faculty
The Millard and JJ Oakley School of Humanities, Education and the Arts
B.B.A., Philander Smith College
M.A., Fisk University
Ph.D., Trevecca Nazarene University

Dr. Richard P. Garvin, Jr. was born in Washington, D.C. and spent his formative years in Tennessee. He began a career in commercial real estate in 2005 when he co-founded Crown Park Development, LLC a multimillion-dollar commercial real estate company. During this time, he also served as
a VP of a healthcare company. Richard specialized in land development, developing physician office plazas, and commercial real estate leases in Middle Tennessee. After a few years in real estate Richard pursued a career in politics where he served on the planning commission and historic zoning commission in Tennessee. Also, during this time he became a Leadership Rutherford graduate, Rotary Club member, Paul Harris Fellow, and served on several community boards such as Court Appointed Special Advocates, Library board, and YMCA board and a few others. He later qualified to run for an unsuccessful bid for state representative in a newly formed district.

Richard earned his Ph.D. in Clinical Counseling from Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tennessee. Dr. Garvin’s clinical experience includes
working as a psychotherapist. Richard’s specialty is working with transracial adoption families. Transracial adoption (or interracial adoption) refers to the adoption of a child that is of a different race than the adoptive parents. For the past eight years Richard has worked with Monroe Harding a non-profit organization to provide healing and opportunities for vulnerable young people and children in foster care. Dr. Garvin focuses his attention on being a research scientist and professor in Clinical Counseling at Tennessee State University. His research interests are race-based traumatic stress, africultural coping, and academic self-efficacy. As a research scientist Dr. Garvin currently works with a multimillion-dollar National Institute of Health (NIH) grant in cancer research. He serves as a co-investigator on the cancer outreach core in a three-institution partnership with Meharry Medical College, Vanderbilt University, and Tennessee State University (MVTCP) https://www.mvtcp.org/.

In 2023, Richard and his wife, Dr. Natara Garvin decided to return to real estate and founded Capital City, LLC a multi-million- dollar multi-family residential company. When Richard is not working, he enjoys traveling internationally with his wife and their two children (Richard III and Harper),
and spending time with his Labradoodle fur baby, Rex.

CHRISTI GRIFFIN

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Associate Professor and Program Director for the Health Care Admin. Program
cgriffin@cumberland.edu
(615) 453-6307
Bone Hall, Room 100
Faculty
The Labry School of Science, Technology, and Business
B.S.B.A., University of Alabama, Huntsville
M.H.S.A., George Washington University
J.D., Creighton University

Dr. Christi Griffin is Associate Professor and Program Director for the Health Care Administration program in the Labry School of Science, Technology and Business.  Dr. Griffin teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in health care administration, business ethics, employment law, and business law.

Under Dr. Griffin’s leadership, the Health Care Administration program was admitted as a participant in the prestigious American College of Health Care Executives’ Higher Education Network.  She has also developed a network of health care industry leaders who provide experiential internships to students, as well as a distinguished guest lecturer series that brings business leaders directly into the classroom.

Dr. Griffin’s service to the University includes Faculty Senate, chair of the Academic Integrity Board, faculty for an on-site cultural field study exploration of the New Mexico Pueblos, and member of the University’s inaugural Institutional Review Board.

Dr. Griffin brings three decades of private health care company and government experience to the classroom, including executive officer, corporate general counsel and hospital management positions in Nashville, Washington, D.C. and Boston.  She has served as panelist and guest speaker to a variety of business, civic and academic organizations.  Dr. Griffin has also been selected to judge national and regional academic competitions.

Dr. Griffin holds a Juris Doctor (Law) degree from Creighton University, a Master of Health Services Administration (Health Services Financial Management) from George Washington University and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (Finance) from the University of Alabama in Huntsville.  Dr. Griffin is a published author and was on the editorial staffs for the Creighton University Law Review and the District of Columbia Bar Digest.

Dr. Griffin is founder and owner of Griffin Law Office, a boutique health law practice representing health systems, physicians, and non-physician providers.  She is three-time recipient of the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Attorneys for Justice Pro Bono Service Award.  Dr. Griffin is a member of the Tennessee (active), Maryland (inactive), District of Columbia (inactive), and U.S. Supreme Court Bars.

Additionally, she is involved in a number of community and not-for-profit activities.