Michael Mamp discusses involvement in academic senate, focus on student success
At every academic senate meeting, senators are encouraged to facilitate conversations and ask questions.
When the time comes to hold a discussion, some senators slump back in their chairs, some check their watches and others check their email. Above the other senator’s heads, Michael Mamp's hand raises high, fire in his eyes and the well-being of students on his mind.
Mamp has seen Central Michigan University from the eyes of a student and a faculty member. Before becoming a professor in the department of fashion, interior design, and merchandising, Mamp was an undergraduate student with a deep commitment to CMU.
“I decided when I was a student here that I wanted to be a professor,” Mamp said. “A member of the faculty, Dr. (Kathryn) Koch had asked me to prepare and deliver several lectures in her social psychology and dress course. It was at that point I decided I wanted to be a professor.”
Mamp graduated from CMU in 1996 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in apparel merchandising & design. He went on to obtain a Master of Arts in fashion & textile design from the University of Nebraska in 1998.
After college, Mamp spent 14 years in the fashion and merchandising industry. In just over a decade, he went from managing a small Lane Bryant outlet to directing a chain of 138 stores.
As he reached his mid-thirties, Mamp rekindled his dream of being a professor and began working on his doctorate at Iowa State University.
While finishing his Ph.D. program, Mamp applied for an open position at CMU. He was officially welcomed back to campus as a faculty member in January 2014.
“When I came to CMU and interacted with the faculty, those were the relationships I maintained all my life and I now work with people that were my professors,” Mamp said. "Always, the goal was to be a professor at Central."
In April 2019, Mamp was awarded the Teaching Excellence Award from the International Textile and Apparel Association. The award is given to professors who have shown leadership and contribution to education at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.
Seven months after Mamp was hired as an assistant professor, he was nominated for academic senate by fellow department faculty.
Academic Senate terms are three years long. Senators can serve two consecutive terms before stepping down for at least a year. Mamp is currently serving his second term as a senator.
In addition to being a curricular body, Mamp said the academic senate is a touchpoint between an organized group of faculty and administration. At every meeting, Mamp not only engages in the conversations, but challenges administrators with his questions.
“I think it’s important that people critically self-reflect and also reflect as a university to make sure we’re making the best decisions that we can,” Mamp said. “I don’t want any administrator to think that nobody’s looking or that nobody’s caring.”
During the 2018-19 academic year, Mamp said he frequently questioned administrators about the $225 Student Services Fee.
"I had a lot of concerns about (the fee). We were also in this transition period of going from one president to the next, and it was rolled out without any discussion," Mamp said. "I want to be able to tell students what that $225 is specifically doing."
Mamp said he plans to follow up on the fee this year.
“I think it’s important for there to be open and ongoing communication in both directions between administration and faculty,” Mamp said. “Because ultimately every decision that we make, every taxpayer dollar that we spend, should be done so with student success as the central focus.
“We have to remind administrators that the reason we exist, and the reason we have funds to do what we do, is that students – primarily in Michigan and beyond – choose to go to school here.”
