By MORGAN TARPLEY

mlt017@latech.edu

 

In Texas it was too hot and too large; in Alaska it was too small and too cold; but for Dr. Otis Gilley, Louisiana Tech must be just right.

Gilley, who has taught at the University of Texas-Austin and at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, has been named the new department head for economics and finance in the College of Administration and Business.

“Dean Reagan asked me to take over as interim department head last year,” Gilley said. “I was encouraged to seek the job position on a permanent basis, and it became official on Sept. 1 of this year.”

Dr. Shirley Reagan, the dean for the CAB, said Gilley is an excellent administrator who has worked effectively with Tech faculty and students since 1988.

“[Gilley] tries to get the faculty to be involved in the decision-making for the department,” Reagan said. “But he is ultimately responsible for the department decisions.”

Brenda Sanderson, the office coordinator for the economics and finance department, said she has worked with Gilley for about 17 years.

She also said she has enjoyed working with him because of his agreeable attitude and appreciates his organizational skills that have helped her in the office.

“[Gilley] is a very organized and pleasant person to work with,” Sanderson said. “He has great organizational skills, and he even helps me stay organized throughout the day.”

Before attaining his new position at Tech, Gilley taught at the University of Texas-Austin for seven years and at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks for three years.

“Having been at both [university] extremes, I have gotten a better perspective of different school sizes and places,” Gilley said. “[Tech] is somewhere in the middle of the two.”

Gilley said he enjoys the atmosphere of Tech and Ruston.

“I like being at Tech because it is a good size, and it is easy to get around in a small town,” Gilley said. “I also like interacting with students on a personal basis.”

Gilley said he was an assistant professor of economics at the University of Texas and the school enrollment there was about 50,000 students, almost four times Tech’s enrollment.

“With [Austin] being such a large school, I sometimes would have 400 students in my classes,” Gilley said.

“I felt like the class was a performance in a theater instead of a class lecture.”

Gilley also said it was difficult to teach in that environment because he had to do things to engage the attention of 400 people.

He said he must also entertain them and still be able to deliver what had to be taught in an organized manner.

“I made myself not really get to know the students in Texas because there were so many of them,” Gilley said.

 “I felt it was not fair to know some students and not be able to know them all.”

Gilley said he was an associate professor of economics in Fairbanks ,and teaching in that environment was completely opposite from his experience at the university in Texas.

“In Alaska, there were 4,000 students in the university,” Gilley said.

“But a significant difference was that by the first of November it was dark for most of the day and it was really cold.”

Gilley said the work schedule was a major difference from other universities.

“There was not a lot to do in the winter during the time it was dark, so the faculty and staff would work almost all day,” Gilley said. “We would go to work at 8 a.m., go home to eat dinner and then work sometimes until 11 p.m.”

“In Alaska, I had sometimes a half-dozen students in a class,” Gilley said.

“I got to know each student really well and their goals and concerns.”

Gilley said even though he had to deal with teaching 400-student classes in Texas and working in 15 below zero weather in Alaska, it was worth it.

“I’ve gained more experience over teaching a wide range of class sizes and different [versions of  economics and finance],” Gilley said. “I wouldn’t have much of a perspective on the differences if I had just been at the same size of school.”

Sanderson said it has been a wonderful and agreeable experience for her to work with someone as friendly as Gilley.

“It is nice to have people that are agreeable and who are friendly with everyone like he is,” Sanderson said.

“He’s just a nice guy.”